Building Communities of Belonging – An Immersive Training Course Changing the world one conversation at a time
Background
In 2010 an ambitious national programme was launched to bring business leaders and school principals together in a unique partnership, to make a positive impact in the education sector.
This leadership development programme – originally called Partners for Possibility but refreshed to Leaders for Education in 2024 – has now run in over 2000 schools across the country and has had a profound impact in both the business and educational sectors.
A significant focus of the one-year leadership development programme is building the community around the school, and within participating businesses.
Since the launch of the programme, I have had the privilege of working with Citizen Leader Lab on the Community Building aspect of the programme and have facilitated hundreds of workshops all over the country. I have had the opportunity to experiment and try many new ways of facilitating and deepening this methodology for maximum impact.
Today the work has been internationally recognised and accredited by Design Learning in the US. I have since had the opportunity to use this methodology in a variety of settings and around a host of topics. I have facilitated processes in classrooms and boardrooms, in urban and rural settings and from exco level to shop floor. The work has impacted NGO’s, large corporates, multi-nationals and SMME’s. Feedback on the impact of the methodology has been universally positive and inspiring.
Yet, this is so much more than just a methodology. I have put 30 years of experience as a leader, facilitator and organisational development practitioner into making this work a life-changing experience on both a personal and professional level.
It is time for me to share this knowledge and experience with those who are looking for a powerful new way of engaging people in conversations about the future – theirs, their community and their organisation – in a way that goes beyond traditional facilitation.
I would love to invite you to join this immersive training course and take your role as a convenor of dynamic and productive conversations to a new level.
Kind regards,
Dr Rama Naidu
Who is the course for:
This master course has been created for school principals and business leaders who have done Partners for Possibility / Leaders for Education and wish to become certified Community Building facilitators. It is also aimed at leaders of NGO’s and faith-based organisations, people and organisational development practitioners, community organizers, facilitators, coaches and Learning Process Facilitators.
Course Title: Building Communities of Belonging
This interactive course is inspired by Peter Block’s influential book Community: The Structure of Belonging. It draws on my 15 years of experience embedding democratic values into communities after the dawn of democracy and has been shaped through 15 years of collaboration with Citizen Leader Lab. The course will be a combination of an immersive, interactive live workshop, online group training, individual coaching and mentorship and a practical experience of facilitating a workshop.
During the process, participants will learn actionable strategies for convening spaces of belonging, where individuals feel connected, valued and empowered.
Key Learning Outcomes:
Learn how to:
- Create belonging in teams and other community groups (belonging is a key component of performance)
- Shift people from problems to possibilities
- Convene small group conversations that are a catalyst for all transformation
- Create the conditions for meaningful connections that produce generosity, accountability, productivity, trust, deep gratitude and possibility
- Apply the principles of associational life to strengthen the fabric of groups and communities
- Formulate questions that are personal, though provoking, stimulating and ambiguous – the key components for deep reflection and engagement
- Convene meetings and gatherings (as opposed to host/facilitate)
- Unearth the gifts within any given group of people
- Create safe conditions for people to dissent
- Move from scarcity to abundance
Format of the course
The course will run over 6 months, during which there will be:
- A 3-day face-to-face workshop
- 4 virtual follow-up group sessions of 1.5 hours each, with specific actions to be practised in your work/personal setting between sessions
- 2 individual coaching/mentoring sessions (1 hour each)
- Assessment and feedback on one convened gathering using the methodology (recorded).
Activities during the live and virtual sessions
- Inputs and theory
- Facilitated discussions and group reflections
- Role-playing exercises to practice convening and community engagement
- Interactive sessions on designing and applying powerful questions
- Presencing and personal mastery
Materials Provided: A workbook with key theoretical excerpts, practical exercises, and reflection prompts.
Course Requirements:
- Read the book, Community – The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block.
- Complete the full requirements for the course.
On completion of all aspects of the course, participants will be accredited by 6degree Shift as a practitioner of Building Communities of Belonging. They will also become part of a Community of Practitioners in South Africa. Please note that 6degreeshift owns the Intellectual Property for this work and as such there will be a 10% fee payable for use of the IP and to oversee the quality and consistency of the work. This will be done on the honour system.
R20, 000 per participant. This includes:
- 3-day workshop (including lunches and teas)
- A virtual workbook
- 4 x online group learning sessions
- 2 x one-on-one virtual coaching sessions
- Certificate of competence
- Inclusion in the Community of Practise.
- The fee does not cover accommodation or transport for the workshop.
The fee may be paid over 2 instalments, subject to prior arrangement.
Booking:
For more information and for the dates of the next session, e-mail Rama Naidu on rama@6degreeshift.com The course is limited to 30 participants.