We piloted economics crash courses in communities across the UK. Here’s how they went.
“What has particularly interested me? Everything I’ve learned, from the first session to this last session.”- Julia, Manor House Economics Crash Course
Over the last year I’ve been planning and rolling out our first community courses in economics across the UK. Last time I wrote, we were still figuring out where we would run the courses, and how exactly we’d do it. Nine months and thirty-two satisfied ‘Citizen Economists’ later, here are my reflections on how the courses have gone…
Preparing for the courses
Back at the beginning of this year, we set out ensuring the course content would work in a community setting. We made sure the course related to people’s lives, was as accessible as possible, and aligned with our learning objectives. Read more about them and the wider project here.
Then in March, we began recruiting our (superstar) volunteers to facilitate the courses. Originally we’d planned for just one volunteer facilitator to run each course, but we upped this to two, to create a more dynamic experience for our participants, and a more manageable workload for our volunteers. We aimed to team up volunteers with an economics background with those with facilitation experience. This combo of skills and knowledge meant that facilitators could stay on top of the content, while making sure the sessions ran smoothly, were jargon and waffle free(!), and importantly, stuck to time!
Here’s Sophie, who after attending an inspiring facilitator training weekend, went on to facilitate a brilliant course at Victoria Park Community Centre in London.
As well as Victoria Park Community Centre, courses took place at Manor House Development Trust and Shoreditch Trust in London, and at Levenshulme Inspire in Manchester. Running some of the courses in London and therefore close to our office meant that we were at hand to support where needed, while the Manchester course allowed us to see how running a course at a distance would work. Here’s the Manchester group after their session on economics in the workplace:
Who attended the courses?
We wanted to reach people who might not usually get the chance to study economics, and who say they don’t know much about it. We’re not going to lie- it was difficult persuading people that a course on economics could be fun, but once we got them there, they kept coming back! Participants were from all walks of life; from young people out of work, to retired people in temporary accommodation. While two thirds of economics students at university are men, two-thirds of Crash Course participants were women, and half of them were women of colour.
How the courses went
“I know today’s the last lesson, and I thought “Oh what a shame! Before this I probably wasn’t tapping into this type of topic- I’ve gained a lot of awareness.” “ Karen, Manor House Crash Course
People really enjoyed the mixture of games, discussion, and interactive activities, and they valued a chance to talk with other people about issues from why housing is so expensive, to how money is made. Over sixty percent of those that completed the course rated it nine out of nine for satisfaction- not bad going! Participants also rated their understanding and confidence around economics better after the course than before it- on average they’d moved up two points on a nine point scale.
Here are some inspiring things participants said about the course:
“It’s been an eye opener. It will help me vote for the right party.”
“Days have flown by, and the course is very accessible.”
“What a journey of discovery! I learned new techniques to apply to the economy.”
“It’s been mindblowing. I really found the information on debt fascinating.”
“Enlightenment is the word I’d use to describe the course. It’s been interesting listening to others’ views.”
Find out more and stay in touch
The Guardian’s Senior Economics Commentator, Aditya Chakrabortty came to our very first Crash Course session, and wrote a great article on the Manchester course in the Guardian, where you can also find a nifty video about the Manor House course. You can also listen to this BBC Radio 4 show Economics 101, where the Financial Times’ Chief Economics Editor Martin Wolf interviews Economy and argues why things like our Crash Courses are so important.
We’re spending the next few months improving the Crash Courses based on feedback. We’re aiming to run fifteen new and improved courses next year across the UK. We’re looking for organisations and communities to run them with, and are particularly keen on reaching communities whose voices are less often heard in discussions about the economy. If a community you work with is interested in partnering with us, or if you’d like to volunteer to run a course, get in touch at workshops[at]ecnmy[dot]org. Otherwise, watch this space!
