Overview

It has been said that leadership is a prime force that makes positive things happen in a community. The 5th Edition of the Fanning Institute’s Community Leadership Program Curriculum is designed to develop knowledgeable, skilled, committed, and action-oriented community leaders. The Community Leadership Program (CLP) brings together people from diverse backgrounds and varying perspectives to learn more about themselves and their communities. In the Community Leadership Program, people share their ideas and experiences with each other, gain new skills and knowledge about leadership, and develop plans and strategies for implementing community betterment projects.

The Community Leadership Program Curriculum includes five core modules that provide everyone who participates with a foundation of basic leadership skills and knowledge. The core modules are:

1. Understanding Leadership
2. Communicating Effectively
3. Making Group Decisions
4. Building Communities Through Collaboration
5. Leading Community Change

A group can tailor the CLP to local needs by supplementing the core modules with additional modules addressing any or all of the following topics:

• Community Socio-Demographics
• Understanding Values
• Valuing Community Diversity
• Group Dynamics
• Conducting Successful Meetings
• Managing Conflict
• Local Government
• Community Leaders’ Role in Local Economic Development

Each core module reinforces and builds upon the module that precedes it, so groups will benefit most from approaching the five core modules as a “series.” The supplemental modules may be delivered between any of the core modules or following the completed core series. The curriculum is comprised of a facilitator’s guide and participant materials.

The Training Approach

All core modules, which have been designed to reflect knowledge of how adults learn best, are organized into five instructional segments: Getting Started; Sharing What We Know; Building on What We Know; Acting on What We Know; and Wrapping Up. A variety of instructional methods are used throughout to make the learning experience active, enjoyable, and memorable including group discussion, role play, simulations, self-assessment, case studies, and more. The content is presented to participants gradually and in a logical way so they build new knowledge and skill on a foundation of previous understanding.

Each module is designed to occur in a 3 1/2 hour time period. This includes three instructional hours and two 15-minute breaks. Each activity in the curriculum includes suggestions for completing it in a shorter period of time if necessary. An appendix included with each module provides alternative activities and additional focus points for the facilitator’s use.

Experienced local facilitators can guide the instructional process of the core modules using the facilitator’s guide. Fanning Faculty are also available to teach the core or supplemental modules.

Core Modules Detailed Descriptions

1. Understanding Leadership introduces participants to the Fanning Institute’s perspective on community leadership that will be reflected throughout all the modules in the Community Leadership Program. Participants will also be exposed to the concept of exemplary “leadership practices.” They will self-assess in terms of these practices and then the training group will explore ways to apply their capabilities collectively to community work.
2. Communicating Effectively helps leaders communicate more effectively with others in order to achieve community goals. The initial focus is placed on individual communication styles. Then the concept of “dialogue” is introduced as a tool for developing mutual understanding. Participants are invited to consider how they can move from “talk” to “dialogue” and from dialogue to action.
3. Making Group Decisions prepares leaders with skills to engage community members in decision-making processes that ensure balanced input and engender a sense of shared responsibility. Participants will learn about several decision-making models and share experiences they have had with them. Next, they will learn how to identify stakeholders who could be involved in decision-making and how to conduct a stakeholder analysis. Finally, the participants will learn two group decision making strategies that can be applied in their own community work. Attention is also placed on the barriers to effective group decision-making and what leaders can do to diminish these barriers.
4. Building Communities through Collaboration provides a foundation for building and sustaining community collaboratives. Collaboration is defined, its benefits, barriers, and challenges are identified, and participants consider what is involved in establishing a collaborative effort.
5. Leading Community Change develops in emerging leaders a better understanding of the role they can play in leading change efforts in the community. Participants will first learn to distinguish two types of changes that communities are generally involved in making—incidental change (the most common type that restores balance to a community) and fundamental change (the less frequent change that requires a whole new way of seeing and doing things). Reasons why change efforts of both types commonly fail, in spite of good intentions, will be explored as well as the role that leaders can play in leading successful change efforts.