Why study Community Development

Summary

The Bachelor of Arts in Community Development at Murdoch University is tailored for individuals passionate about creating positive change locally and globally. The course is structured as a three-year program, often paired with other majors such as Sustainable Development or Sociology, allowing for interdisciplinary study. Emphasizing practical experience, students engage in activities like community organization placements, social policy briefing papers, and funding submissions. The curriculum includes unique units focusing on Indigenous community development, social policy, and creative community engagement. Career opportunities for graduates are vast, ranging from roles in government and non-profit organizations to positions within private sector companies, all aimed at driving social impact.

Highlights

• Murdoch offers a versatile Community Development program that can be paired with other majors. 🎓
• Students gain hands-on experience through placements and community projects. 🎨
• The course includes units focused on Indigenous community work. 🏞️
• Graduates are equipped to work in diverse sectors making societal contributions. 🌟
• Expect to learn through storytelling and real-world case studies. 📚

Key Takeaways

• Community Development at Murdoch University equips students with tools for social impact! 🌍
• Combine the major with fields like Sustainable Development or Film for a versatile skill set. 🎓
• Practical experience is at the course's core, featuring community placements and creative projects. 🛠️
• Focus areas include Indigenous community development and policy influence for wellbeing. 🏞️
• Graduates find roles in government, arts, and even corporates as liaison officers. 💼

Overview

Dive into the world of Community Development at Murdoch University, where the curriculum is designed not just to educate but to empower individuals to drive positive change. This program allows students to major solely in Community Development or pair it with other intriguing disciplines, thereby broadening their scope and understanding of global issues.

Students in this program are not just passive learners but active participants in real-world projects. The approach centers around storytelling and case studies, providing a hands-on experience that instills both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. From understanding indigenous community needs to crafting policies for societal welfare, the course is all about impactful engagements.

Upon completing the program, students are well-prepared to embark on careers across various domains, including government and community arts. This experience transcends traditional learning, offering a blend of academic learning and field practice that opens doors to numerous career paths—each with the aim of fostering societal betterment.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Course and Lecturer In the introduction chapter, Cameron Tearow, a lecturer in the Community Development course at Murdoch University, greets the audience. He mentions his five years of teaching experience at Murdoch and his prior engagement in various community development initiatives in Perth and regional Western Australia. The course mentioned, Bachelor of Arts in Community Development, is outlined as a three-year program where students can major in community development.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Course Structure and Majors The chapter discusses the flexibility and adaptability of the Community Development major, highlighting its compatibility with other fields of study. It is often combined with majors like sustainable development, international aid, development, sociology, journalism, and film production. This diversity allows students to tailor their education to their specific interests and career goals.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Community Development Goals and Student Motivation This chapter explores the appeal of community development courses at Murdoch University. Students are attracted to this field because they aspire to make impactful changes locally, statewide, or globally. Many students are driven by interests in human rights, activism, and local improvements. The university allows students to major in community development and combine it with minors from different university fields, providing a broad and flexible approach to their education.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Course Content and Units The chapter titled 'Course Content and Units' is part of a community development course. The course is designed for individuals who aim to make a positive impact on their communities and the people around them. It aims to prepare people for various community-related tasks. The course includes units such as creative ways to work with communities, social action, and social policy and community change. These units focus on how policies are made and how they can be implemented to bring about community change.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Focus on Practice and Community Stories The chapter titled 'Focus on Practice and Community Stories' discusses the significant emphasis on practicing and community stories within the teaching units. It highlights how these units have a strong focus on indigenous community development in Australia. The teaching staff consists of individuals who have been practitioners in various community sectors, including creative arts and education fields. These practitioners have worked with young people, and their experiences influence policies that enhance well-being across communities.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Practical Tasks and Student Experience The chapter focuses on the importance of practical experience and storytelling in community development. It emphasizes the value of working in diverse, remote locations and engaging in various forms of community work. By sharing successful stories and analyzing them, the course aims to extract theoretical and conceptual insights that contribute to understanding what makes communities thrive and how to foster positive change. The process often begins with real-life stories to uncover deeper lessons.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Career Opportunities and Alumni Success The chapter titled 'Career Opportunities and Alumni Success' explores the practical experiences students gain during their community development course. These experiences include engaging in placements with community organizations, handling funding submissions, designing community project pitches, and preparing social policy briefing papers. Through these tasks, students learn valuable lessons from real-world situations, enhancing their career capabilities and success after graduation.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Conclusion and Course Value The chapter emphasizes the diverse career paths available to graduates of community development courses. It highlights that alumni have found fulfilling roles in local and state government, community arts organizations, remote indigenous communities, and homelessness services. The focus is on the practical and creative skills gained through the course that empower graduates to effect change in their local communities.

Why study Community Development Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 g'day i'm cameron tearow and i teach in the community development course at murdoch i'm one of the lecturers in community development i've been teaching here for about five years and before that i was involved in a whole range of of community development work uh in perth then in regional western australia so the bachelor of arts in community development is a three-year course so you can come to murdoch and major in community development
• 00:30 - 01:00 as your single major quite often people take on another area of study as well so it goes well with other majors such as sustainable development or inter international aid and development sometimes sociology but you can also combine uh the community development major with other things you may be interested in like journalism or um or film uh film production or anything like that so it goes uh community development is the kind of course that goes well with a lot of other fields that people are particularly interested
• 01:00 - 01:30 in as well and you can also do a minor in community development or you can combine your major in community development with minors in many other fields from around the university lots of students come and study community development at murdoch because they want to make a difference we most of our students come because they want to make a difference in their local neighbourhoods in their state or more globally we have people who are interested in human rights in activism in improving things in their local neighborhood or in
• 01:30 - 02:00 international circumstances as well so i guess it's a course for people who want to make a difference in positive ways to the people around them and the community around them so the community development course aims to equip people for those various tasks so we um the the community development course has units such as creative ways to work with community social action uh sorry social policy and community change which is all about how policy is made and how we can
• 02:00 - 02:30 influence uh policy that really does promote well-being across the community we have a a couple of units that have a really strong focus on indigenous community development within australia and in all of our units we have a really strong focus on practice so all of our teaching staff are people who are or have been community practitioners of some sort in the creative arts in schools in working with young people
• 02:30 - 03:00 in working in remote places across a whole range of different kind of community work so there's a real emphasis on practice it's a course that has aims to tell stories of community development work that works and then to draw out those stories to draw out theory to draw out conceptual work to really draw out what makes things tick in communities and how can we make a positive difference so we tend to start with stories with
• 03:00 - 03:30 stories from the cold face from the ground and to draw things out of those and and to learn from them so over the course of their degree students in the community development course will undertake a range of practical tasks such as undertaking a placement in a community organisation for a whole unit of work doing things like funding submissions pictures to organisations about community projects social policy briefing papers that aim to
• 03:30 - 04:00 work for change in their local community and a whole other range of practical and creative tasks that are related to community-based work people from the community development course go on to do a whole range of really interesting and worthwhile jobs we've had people go on to work in local government in state government departments in community arts organisations to work in remote indigenous communities in homelessness services and a whole range of other places or also including as
• 04:00 - 04:30 community liaison officers for private companies like resource companies and things like that in town planning uh in a in a whole range of areas really i think people do the community development degree because they want the skills and the knowledge and the practices to make a big difference in their community whether that's really close to them or further afield
• 04:30 - 05:00 you