Changing the World or Providing Free Workforce? Creating True Partnership for Social Change
Michal Schuster (Bar Ilan University, Israel), Tamar Berenblum (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Abstract
The Academy-Community Partnership for Social Change in Israel was formed in 2006 to engage universities and colleges in social issues. Students learn and take part in social change and harness academic knowledge and tools to bring about change in public and non-profit sectors.
Two such courses in Israel are: "Community Interpreting" and "Gender & Human Rights: Between Criminology, Victimology & Social Action". In "Community Interpreting", student-interpreters bridge the gap between service providers in public institutions and non-profits and their clients who are non-Hebrew speakers. In "Gender and Human Rights", social work and criminology students promote human rights in governmental and non-profit organizations. Students identify needs in the field using academic tools and then develop projects with the professionals in the organizations in which they work.
Students in both courses use their skills (bilingualism, social work skills and academic critical analysis) to improve the access to services and promote projects within governmental and non-governmental agencies.
Ideally, these partnerships benefit everyone: the students, the academia, the institutions, and the community. In reality, this is not always true and many projects end when the course ends and the students leave, and there's no alternative response to the community's need.
Our experience in creating partnerships raises questions, among them are:
o In an Academy-Community Partnership, what are the motivations of each of the partners?
When conflicts between the partners arise, how are they handled/ dealt with?
o Should partnerships be established when they lack a long-term commitment?
o Do Academy-Community Partnerships represent social change when governmental agencies depend on volunteer manpower and avoid delegating human resources to projects?
o What are the best practices to implement social change within organizations and communities?
These are questions that have been on our minds, as the new generation of scholars, educators and activists, and we believe that activists worldwide are facing similar issues. We want to use the workshop as a platform to raise the challenges and dilemmas that are faced by activists and then translate our collective knowledge and experience into lessons activists can take back home.
The workshop will be divided into 3 parts:
In the first part we will present specific dilemmas, challenges and success stories from our Academy-Community Partnership for Social Change in Israel.
The second part will be conducted in groups to bring to the surface the unique experiences of the participants and translate them into practical tools. Through interactive exercises and simulations this session will focus on analysis of the players involved in a partnership - academia, students, organizations and the community - and the unique points of view and dilemmas they bring to the table.
In the third part of the workshop we will reconvene to exchange ideas and practical tips in promoting partnerships. In order to create a long-term network and ongoing discussion, workshop participants will receive a summary of the workshop discussion, and the practical ideas and tools that came up during the session.
