The evolution of the R2K Leadership School.

Every year the R2K Leadership School design improves as we reflect on our experience. Our first Leadership School in December 2013 saw 60 activists from across the country converging at a camp in the Magaliesburg for a 5 day long programme that aimed to address both thematic and technical skill training. Mornings where spent in plenary engaging panels of expert speakers and afternoons in smaller technical skills trainings (see the 1^st School programme here).

While participants reported many benefits of the School we identified a number of limitations including (1) too much ‘expert’ talk at people and not enough time for establishing existing knowledge and engaging, (2) too many participants and not enough individual attention for each, (3) no space to integrate learnings into practice and reflect on this practice, and (4) too few days to pay adequate attention to the full scope of substantive and technical skill areas.

Our 2014 Leadership School drew on the successes and limitations of the first school. The School had a far more focused and practical objective: To support the establishment of Provincial Communication Teams. A smaller number of participants (12 people, 4 per Provincial Working Group), selected by Provinces to serve on their Communication Teams, created an intimate group here every participant could receive individual attention. The School was based on an experiential methodology and ran for 3 months – kicking off with a 4 day framing session in Cape Town followed by weeks when participants implemented their learnings as part of their ‘Communication Team’ responsibilities in their provinces, and concluded with another 4 day session where participants reflected on their experience and deepen their understanding (see the 2^nd School programme here).

The smaller group size, the integration into the ongoing work of the campaign, the participatory facilitation methodology, and the weeks in between training blocks to implement and integrate learnings proved effective. However there was a challenge integrating the ‘communication teams’ into the overall ongoing Provincial programme because (1) not enough provincial activists participated and (2) provincial organisers where not included in the training.

The third R2K Leadership School – detailed below – has been conceptualised to build on the successes and address the limitations of pervious Leadership Schools.

Objective: 2015 Leadership School.

Right2Know activists are able to better understand and articulate various issues related to the right to know. They are able to more effectively organise and mobilise around the rights to access information and free expression in their various organisations and communities. The school aims to achieve the following:

1. The emergence of a core-group of activists that will be able to make linkages between struggles of the poor and focus areas of R2K work at local, provincial and other levels.
2. To anchor the building of mobilisation skills in the struggles of communities and general R2K campaigning processes.
3. To facilitate a shift away from old order mobilising methods through exploring alternative strategies of advancing campaigns through democratic and inclusive decision-making and placing stronger emphasis on accountability.
4. To stimulate the mainstreaming of a balance between theory and action in the daily campaigning around issues at the centre of grassroots struggles.

Output: 2015 Leadership School.

Thirty nine (39) R2K activist from grass roots organisations (13 per province) form Provincial Mobilisation Teams to engaging in various activities in order to deepen their understanding of the challenges facing the right to know in South Africa and enhancing their ability to defend, mobilise around and promote the free flow of information.

Each Provincially based School undertakes 12 weeks of experiential training (comprising 2 training sessions of 4 days, each followed by 6 weeks of integrating skills and learnings through the implementation of a provincial mobilisation plans.

Elements of the 2015 School Design

The envisaged 2015 School will cover the following substantive issues:

• State Secrecy: Secrecy legislation the general state of secrecy, with particular focus on securitisation of the public order police;
• Information Access & Whistleblowers: Applications and limits of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, moving beyond PAIA to open data, and the strengths and limits of the current enabling environment for whistleblowers;
• Telecommunications: Opportunities and risks in the internet age, the high cost of access to communication in South Africa;
• Media Freedom & Diversity: Principles of freedom of speech, opportunities and limits of media diversity in South Africa today, the migration to digital TV, and efforts to transform the print media industry;

The envisaged 2015 School will cover the following practical and technical skill areas:

• Organising: Recruitment, organising a meeting, internal democracy.
• Campaign Planning: Developing a campaign strategy and a campaign and mobilising plan.
• Mobilisation: Door-to-Door work, engaging local stakeholders, building a coalition, effective public speaking.
• Using media: producing posters and pamphlets, using social media effectively, using cell phones for organising.
• Engaging the media: How to approach national & community media, becoming a reliables source.
• Accessing Information: Completing and following through with a PAIA application to access information; other means of accessing information. Organising a

The 2015 Leadership School will comprise the following elements:

• Participants Selection: Participants will be selected by democratic Provincial Working groups based on a set of criteria that will include a proven commitment to the Campaign, a commitment to participating in the Provincial Mobilisation Team for the duration of the School and participation in all activities of the School;
• Curriculum Development: A consultative process to develop an initial broad curriculum for the entire School followed by consultations with individual Provinces to develop curriculum for each training block – based on participant feedback and the programmatic priorities of a given Province;
• Residential Training Sessions: Three residential training blocks of 4 days per Province (Durban, Jo‘burg, Cape Town) where participants will reflect on their practice and deepen their skills and understandings;
• Practice Sessions: Learning will be linked to practice. Action & reflection. Months of ‘school’ in between blocks where people practice what they are Each residential training session will be followed by a 6-week practice session during which participants will integrate their learnings through implementing an agreed provincial mobilisation plan with support and coaching from the School facilitator. Each province will receive a programmatic budget of R15000 per block to support their mobilisation plans.
• School evaluation: Ongoing reflection on the progress of the school formalised at the end of every residential session will feed into modification of the School design. A final evaluation at the end of the School will draw lessons for future Schools.

School Logistics

The 2015 Leadership School is to run from July to November 2015. Twelve activists and the R2K Provincial Organiser will participate in 2 training sessions of 4 days each, each interspersed with 6 weeks of supported ‘practice’ as participants implement their agreed programmes.

Participants will be selected by their Provincial Working Groups. R2K’s National Organiser will lead the initial overall curriculum development and the development of specific curriculums for each training block in each province.

The following table presents timeframes for implementation: