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‘On the journey towards anti-oppression’: Experiences of non-native English-speaking colleagues

By Adela Belecova, EFA teacher-organiser + Strategy/Community Organising Lead The world we live in is filled with oppression. As participatory educators and community organisers, we hear about it every day. Our students are experiencing problems related to immigration status, racism, xenophobia, and exploitation at work and by their landlords, to name just a few examples.…

by englishforaction

Developing a ‘stance’: Critical evaluation and conscious positioning in the ESOL classroom

By Robin Sivapalan, EFA teacher-organiser and Brent hub lead A key word that EFA teachers Becky and Dermot identified in research on our participatory ESOL pedagogy is stance. Through valuing each other’s experiences and bringing together diverse perspectives, and at the same time critically evaluating systems and ideologies, our students become more able to take conscious stances.…

by englishforaction

Safe Sick Pay: Community Organising in the ESOL classroom

By Adela Belecova, EFA teacher-organiser and Campaigning lead We had a great training on community organising by Iris from the Centre for Progressive Change (CPC) in last Saturday’s Southwark ESOL class. Thank you very much, Iris — you made the training really accessible for students of all English levels, and we learned a lot!  During…

by englishforaction

Scenes from EFA’s Brent Hub: Haiku Writing Week

In four of his classes this week, our Brent hub lead, Robin, got students writing Haikus. For each group, it served a different function. Check out Robin’s reflections on the exercise below: For the Domestic Workers (members of one one our brilliant partners), it was primarily a mode of metaphorical thinking and creativity, a stand-alone…

by englishforaction

This is Community Organising! EFA’s South London hubs host ESOL student-led Community Day

Shared by Adela Belecova, EFA teacher-organiser + Campaigning & Community Organising Lead ‘This is Community Organising, working together to build power: Together, we are powerful! Together, we can get better conditions! Together we can change the world for the better and improve our lives!’ exclaimed student leader Pedro as he concluded an interactive presentation on…

by englishforaction

Back to Basics: Community Organising in the Classroom

Shared by EFA teacher-organiser Dermot Bryers, Pedagogy Lead In class, we’ve been looking at EFA, Citizens UK, and the Living Wage campaign in recent weeks. Students compared the two organisations using their knowledge from previous lessons and the projects’ respective websites in terms of: It produced lots of interesting discussion and emerging language. The emerging…

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Changing the Rules Onstage: Legislative Theatre Training with Katy Rubin

By Kasia Blackman, EFA teacher-organiser and Southwark Hub Lead Civic change practitioner Katy Rubin, formerly of TONYC, throws a sentence starter out to the group, inviting us to complete it with a sound and image. ‘Democracy is…’ The room is quickly filled with wails, shrugs, shouts of anger, swearing and laughter as we wave our…

by englishforaction

The Art of Community Organising: A 6-day training with Citizens UK

By Kasia Blackman, EFA Teacher-Organiser and Southwark Hub Lead Seven of us face each other across a table in the centre of the room, surrounded by a ring of spectators, as the Trainer-Organiser writes ‘DEATH’ in black marker pen across the board. She explains, nonchalantly, that the three people beside me and I have just…

by englishforaction