Social Learning Fellows

a certificate program

Develop your identity, legitimacy, skills and expertise as a leader of social learning

Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra

Photo by MG PHOTO

In short ...

This is a one-year program where your project-at-work drives the learning. In completing the program you join a community of fellows in social learning leadership. During the year you engage in monthly sessions among a small cohort and in monthly individual coaching sessions. The program culminates in a panel session to share your learning with experts in your field.

The program

Concepts like community of practice, social learning, and social learning space have become popular buzzwords. But there is a risk that they are being used so loosely as to become meaningless or applied in ways that are destined not to work.

The purpose of the certificate program is to form a cadre of people versed in the theory and practice of the field. It is a challenging program that involves participation in workshops and learning sessions, as well as one year of project coaching. The project may include working with one or more communities of practice, leading a social learning initiative, carrying out an evaluation, or conducting a study.

Successful completion of the program will lead to a certificate that recognizes a person’s understanding of the principles of the field and ability to lead a social-learning initiative, including developing strategies, cultivating communities and networks, and monitoring value creation.

Who can join?

The certificate program is for learning professionals who want to be at the forefront of their field, including:

  • Conveners, leaders, and co-ordinators of communities and networks
  • Chief Learning Officers designing a social learning strategy
  • Evaluators doing a substantial assessment of a community or network
  • Sponsors of a community of practice initiative
  • PhD students undertaking some research in this area
  • Trainers or coaches to community leaders

You will meet people from different sectors, jobs and organizations who will be able to share their perspectives on your project.

The key to participation is having a concrete project to work on, significant enough to challenge you and everyone involved in the program. Preferably, it is something you have to do anyway for your work. We will be discussing project(s) you propose as part of the application process. 

How it unfolds

Phase 1

  • Participate in at least one workshop hosted by the Social Learning Lab
  • Articulate your project-at-work, the context, and the difference you are trying to make

Phase 2

  • One year of coaching for your project-at-work and implementing the tools, approaches, and methods introduced in the workshop 
  • Monthly video-conferences covering the key dimensions of social learning leadership (theory and practice)
  • Peer mentoring

Phase 3

  • Participate in a second workshop of you choice
  • Design a presentation of your journey as a social learning leader
  • Engage with a panel review consisting of the two of us, two other other fellows and if you want, one or two external guests (managers or experts in your field)

Phase 4

  • After completing the certificate, join a community of fellow social learning leaders
  • You will be invited to join some of the future activities of each new cohort
  • Participate in at least two panel reviews of future fellows

Cost

The cost for the whole program is USD 9,500. This price includes participation in two workshops hosted by the Social Learning Lab. At least one should be in person.

It is also possible to pay for the two workshops separately if it works better for you. In this case, the cost is USD 6,700. In particular, this allows people to decide to join the fellows program after participating in a workshop. This workshop will then count toward the program.

We offer a limited number of partial scholarships for people whose circumstances make our prices prohibitive. A link to the scholarship request is available with the program application.

Current fellows in social learning leadership

Welcome to our friends and colleagues who completed the program and presented their portfolio to managers or experts in their field. The date refers to the date of their panel review. Their title refers to their job title at that time.