Community Development Case Study
Heidi Hogben from Somerset County Council has sucessfully completed a Certificate in Community Development.
We asked her:
Why did you enroll on the course in the first place?
I enrolled on the course because I had been a member of the Community Development Team, SCC for a little while and was looking for further learning which may help me in a career progression. I was encouraged and supported by my Group Manager.
What were the things that you liked best on the course?
I found the course very interesting, covering things I had not considered as part of Community Development Work, given the role I worked in (a more strategic approach). I found the tutor inspirational and very much enjoyed learning how to approach any new role I take on which is more directly engaged with the community.
Sharing experiences with others on the course was good and helped to understand and gauge the true breadth of Community Development Work. It certainly encouraged me to start looking for a new role to challenge my strengths and abilities.
What did you find most challenging?
Probably finding the time to do the course work! Also being forced to think 'outside the box' and out of our comfort zones. Parts of the work where we had to look at ourselves in terms of skills and value etc was challenging. It's always easier to observe those kinds of things in others than yourself! For me the personal challenge was "where do I want to go now?" I guess the learning brings you to a cross roads where now I need to consider how I put it fully to use and in what role.
What had the most impact on your work and professional practice for Community Development Work?
As I mentioned, my role is a more strategic approach to community development work and is based mostly around relationship building with the voluntary and community sector. Therefore probably the reflective practice. Looking at how best to approach, evaluate and reflect on work to achieve the best results. I do also come into contact with our volunteers so understanding motivations and roles has helped me with interactions with them.
What you would tell other people who were interested in doing the course?
I would and already have told people about the course and sung its praises. I feel it is a really good grounding to the methods of working and understanding the reality behind why we need to bring people together and what we can achieve if we do so successfully. There is some hard work involved in getting the course work in but taking that time to think about what I had learnt and putting it down on paper helped to reaffirm my learning. Hopefully my learning will take me forward in my career.
It was also good to network and find out what else is going on out there!
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