Training for Change

In this workshop we provide tools for creating direct action tactics that tell the story of what we want changed. We introduce core organizing skills to enhance people’s understanding of strategy and action logic. The design of this workshop is interactive and grounded in popular education principles. We will: 1) Share stories and case studies that exemplify actions that produce a sense of consequence or escalation for the targets/opponents being pressured. We want to assist people to think about strategy, particularly, how to leverage power and how to sequence a series of tactics within a campaign framework.2) Use these stories to explore made those tactics successful. Here we want to underscore why tactics such as marches, rallies, etc have become less useful for building power, and why tactics tend to fail when they become ritualized or too familiar. 3) Introduce a framework that divides tactics into several different categories, to distinguish what kinds of tactics are more suited to particular goals or outcomes participants might be seeking from their action. 4) Give participants a chance to apply this information through a brainstorm of tactics they could use in their current organizing work.

Con este entrenamiento enfocarémos en el papel del facilitador y las múltiples opciones para intervenir con indivíduos o el grupo para facilitar el alcance de sus metas y empoderar la participación de todas/todos. Las/Los participantes tendrán la oportunidad de utilizar diferentes herramientas y dar retroalimentación y apoyo a las demás personas. Hemos realizado diversas versiones de este taller para trabajadores/as inmigrantes en Virginia y para activistas en Bogotá, Colombia. Será un entrenamiento partícipativo y irá más allá de cómo hacer decisiones colectivos y hacia una visión de llevar una política liberadora a nuestras reuñiones más cotidianas. In this training we'll focus on the role of the facilitator and intervention strategies to support meeting participation and to help a group meet its goals. The participants will have a chance to practice using of facilitation tools and give feedback and support to each other. This experiential workshop will go beyond how to make decisions collectively and towards a vision of how to use liberatory methods in everyday meetings. Versions of this workshop have been offered to immigrant workers in Virginia and activists in Bogota.

In this workshop we provide tools for creating direct action tactics that tell the story of what we want changed. We introduce core organizing skills to enhance people’s understanding of strategy and action logic. The design of this workshop is interactive and grounded in popular education principles. We will: 1) Share stories and case studies that exemplify actions that produce a sense of consequence or escalation for the targets/opponents being pressured. We want to assist people to think about strategy, particularly, how to leverage power and how to sequence a series of tactics within a campaign framework.2) Use these stories to explore made those tactics successful. Here we want to underscore why tactics such as marches, rallies, etc have become less useful for building power, and why tactics tend to fail when they become ritualized or too familiar. 3) Introduce a framework that divides tactics into several different categories, to distinguish what kinds of tactics are more suited to particular goals or outcomes participants might be seeking from their action. 4) Give participants a chance to apply this information through a brainstorm of tactics they could use in their current organizing work.