The Integral Community Coach© Program

 

 The Integral Community Coach Program is designed for:

Ø      Those who care deeply about their world and feel frustrated and tired of struggling with conventional approaches that do not get at the underlying complexity of current issues.

Ø      Those who wish to be catalysts for long term systemic change in their communities or organizations to deal with complex 21^st century challenges.

Ø      Those who wish to learn, and engage with others who have a passion and commitment for transformational learning and action.

 

Integral Community Coaches are change agents who effectively use processes to support comprehensive social change. They are engaged in designing, facilitating, and evaluating processes for evolving how we learn to think, talk, decide and take action together to respond to complex social issues.

 

Integral: a systems approach requiring the integration of  inner personal awareness and cultural values, with outer actions of individuals and social systems.

Community:  the collective norms, institutional policies and structures in which we live, are a locus of change, not just the individual. The community becomes the 'client."

Coach: someone who stimulates individuals or systems to organize in a more adaptive fashion in response to complexities. This may be in the form of individual or organizational leadership

 

“There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe." 

                                                                                                               Teilhard de Chardin

 

 

The Integral Community Coach© Program is a progressive 2 year program. The first year Foundation Program may be taken as a stand-alone program, and also is the prerequisite for the second year Community Coach Training. The programs provides a context, stimulation and supportive culture for learning as well as introducing methods of applying this learning. Although the curriculum is based on research and theoretical frameworks including complexity, integral theory, behavioural science, adult development, and transformational learning, the program focus is on learning through experience, reflection and integration.

 

Year 1  Foundations Program

Much of the work in social change requires an ability to observe systems at work in our communities, within citizens and within ourselves as social change agents. Seeing and addressing patterns in order to be more effective in choosing actions is the basis of much of the foundation year.

Format

The learning occurs through residential gatherings, online learning, individual self-study and reflection, peer coaching, case studies and community application. The format consists of 4 distance learning sessions, 6 individual mentoring sessions and three 3 day residential sessions.

 

Outcomes

The program is very individualized to suit the learning needs of the participant. The intent of the program is to foster:

• Perception and assessment of the complex nature of social issues and change work (i.e. systemic, interconnected, dynamic, diverse, developmental, multi-perspective)

• Consideration of the integral lens: seeing the interconnection and impact of  personal values, cultural norms and institutional policies and structures that form the whole picture

• Reflective thinking as the basis for learning and change within individuals and groups

• Increased capacity to be present to the process within us, within others and between us.

•  Development of connective thinking

• Anticipation of the impact of future trends

• Community Engagement and Deliberative Decision Making processes. Click here for more information and printable pdf

• Development of a peer learning network

 

Year 2   Integral Community Coach© Training: Application to Societal Issues

 

The Community Coach Training is a program of action research that builds on the experience and personal capacities developed in the Foundation Year.  This year focuses on learning how to design processes for increasing organizational and societal capacity to respond to complex issues.  Community coaches are active change agents in the public, private and non-profit realm.  They support cultural transformation at the organizational and societal level.  They are engaged in designing and facilitating processes for evolving how we learn to think and work together.  This work includes assessing the issues, designing  interventions (e.g. deliberative process, focused dialogue, action inquiry etc.), implementing and evaluating the process.  

 

Format

The learning occurs through residential gatherings, online learning, individual self-study and reflection,  peer coaching, case studies and community application.  Case studies and assignments are based on actual situations faced by program participants in their home communities or organizations.  The format consists of 4 distance learning sessions, 6 individual mentoring sessions and three 3 day residential sessions.

 

Outcomes

The intent of the program is to foster competencies in:

¨      Assessment of community and organizational capacities

¨      Institutionalizing a process for effective citizen engagement in deliberative decision making on complex issues in one's local community or organization

¨      Identification of social, economic, governance and ecological sustainability indicators

¨      Design of an action research project

¨      Development and support of the Community Coach network

 

 

PROGRAM ADMISSION INFORMATION
Fill in our online application

 

This admission application is based on the Four Fields of Learning – an integrated approach to adult learning that combines theory and practice relevant to the individual, organizational and societal level.  The Four Fields of Learning are:

 

¨      theoretical frameworks

¨      interior personal capacities

¨      exterior system analysis

¨      application experience

 

 

Where The residential portion of the program occurs in the beautiful vibrant community of Nelson, B.C. Canada. Go to www.discovernelson.com to see the diversity of cultural and recreational experiences offered in this popular natural setting. Accommodation and travel information is available on this site.

 

For more information contact us at info@integrativelearninginstitute.com 

 

Home | Community Coach Program | Programs and Services | About Us | Reading Room