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MLD 377
Organizing: People, Power and Change
TEACHING FELLOW MANUAL
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
January 2013
In the spirit of preserving the history of PAL-177 / MLD-377
let it be known that this manual was originally written
by Heather Harker
in collaboration with
Andrea Sheppard & Mary Hannah Henderson
2000
Edited by Year
Lisa Boes and Jenny Oser 2001
Aimee Carevich 2002
Jack Pan 2003
Lisa Boes 2004
Jama Adams and Sarah Staley 2006
Jorge Gastelumendi and Erin Sweeney 2007
Esther Handy 2008
Kate Hilton 2009
Josh Daneshforooz 2010
Melanie Vant and Laure “Voop” de Vulpillières 2011
Erica Dhawan 2012
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 6
Purpose of the Manual 6
Whether or not to be a Teaching Fellow? 7
What the Course is About 8
The MLD-377 Teaching Team 9
The Campaign of "Organizing: People, Power, and Change" 10
A week in the life of MLD 377 11
FOUNDATION 13
Foundation Checklist 13
Teaching Team Initial Meetings 13
Retreat 14
Payment and Tracking Hours 15
TF Responsibilities to Share 15
Community Fellows 18
FIRST Day and 1:1s 21
Shopping Day 21
First Day 21
Addressing Common Student Concerns 22
Projects 23
Project Selection 23
First 1:1s with Section Members – Project Meetings 24
CLINICS AND EVENTS 26
Community Night Checklist 26
Action Skills Session 29
Relationship Clinic & Structuring Peer Learning Teams 36
Coaching Clinic 38
SECTIONS 40
Sectioning 40
Preparing for Section Meetings 40
Typical Sections 42
Summary: Elements of Leading Section 45
Office Hours 47
Teaching Fellow Weekly Meetings 48
Weekly Planning/Preparation and Student Progress Meetings 48
TF Section Planning Meetings 48
Section Debrief Weekly Meetings 49
Weekly Section Planning 50
Public Narrative: Story of Self (Week 2) 50
Organizing Projects (Week 3) 52
Relationships (Week 4) 53
Structuring Teams (Week 5) 55
Strategy (Week 6) 57
Action (Week 7) 59
Catching our breath (Week 8) 61
Organizing projects (Weeks 9 & 10) 63
Being a Good Organizer (Week 11) 65
CONCLUSION 68
Final week of class 68
TF evaluation 68
Celebration 69
GRADING 70
Attendance 70
Student Participation 71
Weekly Reflection Papers 71
Midterm 73
Midterm Evaluation 73
Grading Midterm Papers 73
Mid-Course Interventions 75
Midterm Meetings 76
Final Papers 76
Final Paper Grading Criteria 77
Components of the Final Grade 78
The Art of Crafting the Final Grade 81
Using the Excel Sheet for Calculating Grades 82
WORKSHEETS & HANDOUTS 84
Community Fellows Nomination Form 85
Community Fellow Interview Form 86
Learning agreement 87
Student Interest Form 88
Section Presentation Pointers 89
Tips for Selecting a Project 90
Project report form 91
Weekly Reflection Paper Assignment 92
Instructions for Community Night Student Panelists 93
Public narrative worksheet 94
Coaching Tips 101
Strategy worksheet 103
Motivational Task Design Diagnostic 103
Epic Exercise Explanation 105
Points to include in a meeting agenda 106
Week 11 Section Reflection Exercise 109
MLD-377 Mid-Term Evaluation 111
Midterm Paper Assignment 113
Final Paper Assignment 114
INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Manual
The manual serves as a resource to support the work of teaching fellows in MLD-377: Organizing: People, Power and Change. The skills and resources are easier to relate than the experience of being a TF. This manual articulates something of that experience while providing concrete, specific tools to make your work more manageable – even if you are a full-time student yourself. You should also receive a disk or electronic file containing the forms and handouts that are integrated in the manual.
This manual is intended to accomplish the following objectives:
§ Explain the praxis of the class as an opportunity for leadership development;
§ Provide Teaching Fellows with concrete tools, such as grading grids and guidelines, to do their work more effectively;
§ Acknowledge the risk of action in making the class experience ‘real’ and suggests ways to support students as they confront the ‘real world’ via their projects;
§ Help teaching fellows articulate why/how we are doing what we do.
Whether or not to be a Teaching Fellow?
What do we see ourselves doing? This is not an easy question. The time, energy, and intensity of being a TF for this course demands a great deal of personal and professional reflection as we are often challenged by not only our students, but by ourselves and by Marshall.
If you are signing up to be a teaching fellow just to earn some money, forget it. Be a TF for another, easier course. This is not for you.
If you are signing up to be a teaching fellow because you care about the topic at hand (democratic leadership, social change, community organizing) and you are interested (read: highly motivated) to deepen your own knowledge and experience of developing the leadership of others as they learn tools of social change, then this TF job is for you.
Before you commit to being a TF, you should consider these points. Be certain that you have fully understood and accepted the following:
· Understanding the time commitment (15-25 hours a week on average, which is more than the 10-12 estimated for most HKS courses).
· Accepting the TF pay (whether it is an hourly rate or a flat stipend for the semester – it should be a fair hourly wage).
· Keeping your schedule clear to fully participate in the weekly teaching team meetings (preparation for the week, planning your section with the other TFs and debriefing section meetings).
· Acknowledging the nature of the work involved (intense relationship with students, focus on development and support of others). You will need to be able to manage close relationships with students while remaining professional.
· Recognizing the possibilities of ‘hot topics’ such as race, class, gender, political differences, sexuality, and religion, arising in class on a fairly regular basis - keeping in mind that the role of the TF is not to problem solve those issues but to facilitate a learning discussion amongst the students regarding those topics in relation to organizing.
A critical learning of the course revolves around the importance of transforming people and communities - not just one individual. Notwithstanding the famous starfish story, numbers do matter. Therefore, as a Teaching Fellow responsible for 12-18 students, it is not enough to simply have one or two ‘stars.’ It does matter that you reach out to, support, and guide the learning of all 12-18 students, no matter where they fall along the learning curve. The relationship between the TFs and Marshall Ganz, the developer of the course, is centered on building relationships, developing leadership, and holding each other accountable for support and growth over the course of a semester.
This course is different from many academic courses because it incorporates the use of real world problems and accountability. That is, the students are not allowed to remain behind the hallowed ivory tower walls of Harvard and instead must actually get out and do the work of ‘people, power, and change’ in an actual community. It is the use of these real world situations that provides students with the true assessment of their learning progress – and mistakes are a favorable part of that process! We create a different level of learning when we encourage reflective learning within the real world context. Further, when projects are well designed, the community a student is organizing teaches by holding that student accountable for the outcomes. Marshall often remarks that he is not teaching as much as he is recruiting leadership to make democracy work.
What the Course is About
In Organizing: People, Power, and Change, we teach what de Tocqueville called the “mother of all forms of knowledge” in a democracy—the knowledge of how to combine. On three levels, the class addresses:
· Leadership that builds Community that mobilizes Power. It addresses problems that result from the lack of power, not technical or knowledge problems that can be solved with research.
· Organizing that focuses on Voice instead of efficiency. It’s about constituency building (not serving clients or attracting and exchanging with customers), effectiveness and change, not event planning.
· Reflective Practice not about leadership, but in leadership.
Teaching organizing, like organizing itself, is a practice that must be learned through experience. Therefore, the course must be genuinely rooted in the participant’s passion, and not out of convenience. We can learn more from our experience, however, by reflecting upon it, writing about it, and drawing lessons - or "theory" - from it. That is what we have tried to do in preparing this manual.
Teaching organizing as reflective practice is rooted in the moral, political and pedagogical traditions underpinning democracy - what John Dewey described as the "exercise of agency in association with others." In this era of globalizing institutions, increasing inequality, and social fragmentation, making democracy work has become a major challenge. One way we can help meet this challenge is to identify, recruit, and develop leadership with the needed moral, intellectual, and practical understanding.
This course began as an initiative by Harvard Kennedy School students who wanted to learn organizing tools. One lesson we have learned is that learning to use new tools can require learning more about ourselves. So, just like any organizing project, our first job is to build relationships to construct the "community" within which students will learn. In like fashion, we work with students to develop their story of why they are doing what they are doing, as well as their strategy of how they will do it. And we coach them through the "snare of preparation" to translate their concerns into action.
This class addresses three questions: why do people organize; how does organizing work; and what does it take to become a good organizer. The context within which the learning of this class takes place is one of strengthening democratic traditions and practices, particularly as it relates to civil society.
There are several values integral to the effective teaching of this course, but the most important is: walk the talk. For example, if in class, we talk about developing leadership, don’t just talk about it, do it, as the teaching fellow. Just as Marshall is developing the leadership of the TFs by supporting them in their sections, so should the TFs develop the leadership of the students by supporting them in their projects.
The importance of reflective practice cannot be overstated. How do we model ‘reflective practice’ in a way that creates a space for the students to do so as well? What does reflective practice look like in a classroom? It means, in part, to do the end-of-section weekly evaluation, reflecting on and acknowledging what had been done well and what needs to be improved. Thus, the mission, values and strategies of the class all revolve around actually practicing and modeling what we are teaching - to the best of our ability.
The MLD-377 Teaching Team
One of the unique aspects of being a TF for MLD-377 is that you have the opportunity to join a team of people who are committed to their own growth as leaders and teachers, as well as the growth of their students. The teaching team is the leadership team for the TFs, and the project is organizing student learning. Each member of the teaching team, as well as the team as a whole, is a resource to be utilized fully throughout the course of the semester. To prevent becoming a “lone ranger” in the effort to make this course a success, you are strongly encouraged to share questions, concerns, frustrations and/or celebrations with your teammates. Teaching team meetings and TF section planning meetings are where much of this mutual learning and support will take place, but don’t hesitate to ask for a 1:1 meeting with another TF as it is helpful to you. Each year the teaching team changes, new students offer new challenges, and the world around us brings new demands – all of which provide us with opportunities to continue to learn more about how to do this work. We look forward to the new insights our work together this year will bring.
In addition to having other teaching fellows as resources, we can also draw on Marshall’s experience in organizing and teaching organizing. All TFs are encouraged to meet with him throughout the semester regarding any questions or struggles they are encountering.
Because Marshall is very committed to high quality work, and the maximum development of the teaching team, he can be very demanding of his Teaching Fellows. Know going into the semester that he WILL challenge you at one point or another, and that he will do so out of his desire to make you a better teacher and leader. Likewise, fellow TFs will also offer constructive criticism in “delta” fashion at many points during the semester. During times when you feel overwhelmed or frustrated, know that you were selected as a Teaching Fellow for a reason (you were not chosen by mistake!) and that the entire teaching team wants you to succeed. Therefore, remember to turn to your fellow TFs (and Marshall) for support, encouragement, advice and assistance along the way.
Marshall also has a way of motivating you to contribute your physical resources of time and energy as a good organizer can. His ability to delegate and motivate will keep you and the class going at many difficult points in time. However, as a result, there will be occasions when you want to spend more time on the MLD-377 campaign than you have agreed (along with the rest of your team) to commit. Remember to protect your personal time throughout the semester, and ask for help in doing so when you need to, as self-care is one of the essential components of being a good organizer for the long haul. The teaching team should do its best to all hold each other accountable to the agreement that we make together at the beginning of the semester.
A final note about working with Marshall is that some TFs in the past have engaged in debates or struggles with Marshall. While often they are productive, they can also result in tension and frustration for the whole teaching team. It is important to balance the new perspective one brings with the experience reflected in Marshall’s perspective, recognizing his ultimate responsibility to guide the course. Notice times when you are feeling defensive, and look to how to turn the situation into one that you and the other TFs can learn from. This is not to say that you should always agree with Marshall. In fact, he encourages new ideas that mesh well with the MLD-377 curriculum. The best advice is to make your case as you see fit, do your best to hear his perspective and those of the other Teaching Fellows, but understand that he is responsible for the course and the decision is ultimately his. Keeping these things in mind will make for a more enjoyable and productive semester.