"CHANGING OURSELVES, CHANGING OUR WORLD"

	Web www.paulboizot.co.uk

If you have a group that would like to take this course, it used to be possible to have it funded through the Active Learning for Active Citizenship programme in South Yorkshire, at low rates or even free to participants - but I am not sure if there is still funding for this programme. Do contact me to find out! A minimum of 6 ongoing participants would be required, though 8 or more is preferable. Contact me for details.

Details of my other courses, including "Current Affairs" and "Talking Politics", are at COURSES (of course!). You may also be interested in LINKS to sites on related topics, especially the HEALTH, DIRECTORIES and CHANGING THE WORLD sections. 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION for brochure publicity

What do you want to change, and why? How much is change possible, and how can you do it? We will look at social change, e.g. political, scientific, environmental, economic; at personal change, e.g. attitude, behaviour, health; and at the links between them. We will examine some agendas for change that are presented to us, e.g. through mass media and education, and some of the factors behind a desire for change. The course will be mainly discussion-based.

INITIAL COURSE OUTLINE

NB This was originally written as a course proposal to the WEA (Worker's Educational Association).

AIMS - to examine what we wish to change about the wider world and ourselves, our reasons and motivations for change, the links between the personal and the social and political, how to create change, and what barriers there are.

Content will vary to some extent according to students' experiences and course providers' priorities, or to reflect topical events.

CONTENT - Change on the personal level may involve general lifestyle, how we work, what and how much we buy, health-care ("alternative" or otherwise), our impact on the environment, examining attitudes to ourselves and others, and whether we involve ourselves in community or other campaigning groups.

Change at a wider level can be local, national, global. Does politics work, and if so how do we affect it? Why do many people not get involved? What about pressure-groups and charities? Education, the mass media? Can we all have a better life simply by making the economy grow? Are we powerless against globalisation and the big corporations? Will science and technology solve our problems? Is a more spiritual approach, or some other wider system of values, needed?

How does the personal relate to the wider issues? Are our political views, and our behaviour in groups, influenced by our psychology - especially in the areas of anger, conflict and political violence? Why change anything in the first place? What stops us changing - "the good life", lack of knowledge, fear of the unknown or of seeming different, mass culture e.g. the media and advertising?

Do changes always bring the desired outcome? How do we avoid feeling powerless, or depressed by all that seems wrong? How do we deal with the changes that are imposed on us, e.g. by the changing economy? How do we measure success, and what is a realistic timescale for change?

 

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS - The course is expected to be largely discussion-based, with plenty of student input (the tutor does not claim to have the full answers to all the above questions!), and an informal style. Participants who wish to may write a learning diary, or make a short presentation to the group on a particular topic. Participants will be asked at an early session to list some of their own wishes for change, some of which may influence the course content, and then to review the list later on.

ABOUT THE TUTOR - I currently teach for the WEA in York and Sheffield. Current courses include Current Affairs, and World Dance- Eastern Europe and Beyond. I have also taught Aromatherapy, Healthy Living, Looking After Yourself - Holistic Health and Alternative Therapies, Circle Dance, and Talking Politics for the WEA.

I am also a self-employed aromatherapist, Circle Dance teacher and musician. I have the City & Guilds 7407 Adult Teaching Certificate, and a BA in Politics. I was active for 13 years in the ecology movement, and was involved in various campaigns - e.g. against dumping of nuclear waste at Fulbeck in Lincolnshire - and groups. I was co-chair of Sheffield Green Party, and an active participant, and occasional session chair, at many national Green Party conferences.

Paul Boizot. Course info revised 18.11.04. Page updated 09.06.14

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My address from 30.04.12 is 14 Holly Bank Grove, York YO24 4EA, U.K.

contact me on: 01904 621510

info@paulboizot.co.uk