Published: 20 March 2008
First Graduates in Community Leadership
Cohesion Minister Parmjit Dhanda and Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education Bill Rammell recently attended a graduation event for the first group of community faith leaders and youth workers to complete a new government recognised course in Community Leadership.
Faith leaders from across four pilot areas in the UK - Bradford, Sheffield, Leicester and Tower Hamlets - are the first people to have taken this new fully accredited, nationally recognised qualification.
The course is intended to equip faith leaders with skills in leadership, negotiation and team building, as well as how to better communicate with young people and the wider community.
The National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) working with the Open College Network, have created a totally new OCN accredited qualification in Community Leadership for those completing the course.
Ministers first announced the course in April 2007 as part of a package of measures aimed at supporting local communities to isolate and defeat violent extremists.
The qualification was developed in response to calls from faith leaders themselves, particularly from Muslim leaders, who told Government that they wanted to get better at building relations and engaging with their local communities.
Over half of the participants on the course have come from Muslim communities; however the course has been open to leaders from all faith groups - with participants coming from Sikh, Hindu and Christian communities.
The government believes that working together, through a multi faith approach, helps to build cohesive communities, building understanding between faiths and highlight the values we all share. Through working together faith leaders can help to bring about positive and concrete change within their local communities.
Bill Rammell, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education said:
"This Continuing Professional Development package NIACE have developed for Faith Leaders, Workers and Volunteers is a very clear example of the power of learning to help our citizens to increase what they can achieve within our society and to change our communities as a result.
We are particularly interested in the value of creating space for free and open debate and discovering common values.
I hope that this course will both model that kind of space and equip people working within faith communities to provide such opportunities within the communities and organisations within which they work".
Parmjit Dhanda, Minister for Cohesion said:
“It is particularly important in the current climate for us to support Muslim communities to effectively and confidently challenge violent extremism - strong faith leaders are key in this battle."
The course covered the following:
· Developing Group and Teamwork Skills
· Effective Leadership - examining ways in which faith leaders can better lead their communities and work together across faiths
· Negotiating skills - including conflict resolution and encouraging dialogue within in communities
· The Voluntary and Community Sector - an examination of ways in which faith leaders can better engage and work with the voluntary and community sectors for the benefit of the wider community
· Understanding Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship and Understanding Diversity within Society - as well as recognising and communicating the shared values we all share
· Working with Children and Young People - learning how best to communicate with young people around difficult and sensitive issues as well learning about child protection legislation etc.
Bill Rammell also spoke at an event in Bradford, hosted by Forward Thinking, which saw the publication of a research report, Forgotten Voices: developing more effective engagement with Muslim youth and communities, looking at the attitudes of young Muslims.
One of the findings of that report is that interviewees believed that the most important factor in guaranteeing social cohesion was community members' dedication to shared norms and values, as well as their pro-active engagement with community members from different ethnic and/or religious backgrounds.
The government claims that experience of the pilots shows that this new qualification does exactly that and has great potential in building more cohesive communities across the country.
The aim of the CPD project was to deliver a community leadership qualification that would contribute to two main objectives:
· To build confidence, knowledge and skills amongst faith community members to enable them to play a strong leadership role in their wider communities
· In addition, and specifically in relation to Muslim communities, to support efforts to develop Muslim faith leaders as effective and confident leaders who can take the lead in building resilience to violent extremism
The new qualification will be available through NOCN in September 2008.
Further information
National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
National Open College Network
Forward Thinking
CLG – Race, Cohesion and Faith
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