Welcome

How the programme is structured

“Our task is to look at the world and see it whole”, EF Schumacher, from A Guide for the Perplexed.


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Introduction         What you will learn         Course content         Structure         Entry and fees         Tutors and contributors

Each theme will include:

  • A four or five day workshop, normally Tuesday or Wednesday to Saturday
  • A range of material to be studied in advance
  • Visiting speakers, case studies, visits to best practice organisations or other centres (for example, Schumacher College or the Centre for Alternative Technology)
  • Development of the action inquiry approach to research, including contrasts with and evaluation of conventional research methods
  • Learning group discussions, with tutorial input, relating to your written papers – during and between the workshops
  • Learning group meetings to develop research and inquiry practice.

Between workshops/meetings, you will:

  • Pursue your own research through action and practical application of ideas, writing up the results in a paper (see below), which will address the learning outcomes for the programme.
  • Read in preparation for the next workshop

Theme Papers:

At the end of each theme, you will produce a 4,000word paper, or equivalent in an alternative medium of your choice, written in the first person, drawing on the learning from the workshop, your reading and your action. These papers will be assessed.

Final Project

After the 6th workshop, you will work on your final project. This will be handed in at the end of the second year of the programme.

The project will:

  • be based on individual inquiry and therefore written in the first person
  • draw on your personal development
  • address the implementation of change in conditions of uncertainty and complexity
  • be based on a mixture of ideas, drawn from reading and other sources, action-based research and the impact of these on your practice
  • include a progress-workshop for sharing and development.

The project will be expected to address all the learning outcomes for the programme.

Detailed assessment guidance and criteria will be provided in the Programme Handbook.