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The School for Change Agents

Develop the skills to make a difference and create change in your organisation on this course targeted at health and care staff.

8,888 enrolled on this course

NHS staff undertaking medical procedure.
  • Duration

    5 weeks
  • Weekly study

    2 hours
  • Accreditation

    AvailableMore info

Build the confidence needed to make change happen

Do you want to make a difference in your organisation? On this course, you will build the skills, confidence, and supportive community needed to create change in an evolving environment.

You will learn how to become a change agent by generating new ideas, pushing the boundaries, and leading others to do the same in your organisation. You will understand what drives you to create change, how to take action, and how to improve your approaches based on feedback.

By completing this course, you will discover your potential to make a difference with a community of like-minded individuals.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 13 seconds As a participant on the School for Change Agents, the first thing you’ll learn is that change starts with me. The second thing you’ll learn is how to move from me to we, because we cannot be change agents on our own. The rest of the curriculum moves out from there. You will learn about purpose and power and how you create a shared sense of purpose and power with others. You’ll learn about how resilience is an act of defiance and how we can build it every day with our communities. You’ll also learn about what it means to be a leader in complex environments.

Skip to 0 minutes and 53 seconds We’ll walk you through methods and approaches; there will be case studies; there’ll be interactions and most importantly there’ll be thousands of like-minded people from around the world who are all passionate about making change happen in our health and care systems.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Introduction to the School for Change Agents 2021

    • Welcome

      Find out about the School and the people taking part in it.

    • New Power Old Power

      Identifying two different types of power is a good start for thinking about creating change.

    • Narrative and complexity

      We introduce two more key concepts that today's change agents needs. We'll return to these concepts later in School.

    • Conclusion

      A reminder of what we have learned in Session 1 of the School for Change Agents.

  • Week 2

    Resourcefulness

    • Staying and staying well

      How do you operate as a change agent at a time when there is a global health pandemic?

    • Shared purpose

      How having a shared purpose can give you a sense of resourcefulness.

    • Belonging and sense of self

      Here are some useful approaches to building your resourcefulness

    • Coaching as a resourcefulness tool

      Coaching can be a useful way of thinking about building resourcefulness.

    • Conclusion

      What have we learned in session 2?

  • Week 3

    Using power to make a difference

    • Understanding power

      In Session 3 we look at why power is such an important concept to understand if you want to create meaningful change.

    • How to find your own power

      In these steps we look what you need as a change agent to develop your own power.

    • Using your agency effectively

      Once you have discovered the power that you have; how do you create agency to use it well? Here are some approaches you can take.

    • Conclusion

      What have we learned this week?

  • Week 4

    From me to we

    • Learning from social movements

      What can social movements tell us about creating change?

    • Creating your public narrative

      How we can use stories to create change

    • Getting your message out

      Get some ideas around how to use social media and other tools to build your network and involve more people.

    • Conclusion

      What's we've learned from this session.

  • Week 5

    Making sense of complexity

    • Complexity

      Understanding complexity allows you to think differently about the changes you want to see happen.

    • System convening

      How you can move from being a programme manager to a system convenor.

    • Change Agent of the Future

      Some ways to think about what the change agent in the future will need.

    • Conclusion

      Wrapping up session 5 and the whole of the School for Change Agents.

Who is this accredited by?

The CPD Certification Service
The CPD Certification Service:

This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Demonstrate relevant skills to lead and create change among peers
  • Evaluate approaches to create change and improve on them based on analysis from peers
  • Develop an understanding of change methodology
  • Develop knowledge of accessing communities and resources related to creating change in their locality

Who is the course for?

This course has been created by NHS Horizons, part of the English National Health Service. It is relevant for everyone who works in the public or voluntary sector globally. Although the content is focused on the needs of health and care staff, it will suit change agents from other industries including housing, education, the police service, and government and community activists.

Who will you learn with?

Helen is Chief Transformation Officer at NHS Horizons. She is a thought leader who supports and helps energise thousands of change activists to build skills, confidence and power to make a difference.

Kathryn is Director at NHS Horizons. She is curious about people, the messy realities of making change happen and how we inspire others to action. Change agent!

Who developed the course?

NHS Horizons

NHS Horizons supports activists and leaders of change to think differently about large-scale change, improve collaboration, and get better outcomes.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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