Theories of Change | Freire Institute

Paulo Freire’s philosophy of education has had a profound impact on people throughout the world working for social change. His work has been applied not only to formal educational settings but to many diverse social movements.

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Price: GBP 250.00

Theories of Change

Participatory training for understanding and developing strategies for change

Empowering change through   collective   action

Organizations increasingly use a Theory of Change to explain how their activities are expected to lead to particular outcomes. At its best, this can make assumptions explicit, improve strategic thinking, and provide a basis for learning and evaluation. At its weakest, however, Theory of Change can become an overly managerial exercise: a linear diagram completed to satisfy planning, commissioning, funding, or reporting requirements, in which complex social processes are reduced to predictable chains of inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. This participatory workshop takes a different starting point. Rather than assuming that there is one universal method for theorizing change,...

What changes when we stop asking only ‘What is the Theory of Change?’ and begin asking ‘Whose theory of change is this, what assumptions does it contain, and what other ways of understanding change are possible?’

Drawing upon Paulo Freire’s understanding of dialogue, critical consciousness, and praxis, participants will critically examine the theories already embedded within their professional practice. They will ask who defines the desired change, whose knowledge informs the analysis, what relationships of power are involved, what assumptions are made about the people affected, and how uncertainty and contradiction are handled. The workshop combines critical inquiry with practical application. Participants will compare different ways of conceptualizing change, examine causal claims and systems relationships, explore participatory approaches to developing theories of change, and construct a working...

What you learn

Analyse and problematize explicit and implicit theories of change within professional, educational or organizational practice, identifying the assumptions they make about desired outcomes, agency and how change is expected to occur.
Analyse causal claims within proposed change processes in relation to mechanisms, contextual conditions, uncertainty, stakeholder interests and relationships of power.
Compare and critically evaluate different approaches to understanding change, including behavioural, relational, institutional, participatory, systemic and praxis-oriented perspectives, identifying what each helps to explain and what it may overlook.
Develop and justify a participatory and context-sensitive change hypothesis that makes causal reasoning and assumptions explicit and incorporates processes for testing, reflection and revision through evidence and experience.

Availability

For organizations: This workshop is available in virtual, in-person, or hybrid formats to meet diverse organizational needs and preferences. We can tailor the focus to your specific institutional context.
For individuals: We will run occasional virtual workshops, and you are encouraged to join the notification list to be informed of upcoming dates.

Registration Options

Current ways to join this course

Email Signup

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Registration Options

Custom workshops for organizations

Duration

You will continue to be registered in the course area for 3 months following the workshop.

Course Certificate

You will receive a certificate upon successful completion of the course.

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