The activist tools in this manual are proven techniques that unlock our capacity to educate, to build collective power, and to make a change. The tool box includes: telling your story, journaling, meditation, public speaking for activists, one-on-one interviews, consciousness-raising groups, choosing winning words and slogans, starting successful cooperatives, capturing media attention, leadership training, critical study, and unpacking privilege.

Start Level 1

Start-up Guide

Facilitation Notes

Each module is designed to last a little more than two hours. This study guide can be used in at least six ways:

1. A group can meet weekly for two-and-a-half hour sessions for 10 weeks.
2. A group can meet for two intense weekends (10 hours each weekend).
3. It can be used as a five-day intensive training course.
4. It can be used as remote video conferencing for two-and-a-half hour sessions for 10 weeks with learners scattered in different locations (using a program like Zoom).
5. The content can be filmed to make an online distance learning course available for people to take at their convenience (with no discussion).
6. The manual can be read like a book (with no discussion).

Organizing a Study Circle

Some study groups fail because they are conducted poorly, with unfocused discussions and a few dominant voices. Other groups end after a few weeks because the participants are only studying; they’re not doing anything. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. called this “paralysis of analysis,” forever studying the issues and never acting. To avoid these problems, Tools to Change the World: Level 1 is designed to be democratic, and to encourage real sharing. It inspires participants to start concrete work that will lead to a more just world society.

Group Size and Mix: We hope that everyone who likes this manual will feel confident enough to organize study circles. Invite friends, colleagues, and members of organizations you belong to. Use social media like Facebook and Meetup, and post flyers at strategic places in your neighborhood.
Generally, the best size for a study circle group is about 10. Ten members are enough to take on practical duties and to provide enough diversity to have good discussions. A group with fewer than eight members places an overly large burden on each person, especially if some people drop out over time. On the other hand, it is very difficult to have a discussion in too large of a group. With more than 17 people, it is best to split into two separate groups.

This study guide is geared toward adults. Some high school students are mature enough to engage with these concepts and ideas, but younger people typically are not.

How Much Time for Each Module? Most groups meet once a week. This works well and helps the group maintain focus and momentum. A group focused more intensely on study, such as a college class, might meet twice a week. Other groups, with members who have many other commitments, might decide to meet less often. However, we recommend that you meet at least twice a month so that the group maintains cohesion and members do not lose track of ideas from earlier sessions.

We realize that sessions shorter than two-and-a-half hours may work better for some people and that longer sessions may be tiring. However, anything less than two-and-a-half hours will make the group feel rushed, will reduce the quantity and quality of discussion, and will make the exercises impractical.

We encourage groups to have a short break in longer sessions.

Meeting Place: A good meeting place is one that is easy to find and travel to, and large enough with enough chairs for everyone. It should also be private and quiet, so members can speak freely and without distraction.

Set the chairs up in a rough circle so everyone can see one another. Have a large easel (or a chair and a board set up as an easel), blackboard, whiteboard, or a blank wall where the group can record notes on large pieces of paper (“wall charts”). Or you can use a laptop computer and a projector. The living room in a private home, or a meeting room at a library, church, community center, or labor hall are all good places. Restaurants, bars, and social clubs are usually noisy and distracting. If you meet at a member’s home, you may want to change to a different house each session so that no one person is burdened by hosting the group repeatedly.

Punctuality: Start each session on time and end on time. If people come late, they will miss out. The initial activities of each module are designed to function well even if some members have not yet arrived. Don’t punish those who arrive on time by forcing them to wait for latecomers. Close on time, too, so that participants can get to their next appointments on time.

Expectations: Study circles work well when participants commit to the process and to the other members. Each person should agree to:

Try their best to attend all ten sessions for the full time (two-and-a-half hours each).
Read the assigned module before each session.
Participate honestly in discussions and exercises.
Work with others cooperatively.
Sometimes accept an additional role as facilitator, timekeeper, etc.
Do as many additional readings and viewings as possible.
Do as many activities as possible.
Deliver good, succinct presentations to the group.

Despite people’s best intentions, events sometimes prevent them from fulfilling all their commitments. Still, Tools to Change the World is important. By committing to this challenge to learn and use these tools, the course stays relevant, interesting, inspiring, and fun.

In Which Country and Year Do You Live? Both the authors of this Study Guide are in the United States, so most of the examples and supporting statistics are from there. We used the most current data we could find in 2018. We strongly encourage facilitators to look up relevant current data in each module from your region and country.

The Design of Each Module

Excitement Sharing: “What is something good that has happened in your life since we last met? Or would anyone like to read from your journal or share your recent activities?” The first module explains journaling as an activist tool. Indirectly, it encourages note-taking. More importantly, it causes everyone to reflect on the ideas and tools of the course outside of the meetings. Everyone does not have to say something in Excitement Sharing every week. This section should be limited to 5-10 minutes.

The Social Reality: This is a short five-minute presentation about a particular social problem in our world, such as poverty, hunger, unemployment, debt, crime and corruption, pollution and climate
change, etc.

The Social Reality Discussion Question: Then each person takes a minute to express how the problem directly or indirectly impacts her or him. The facilitator concludes by saying, “Excuse me, please, but we’re going to end this discussion now because, as usual in this course, we want to focus on the solutions.” (10 minutes).

Cooperative Game: These are team-building exercises that create powerful, safe learning experiences. Cooperative games help participants interact and share, gain self-confidence, improve collaboration, and develop genuine compassion for others. As Bill Ayers said, these are “cooperative calisthenics, little exercises to prepare us for the huge changes that are essential to our survival on this earth” (Maheshvarananda 2017, 1). (Bill Ayers is a social justice organizer and activist, a teacher and former Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago; in the 1960s he co-founded the radical Weather Underground.) (10-15 minutes).

Prout’s Vision: The analysis and vision of Prout are powerful tools for changing the world. Social problems are inter-connected and caused by an exploitative global economic system. The fundamentals of Prout help us understand the root causes of social and economic problems. Prout’s Vision for a better way to organize the economy, government, medicine, agriculture, education, the workplace, and other fields clarifies not only what we’re against, but even more importantly, what we stand for. (20 minutes).

Discussion Questions: After the presentation, the group can discuss some of the questions. There is no need to discuss them all—different people will find some questions more interesting than others.

The facilitator can also ask different questions. There are no right or wrong answers. The questions prompt participants to think about the ideas in the module, and so each reply will be, by definition, their honest opinion. One way to do this is to go around the group, allowing each person a chance to answer, and starting with a different person each time. Explain that anyone can pass if they want more time to think, and also can give their opinion at the end if they think of something later. Only after everyone has answered, will people be allowed to speak again.

Activist Tools: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” – Karl Marx. The twelve activist tools included in this manual are proven techniques that unlock our capacity to educate, to build collective power and to make change. Grassroots community organizing skills are mighty arms, even when the wealthy and powerful oppose us. Learning and practicing
these activist tools empower us to do something concrete.

Activist Tool Exercise: The activist skills include an exercise to practice using the tool together.

Self Reflection: At the end of each module, the facilitator answers the question, “How do you feel you did?” After answering, he or she has the option of asking the other members to also give constructive
feedback.

Written Feedback: Written anonymous feedback forms are also very helpful. Ask participants to fill them out on the spot before they leave, while the experience is still fresh in their minds.

Activities: There are further activities, some of which involve community research projects, showing how the Prout Vision applies to your situation. The more activities that you do, alone or in groups, the
more engaged you will become.

Further Readings and Viewings: These are articles and videos freely available on the Internet that participants can access in order to further their learning experience.

Democratic Group Process

The Progressive Utilization Theory is comprehensive, addressing politics, economics, culture, history, psychology, and much more. Its founder, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, dictated approximately 1,500 pages on
Prout. Because of the breadth of the material, few people feel confident to teach it. Many people have learned a little and like what they find, yet always look for an experienced Proutist to lead any discussion about Prout. If none is available, Prout discussions do not take place. To overcome this difficulty, Tools to Change the World is designed to empower anyone to start a democratic study group. As the great Brazilian revolutionary educator Paulo Freire insisted, we all have different kinds of knowledge, so by sharing, we will always learn. To keep the group on track while preventing anyone from dominating the discussion or decision- making, the participants should take on the following roles in rotation:

Convener and Host: This is the one who starts the Study Circle and recruits participants. They arrange the logistics of the first meeting, arrange child care, welcome everyone when they arrive, and usually facilitate that first meeting to show the group how it’s done. Afterwards the role of host can also rotate.

Facilitator: Each week a different participant will be encouraged to prepare and present, in his or her own words, the material for the following module. The facilitator should:

Plan: With the assistant facilitator, develop a meeting agenda. Set time limits for each item, based on this study guide, the desires of the group, and feedback from the previous meeting. Before the meeting, display the agenda with time limits on a large wall chart in the meeting room. Start and end the meeting on time.
Apply Agreements: At the beginning of the meeting, review the agenda and time limits with the group. Make any changes the group desires and agrees on together. Throughout the meeting, keep the group on task. Suggest when it is appropriate to move on to the next agenda item. If the group expresses a desire to change the agenda, help the group make a new agreement, and then enforce it.
Guide: Introduce each agenda item or ask someone else to do so. Remind the group when they have strayed from the agenda, perhaps by asking if they want to return. Keep reports, discussion, and brainstorming sessions within agreed-upon time limits.
Encourage: Help everyone share in the discussion. Be sensitive to reserved people being cut off or intimidated by more outgoing folks. Encourage those who have not participated much to speak more and encourage those who talk a lot to listen more and speak less. Help the other members of the group who have taken on roles to do their jobs.
Monitor: Be sensitive to the feelings of the group members. Note expressions of emotion or uneasiness, which may indicate that some change in the process is needed.
Reveal: Try to get important but unspoken frustrations, needs, fears, expectations, etc., out in the open so they can be dealt with directly and with respect. “Hidden agendas” are often an important source of failure and frustration in groups. Summarize at times what has been said including disagreements, and ask the group, “Is that accurate?” This reassures people that they have been heard.
Sort: Suggest ways to separate unlike ideas and group together similar ideas. Point out agreements and disagreements.
Synthesize: Suggest ways that solutions or ideas can be melded together. Different approaches may reinforce one another.
Suggest Directions: Focus the discussion by suggesting a particular order. Begin with one item, and then proceed to others.
Mediate: When people seem unable to hear each other, ask them to repeat in their own words what they think they heard. Then ask if the speaker felt it was an accurate restatement of what they meant. If not, invite the person to rephrase the idea until everyone understands.

Assistant Facilitator: This person assists the facilitator in all duties and is the backup if the facilitator is unable to come. Typically, the assistant facilitator will become the facilitator for the next module.

Timekeeper: This is a crucial, yet delicate role. No one likes to be interrupted when they are speaking. When an engaging discussion or an exciting activity is underway, participants will naturally want to continue. The timekeeper should give people a minute or two of warning, mainly during reports, so that they can use the rest of their time wisely. The role of the timekeeper is to gently remind the speaker or the group when the allotted time is over and to ask if the group wants an extension. If the consensus is yes, the timekeeper should either suggest ten more minutes or ask the group how much longer they
want to spend on this discussion.

Recorder: This person writes notes on the wall chart when it is useful to the group. This may include recording agenda changes, important facts or ideas mentioned in reports, brainstormed ideas for action, ideas proposed in the evaluation section, etc. Despite the best efforts of the recorder, it is sometimes difficult to recognize important ideas that should be recorded as they come up. So it is useful to have a separate piece of paper posted to the side where anyone can record thoughts if she or he feels the need.