Module catalogue

A new innovative module combining practice-based learning and a radical model of critical and transformative citizenship. This module has been developed to allow students to work intensively using a London community project as a base to identify a challenge they are faced with and work towards positively addressing this challenge. This innovative module is an exciting opportunity to understand a grass-roots level of working that can effect change and to learn about the key issues currently affecting large cities.

We live in the sixth wealthiest economy in the world, and London produces 22% of all Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, we also have a significant problem with inequalities and wealth distribution. The current poverty rate in the UK is 22% and in London this is even higher at 28%.

As of July 2020 there have been 79,437 violent crimes in the last year resulting in injury in London and 152 homicides. Included within this, there has been a steady increase in incidents of serious youth violence, with latest figures showing 8,151 young victims. This is despite concerted efforts to better support young people.

London's health inequalities are created by social, geographical and biological factors. The difference between highest and lowest healthy life expectancy in areas of London is 15.7 years based on Public Health England data. Contributing factors include infant mortality, excess weight, physical activity, smoking, homelessness and disease.

We are facing a global climate and ecological crisis, and London is a case in point. As the capital’s population grows to 11 million by 2050, addressing problems of polluted air, water stress, poor access to public greenspace, and the effects of climate change, such as overheating and flooding, will become increasingly urgent. London therefore has ambitious targets to meet WHO air quality guidelines by 2030, become carbon neutral by 2050, and become half greenspace and have 12% more tree cover by 2050.

However, at the same time the scope for local authorities to address these issues has been reduced by heavy pressures of austerity and a neo-liberal policy agenda. Many local community voluntary organisations are left with a vacuum to compensate for.

As a university and ‘anchor institution’ to the London economy, we believe it is our role to help ‘Empowering London’. This module has been designed to empower you as our student by learning about some of the challenges facing our city and to contribute to addressing this via practice based learning. Our fundamental aim is to help you become students driven by social and ecological values. This module will provide you with some of the tools to achieve this goal.

The module is designed to enhance your wider personal and professional development embedded in the countries you will return to as international students. It will facilitate application and progression of knowledge gained in London and via your studies to be applied and implemented in your ‘home’ towns and cities. In workshops you will develop your future imaginary organisations which are ecologically and socially ethical. This unique module allows you to be challenged by contributing to current, real world issues, from experience gained by visiting projects in London.

This module will introduce you to a range of professional skills and techniques, including: reflective self-assessment; preparation for employment as a values-driven graduate within inclusive work environments; becoming an ethical leader; being a critical employee and developing approaches for co-operative and collaborative working.

The module has been co-created with students and ongoing feedback will be sought from a range of students on an ongoing basis.

The module aims to enable you to:
● Effectively express and understand your current skills and abilities in relation to your career values and goals
● Practically apply the knowledge gained through your course programme to development of a speculative future organisation
● We will work with students to ascertain what organisations they want to be placed in their ‘home’ countries.
● Students would have the opportunity to discuss how the London context aligns or differs to the socio-political context of their ‘home’ countries.
● We will support students to imagine how they overcome political obstacles to empower communities in their ‘home’ countries
● Gaining unique insight of current challenges facing cities in the areas of social wealth; the environment; discrimination; health; poverty and deprivation and crime and partner with community institution to design potential solutions
● Gain understanding and direct experience of the graduate level skills, knowledge and insights required for inclusive practice and problem resolution within institutions to enable you to become an inclusive leader in society

Syllabus overview:

● Methods and terms of engagement in communities applied to practice development
● Application of practice based and experience Learning to future career planning and realisation
● Analysing personal strengths and values and identifying areas requiring development and goal setting
● Application of prior academic/disciplinary and life-learning towards organisational/work development
● Exploring work and professionalism from an inclusivity perspective including: workplace relationships; effective teamwork; communicating positively; work planning; problem solving; managing meetings; emotional intelligence; ethical leadership
● Understanding the relationships of power and methods of transforming power to empowerment
● Exploring how to collaborate with community organisations to address the Empowering London challenges of crime; discrimination; health improvement; social wealth, environment; poverty and deprivation.
● Understanding of contexts they have encountered with long term understanding of their duty of care. i.e. how and when do they leave communities.
● Supporting the economy, applying the principles of social justice and social inclusion
● Being a values-driven, critical citizen and becoming an inclusive leader
● Wider application of addressing social issues, by considering creative solutions to both local and global challenges
● Learning what it means to produce beautiful organisations that are embedded in ethics of care and equitable management models
● How designing beautiful organisations address the 6 challenges of empowering London programs

This 15 credit module is delivered in the autumn semester and most of the work necessary for success in the module is delivered within the session itself. Students can increase their knowledge and ability to engage with empowering projects through doing extra reading and research outside the set session. The module serves a number of diverse course programmes and therefore will be flexible for a range of subjects and interests. Your learning will be developed through individual or group-based activities and will include one-to-one support when developing empowering initiatives and business ideas.

The module is structured into overlapping phases covering a) self-reflection on current skills, abilities, values and careers plans; b) class based practical preparation; c) Practice based experience with related critical analysis and self-reflection tasks and d) final assessment preparation and submission.

Class based interactive workshops will comprise of innovation in new forms of practice and organisation embedded in ethics of care solving real world problems in global contexts. The sessions ask the students to have self-reflection and personal development planning. Group work will encourage discussion of self-reflections and analysis of practice based challenge issues with peers and tutors. Feedback sessions allow students to discuss their own practice and learning.

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/4B204E2A-5453-EDB5-83FE-F2548D83CDC2.html?lang=en-GB&login=1

Self-Reflection

Bassot, B. (2015). The reflective practice guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection. London: Routledge.
Brockbank A (2007) Facilitating reflective learning in higher education 2nd Edition, Society for Research Into Higher Education Open University Press, London
Cottrell S (2015) Skills for success, personal development and employability 3rd Edition, Palgrave Macmillian, Basingstoke.
Kolb D A (2015) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development 2nd Edition, Pearson FT Press
Moon J (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice Routledge Falmer, London
Schon D A (1991) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals think in Action Ashgate Publishing, Farnham
Williams K, Woolliams M, Spiro J (2012) Reflective writing (pocket study skills)

Employability and Job Recruitment Processes

Dorian, L and Loughlin, E (2019) Stand out from the crowd: key skills for study, work and life Red Globe Press, Macmillan International Higher Education, London
Rook, S. (2019) The graduate career guidebook. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan Education
Scherer A (2012) Brilliant intern Prentice Hall, Harlow
Higher Education careers information www.prospects.ac.uk
Higher Education careers information http://targetjobs.co.uk
London Metropolitan University Careers www.londonmet.ac.uk/careers

Resources relating to each of the the six Empowering London challenges

Poverty and Deprivation
Business in the Community (BITC): Employment https://www.bitc.org.uk/category/employment/
Dispatches: Born on the Breadline, 2018. [TV programme] Channel 4
Dispatches: Homeless and Working, 2015. [TV programme] Channel 4
Dispatches: Low Pay Britain, 2015. [TV programme] Channel 4
I, Daniel Blake. 2016. [film] Directed by K. Loach. England: Sundance Selects.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation Reports:
● https://www.jrf.org.uk/income-and-benefits
● https://www.jrf.org.uk/people
● https://www.jrf.org.uk/society
● https://www.jrf.org.uk/cities-towns-and-neighbourhoods/inclusive-growth
Lohmann, H. and Marx, I. eds., 2018. Handbook on in-work poverty. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Lloyd, C., Mason, G. and Mayhew, K. eds., 2008. Low-wage work in the United Kingdom. Russell Sage Foundation.
Office for National Statistics resources:
● Ethnicity Pay Gaps in Great Britain https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2018
● Gender Pay Gap in the UK https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2019
Trust for London Publications: https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/data/
Mayor’s Office Publications: https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/mayor-london/our-publications?order=DESC
Resolution Foundation Reports: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/
Sorry we missed you. 2020. [film] Directed by K. Loach. England: Zeitgeist Films.

Social Wealth
Carré F and Tilly C (2017) Where bad jobs are better: Retail jobs across countries and companies. Russell Sage Foundation
Grimshaw D, Johnson M, Rubery J, and Arjan Keizer. "Reducing Precarious Work." Protective gaps and the role of social dialogue in Europe. Manchester: University of Manchester, European Work and Employment Research Centre. URL:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Damian_Grimshaw2/project/Precarious-work-and-social-dialogue-PRECAWO/attachment/5834bd3808ae6ce4b8c021ad/AS:431341851418624@1479851319552/download/Comparative+Report+Reducing+Precarious+Work.pdf?context=ProjectUpdatesLog [26 August 2019] (2016)
Joseph Rowntree Foundation Reports: https://www.jrf.org.uk/work
Lee N (2019) Inclusive Growth in cities: a sympathetic critique. Regional Studies, 53(3), pp.424-434.
Lee N, Sissons P, Hughes C, Green AE, Atfield G, Adam D and Rodríguez-Pose A (2014) Cities, growth and poverty: A review of the evidence. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Lupton
Lloyd C and Payne J (2016) Skills in the age of over-qualification: Comparing service sector work in Europe. Oxford University Press.
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_428981.pdf

Crime
KNIFE CRIME
Chen, G., Zhao, Q., Dishion, T., Deater-Deckard, K., 2018. The association between peer network centrality and aggression is moderated by moral disengagement. Aggressive Behavior 44, 571–580. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21776
Coomber, R. (2015) ‘A tale of two cities: understanding differences in levels of heroin/crack market related violence - a two city comparison’, Criminal Justice Review, 40(1): 7-31
Robinson G. McLean R. & Densley J.(2018) Working County Lines: Child Criminal Exploitation and Illicit Drug Dealing in Glasgow and Merseyside, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology,
Wright, K.A., Turanovic, J.J., O’Neal, E.N., Morse, S.J., Booth, E.T., 2016. The Cycle of Violence Revisited: Childhood Victimization, Resilience, and Future Violence. J Interpers Violence 34, 1261–1286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516651090

NEIGHBOURHOOD CRIME
Sampson, R.J., 1986. Crime in Cities: The Effects of Formal and Informal Social Control. Crime and Justice 8, 271–311.
Wickes, R., Hipp, J., 2018. The Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Neighborhood Informal Social Control and Crime. Social Forces 97, 277–308.

DISCRIMINATION AND DISPROPORTIONALITY AND HATE CRIME
Carr, N. (2017). The Lammy Review and race and bias in the criminal justice system.
Chahal, K. (2016). Supporting victims of hate crime. Policy Press.
Pitts, J. (2020). Black Young People and Gang Involvement in London. Youth Justice, 20(1-2), 146–158. http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225420912331

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Hughes W and Jenner A (2018) ‘Domestic violence’ in Tenco M and Medez Ortiz E (eds) Handbook of Crime Prevention and Citizen Security. Buenos Aires, Ediciones Didot.
Nicolson, P. (2019). Domestic violence and psychology: critical perspectives on intimate partner violence and abuse.

Discrimination
Daniels, K. and Macdonald, L., 2005. Equality, diversity and discrimination: A student text. CIPD Publishing.
Green, A., Preston, J., & Janmaat, J. (2006). Education, equality and social cohesion: A comparative analysis. Springer.
Green, A., Janmaat, G., & Cheng, H. (2011). Social cohesion: converging and diverging trends. National Institute Economic Review, 215(1)
Syed, J. and Ozbilgin, M., 2019. Managing diversity and inclusion: An international perspective. SAGE Publications Limited.
Unison Challenging Racism in the Workplace: https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2016/11/24073.pdf

Environment
Centre for London, Environment and Transport: https://www.centreforlondon.org/research-and-ideas/transport-environment/
Clean Air in London: https://cleanair.london/
The Evening Standard, The Last Straw campaign: https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/the-last-straw
Extinction Rebellion, 2019. This is not a drill: the Extinction Rebellion handbook. Penguin Books.
Greater London Authority, 2018. London Environment Strategy: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/london-environment-strategy
Klein, N., 2014. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. Simon and Schuster.
London National Park City: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/parks-green-spaces-and-biodiversity/london-national-park-city
London Wildlife Trust: https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/
McDonough, W., & Braungart, M., 2009. Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things. Vintage
Rewild My Street: www.rewildmystreet.org
Thunberg, G., 2019. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference. Penguin Books.
TimeOut London, Green Light campaign: www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/how-to-build-a-green-city
The Times, Clean Air For All campaign: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/campaign-for-change-our-manifesto-to-tackle-air-pollution-2m82vsvs6
Wallace-Wells, D., 2019. The uninhabitable earth: life after warming. Tim Duggan Books.
WWF, Ecological Footprint Calculator: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

Health Improvement
Naidoo, J., and Wills, J. (2010) Public Health and Health Promotion: Developing Practice (3rd). Elsevier Limited, London
NICE. (2016) Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities. NICE, London
Public Health England. (2015) A guide to community-centred approaches for health and wellbeing. PHE, London

Empowering London Challenges wider relevant reading

Community Development
Gilchrist, A. and Taylor, M. (2016) The Short Guide to Community Development 2nd Edition, Policy Press, Bristol

Employment/Sociology of work
Emerald Insight series https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/acronym/RSW

Race, Culture and Identity
Appiah, K. A. (2017). Cosmopolitanisms. NYU Press.
Appiah, K. A. (2018). The lies that bind: Rethinking identity. Profile Books
Business in the Community (BITC):
● Race https://www.bitc.org.uk/category/race/
● Gender https://www.bitc.org.uk/category/gender/
Gundara, J. (2000). Social diversity, inclusiveness and citizenship education. Education for citizenship, 14-25.
Gundara, J. S. (2000). Interculturalism, education and inclusion. Sage.

Social Cohesion and London’s Diversity
Berg, M. L. (2019) ‘Super-diversity, austerity, and the production of precarity: Latin Americans in London’, Critical Social Policy, 39(2), pp. 184–204. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018318790744
Mintchev, N., & Moore, H. L. (2018) ‘Super-diversity and the prosperous society’, European Journal of Social Theory, 21(1), pp. 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431016678629 [Open Access]
Oosterlynck, S., Verschraegen, G. and van Kempen, R. (eds.) (2020) Divercities: Understanding Super-Diversity in Deprived and Mixed Neighbourhoods. Bristol: Policy Press.
Sturgis, P., Brunton-Smith, I., Kuha, J. & Jackson, J. (2014) ‘Ethnic diversity, segregation and the social cohesion of neighbourhoods in London’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(8), pp. 1286–1309. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2013.831932 [Open Access]
Wessendorf, S (2014) Commonplace Diversity: Social Relations in a Super-Diverse Context. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Designing organisations

Organisational Aesthetics: Developing beautiful organisations – Steven de Groot
Organizational Aesthetics and Its Implications for Managing Human Resources at Workplace – Jianguanglung Dangmei
The Aesthetics of Organization – Stephen Linstead and Heather Joy Hoepfl

During and up to the end of the module, you will be able to:

1. Design and explain your new form of practice considering the challenges, from a socially responsible perspective and reflecting your own professional values and ambitions.
2. Evaluate and reflect on your practice’s speculative impact using the London based case studies to show understanding of your role as active, transformative citizen in society.
3. Critically reflect on the larger context and long term impact of the experience gained and how it can be used in the future, to assist you to achieve your career and academic ambitions.
4. Learn about models of community engagement and citizenship in developing new forms of empowering organisations.
5. Learn how to sustain a socially just organisation and future career
6. Learn what role aesthetic plays in development and structuring of organisations and businesses

Summative assessment (95% overall mark):
You will develop an imaginary organisation/business with the aim to empower others. Using the following framework to guide you and structure the development of you imaginary organization/business, you are required to create an output that presents your future empowering and ethical, organization/business. The output will need to show innovation and incorporate empowering practices in its design. The list below is to support and guide you to develop your organisation/business as a base for workshops lead by module leader. This structure is indicative and can expand and change as seen appropriate by module leader.
The Key assessment criteria are:
1- Practice description and empowering services (45% of your marks):
a) Practice name
b) Aims and objectives,
c) What you do: Services/goods/products you produce?
d) People: who are the producers, users, founders, investors, experts, workers?
e) How you do it: How do you develop your service/goods and how do you fund it?
2- Practice website/ short film (30% of your marks):
This will be a simple word press website which is part of your output. You can chose to do a 8-10mins film about your imaginary organization or a website.
3-Governance (20% of your marks):
a) Legal form of your practice.
b) Ethical policies
c) Membership and model of decision making
Formative assessment (5% overall mark):

Key Milestones Journal: You will reflect on a number of identified key milestones through the project progression, including your approach to organisational development and challenges you faced, extra support required and outcomes of discussion with peers.