Decide on a Theme

Once you've gathered a core team of coordinators, you will have to decide what your course will be focusing on - the theme. The two main things to bear in mind when thinking about this are:

The skills, knowledge and interests of the organising group and your combined networks (i.e. who you will be able to recruit as facilitators and guest speakers). You should work to these strengths and capitalise on them as a resource, for example if you have a network of people working in social entrepreneurship, integrate this into your course theme or as a sub-theme.
UWC Short Courses need to have a theme hinged on socio-political or social justice issues, which will empower participants to be active, engaged citizens. Short courses, like UWC schools and colleges, seek to generate people who go on to become change-makers.

Short Course Theme and Sub-Themes

Some courses focus on aspects of one theme while others have a main theme under which they learn about core sub-themes. For example, the short course held in Austria in 2018-2022, (Re)defining Equality, had the main theme of inequality however, there were four key sub-themes that framed participants' dialogue and learning - migration, gender, sustainability and LGBTQ+.

The overall theme is sometimes related to the host country, for instance ‘Brave Girl Camp’ in Eswatini or 'Architects of Diversity' in Malaysia. A theme such as conflict resolution can be explored using examples from the local and regional past and present, or by looking at other parts of the world.

The theme should be decided upon well in advance and must be an integral part of the programme. Participants should be informed of the theme as part of the selection process. They can then be asked to prepare material relating to the course theme from their own national perspective.

It is also important to keep in mind the course structure and group composition when deciding on a theme, so as to approach it at the appropriate level. Feedback from participants on previous short courses stresses the importance of the theme being handled in a way that allows the participants to contribute actively themselves.

The short course framework is specific enough to guide short courses along the UWC Educational Model, but broad enough to give short course organisers the agency and space to decide their theme and develop a unique course. Further examples of previous UWC Short Course themes include:

Arts and culture for change
Professional and personal development skills for impact
Development: social and economic sustainability
Equality, human rights & social justice
Environment and a sustainable world
Global and current affairs
Identity & Diversity: me and others
Leadership: be an effective changemaker
Multicultural and international understanding
Peace, power and conflict
Social transformation: social entrepreneurship, innovation & activism
STEM: Science & technology for positive social change

Below is a list of concepts to help you choose a theme.

Learning Matrix

A vital part of the framework setting a common direction for UWC Short Courses is the working group for short course curriculum development. The following learning matrix template for structuring your short course curriculum has been developed by this group.

Short_Course_Curriculum_Blank_Template

The materials provided in the curriculum development section of the full resource platform will assist you here too as you can see a sample curriculum, and how a theme can develop into a comprehensive programme.

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