The Curriculum

 

Note, 06 February 2012: The information below this line, previously updated on 01 November 2011, stands outdated as of today. Previously, the course was academic, text-driven. I intend to make it experiential, arising out of the learner’s own experience. The concerns of the course will remain as indicated below. The methodology and other aspects will change. For now, the previous version is left as it is below the line, until updated later. Regards.

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[Previous Version Below]

The Changemakers Academy is a self-study course in Inside-Out Change, in that order: inside first, outside later. It will consist of Fundamental Teachings, Reflections, Discussion Themes, and Invitations.

FUNDAMENTAL TEACHINGS include:

  • Attention
  • Intention
  • Practice

Fundamental Teachings are the non-negotiable cornerstones of the course. Everything else in the course emerges from these teachings. The learner is therefore advised to spend the greatest deal of attention here, and to keep returning to them to confirm and understand latter material.

REFLECTIONS will include deliberation upon the meaning of:

  • Presence
  • Silence
  • Uncertainty
  • Impermanence
  • Circumspection
  • Living without forcing
  • Receptivity
  • Creativity/ Flow
  • Process
  • Maturation
  • Enough
  • Compassion
  • Humor
  • Dis-ease
  • …and other themes as necessary.

Reflections are themes for solitary contemplation. These will be posted on this site and on a (Facebook?) group created around the course. These are not pointers for argument or debate — rather, themes to meditate upon in quiet, solo time. The invitation is for the learner to ask themselves: ‘What does this really mean?’ What does Silence really mean? What does Receptivity really mean? ~ At a greater level of awareness, the Reflections are not merely carried out through a form of abstract meditation — whether arranged (sitting in a meditation pose, etc.) or spontaneous (the walking, talking, engaged type). In other words, the learned is not merely to contemplate what the concept of, say, Silence, means. Rather, the learner is invited to investigate where in their own life Silence is found. How is Circumspection lived — or not. In this way, Reflections become practicals — they move from Attention to Practice, and back. This is ongoing work for life, only with ever-deepening levels of maturation (Presence). 

DISCUSSION THEMES will cover the imperatives of our times. These include:

  • Ecology
  • Peace: Inner and Outer
  • Relationships
  • Time and attention management
  • Personal health and fitness
  • Citizenship in a connected world
  • Communication
  • How much is ‘enough’?
  • Other themes as they emerge from time-to-time.

Discussion Themes are the point where the course turns from ‘inside’ to ‘outside’. These are pointers for conversations that learners can bring to life in their own discussion groups or in daily situations with families, friends, neighbors, colleagues. Discussion Themes will be posted as questions and thoughts on this site, and on the companion Facebook group.

(Note: A matters turns from one of the ‘inside’ to one of the outside when there are relationships between at least two entities involved. Justice and Citizenship, for instance, are not solitary matters — though their foundations are built in isolation first. Which is to say, only persons who have done requisite inner work are capable of remaining just and fair, for instance.)

‘INVITATIONS’ are optional invites to ground-level action.

As an extension of the course, some participants may wish for further action or involvement. ‘Invitations’ are for them.

Primarily, the course is for you to take it back to your own life – and the whole course as such is an invitation. However, if you wish to consider cooperative projects with other Changemakers, ideas will be offered, including direct action on certain themes (such as environmental action, etc.). In this sense, invitations mean concrete, ground-level action.

The most likely form of invitations will be to introduce you to the several groups, persons, and ideas that are active in the field of transformation. It is also possible that The Changemakers Hub may co-create projects, but this is not our priority at this moment.

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Updated: Tuesday, 01 November 2011