The Bachelor of Leadership for Change is self-determined. But this does not mean learners are thrown in the deep end to hope that swimming emerges. It is a carefully a managed experience that is negotiated between the learners, their facilitators (aka lecturers) and, where appropriate with input from community, employer or professional groups.
The Bachelor of Leadership for Change can be seen as a hybrid of traditional taught degrees and the Independent Learning Pathway:
It is the same as a traditional taught programme in that it assumes little pre-existing knowledge and learners graduate having provided evidence that they align with a body of knowledge. The difference is that this body of knowledge is not predetermined but is defined by (and defines) by the learners' emergent framework of practice.
It is the same as Independent Learning Pathway in that the outcome and the means to achieve it are not predetermined, reflection is critical to learning and the facilitation is an individualised nurturing process. It is different in that instead of relying largely on pre-existing work practice of the learner, the opportunities for building this experience are curated and negotiated.
Key distinguishing concepts within Leadership for Change are:
See> Glossary
See> What sort of degree is this?
See> Structure
See> Courses (pdf)
See> Nurturing self-directed learners
The Bachelor of Leadership for Change can be considered in terms of the temporal placement of experience and in terms of the relationship with a recognised subject area. In this regard, the Bachelor of Leadership for Change can be considered a hybrid between the Capable NZ focus on reflection on experience in work-practice, and the designed learning experiences of a traditional taught programme. In the Bachelor of Leadership for Change’s case, the learners do not have the professional experience to look back on, but neither can we pre-prescribe subject-based courses leading to a specific discipline - we instead curate a set of experiences for the individual learner/s.
The Bachelor of Leadership for Change contains curated experiences and projects that are managed by processes defined by work placement policy AP 0800.02.
BLfC learners will be people who are motivated to make a difference in their communities. But some of these might be young people and all will be supported appropriately. There will be frequent video conferences, joint projects and occasional block courses. But this is not new for Otago Polytechnic - even beyond Capable NZ, existing Otago Polytechnic programmes such as Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Vet Nursing, Outdoor Leadership and Snowboarding have operated in this manner for several years with learners either on placements or based away from Dunedin. The goal is to create a supportive community of learning (including staff) with a system of health and wellbeing wrapped around learners, wherever they may be.