Change agency in education

Whether you are looking to change the way in which things are run, the kinds of learning that take place, the role of education in the community, or anything else about the teaching and learning context in which you work, the Change Agency in Education workshop can you help you understand and deliver what is needed for organic, lasting, and impactful change.

Change is always a difficult process - whether we are the ones bringing about change, or the ones experiencing it. But things often need to adapt over time to keep up with the needs and demands of a changing world. This course will not only equip you to recognise and respond to changes around you but to also bring about change through collective activity, thoughtful leadership, and human-centred innovation.

Working collaboratively with other educators, this course will help you:

• Learn how to prepare students for life and work in the 21st century.

• Understand how to face the changes brought on by new technologies, such as AI and social media.

• Respond to the social, emotional, and cultural challenges students and educators encounter.

• Inspire confidence, build resilience, and foster curiosity in your students.

This course is an experiential, project-focused exploration of the importance of leadership, collaboration, and empathy. Together we will develop the skills, competencies, and knowledge necessary to both handle change in a rapidly evolving world and bring about positive change in the educational systems we are part of.

This course is eligible for funding under the Erasmus+ Key Action 1: Learning Mobility of Individuals

Find out more about Erasmus+ KA 1 here.

Find out more about Erasmus+ funding and opportunities here.

• Understanding how to identify and respond to change in our education systems.

• Learning ways to manage change including building teams, leading change, and supporting others.

• Developing strategies to engage others in change including how to get “buy in”, how to manage expectations, and how to develop support.

• Gaining practical expertise and techniques to design, develop, and deploy the changes we wish to implement.

• Exploring how to work across disciplines, with diverse stakeholders, and with competing aims and objectives.

• Learning how to establish our aims and goals and to use these to “work backwards” to build a process of change.

We offer this course as both an in-person course, which is held at our learning space in Novi Sad, Serbia and as an online course. Both courses cover the same material with the same level of depth and the same high-quality of teaching. Any differences between the two courses are to allow the best possible learning experience in that particular mode of instruction.

In-Person Course

Day 1

• Introductions

• Setting the learning journey

• Sharing experience and understanding

• Exploring the problem space: the challenges of change

• Understanding change in our systems - responding to change and instigating change

Day 2:

• Building teams for change

• Managing teams and achieving “buy-in”

• Leading change - the different forms of leadership

• Becoming a change agent

Day 3:

• Sharing our change challenges - real life challenges to work on collaboratively

• Building collaboration teams

• Exploring the process of change agency: back-casting and goal setting

• Sharing our aims and objectives

Day 4:

• Developing our plans for change using design thinking methodologies

• Understanding our context, constraints, and conditions

• The importance of empathy and understanding our audience

• Defining the problem and iterating solutions

Day 4:

• Develop designs for change and prototyping outcomes

• Zooming out and developing strategies for managing change and achieving buy-in

• Preparing to lead the change - service leadership and supporting others

• Committing to change and planning the first steps

Day 5:

• Sharing the problems and solutions

• Pitching our change plans and gathering feedback

• Celebrating success and giving appreciative feedback in teams

• Landing the learning and reflecting on the experience

Online Workshop

Our online workshop follows the same overall format and structure and covers all of the same content as the in-person workshop. Activities are adjusted or adapted where necessary to suit an online learning environment but we work hard to ensure the same level of experience and the same exceptional outcomes.

Our online workshop is split over 7 days:

• Monday: 2 hours in the evening

• Wednesday: 2 hours in the evening

• Friday: 2 hours in the evening

• Saturday: 4 hours in the day

• Sunday 4: hours in the day.

All sessions include breaks and time for questions, reflections, and queries.

This course is specifically designed for anyone involved in education who is looking to bring about wider change in any kind of educational setting or context.

This course is particularly good for:

• School teachers at primary and secondary levels.

• School leadership including principals and headmasters/headmistresses.

• School governors.

• Education officials at local and national levels.

• School counsellors and other support staff.

• Educators working in or with charities, social enterprises, and NGO’s.

At the end of the course, each participant will receive a certificate of attendance that documents their learning and certifies their participation. These certificates are issued on behalf of SWUX and are signed by the course leader or facilitator.

If requested, a Europass Mobility Certificate can also be issued.

All of our certificates meet Erasmus Quality Standards, and include the course title, date, and location, a description of the course, its learning outcomes, and the course leader or facilitator.

Any additional documentation required by schools or education organisations can be supplied upon request, and we work hard to ensure that participants and organisations are supported throughout the certification and validation process.