:: Pre – Departure Course ::
This is compulsory for all participants. The focus is on both theoretical and practical preparations for the coming field practice. The participants who are going to work together as a group during their India stay get to meet each other and plan the logistics. It is a three-day course, headed by the core team leaders- Anders Jonsson and Lakshmi Kumar.
The course is generally conducted at Orebro University.
:: Orientation Week After Arrival ::
The first week in India is meant for basic survival skill development, learning the basics of living – like crossing the road, shopping for food and other essentials, money matters, communication facilities available etc.
:: Field Visits ::
This is spread over a period of 15 weeks and includes urban, rural and tribal regions. The organizations are engaged in work with underprivileged, marginalized sections of the community. They work at individual, group and community levels. Some field visits are for a day and some visits are for a week to the same organization – to get a deeper understanding of their work. Seminars, group discussions and process meetings follow all field visits. Participants are expected to submit a report at the end of every project visit.
:: Lecture Series ::
The project arranges a series of lectures delivered by experts engaged in various social development work. The topics are related to the field practice and are concerned with local culture and social issues- e.g.- Hinduism and other religions of India, globalisation and the third world, the feminist movement in India, marginalized communities of India, politics and polarization etc.
:: Individual and Group Conference ::
Participants have both individual and group conferences on a regular basis with their Indian coordinator cum supervisor – Lakshmi Kumar. This is scheduled for every weekend. These meetings are well structured and guidelines are given to the participants for preparation. Group conferences focus on presentation, group work, ability to relate practice to theory, cultural differences and similarities, clarification of cultural misinterpretations and stereotypes. This is a platform for participants to share their experiences and insights.
:: Report Writing ::
This systematic documentation is an important component of the course. It involves mainly three parts – documenting field experiences, learning outcomes and reflections on the relevance to Swedish socio-cultural situations. The participants thus develop the skills of objectivity, reflection and interpretation.
:: Final Evaluation ::
Effective training and learning operate through warmth, empathy, genuineness, and a didactic experiential base.It involves series of small steps, feedback, reflective, enjoyable experiences and helping participants develop their own style of exploration and expressions.
Evaluation does not merely evaluate the program. Its main focus is on the learner’s process of learning and growth.
Hence it is a tool for analysis and not mere feedback- both positive and negative- whether on self or others. Since it is insight oriented, a lot of inward journey and reflection is required. The most important thing is that this is not the final statement of one’s learning process and outcome…..but the beginning of looking inward.
