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amid 2010 advanced master in international development

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advanced master in international development amid 2010

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colophon advanced master in international development chair anthropology and development studies radboud university nijmegen postbus 9104 thomas van aquinostraat 4 6500 he nijmegen tel 024-3613058 fax 024-3615957 e-mail amid@maw.ru.nl internet www.ru.nl/cidin/education/advanced_master_amid/

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preface this brochure of the advanced master in international development amid serves as a guide into the vision the objectives content and organisational aspects of the programme for new trainees staff members and organisations supplying trainee posts amid is the new name for what was formerly known as the `postdoctorale opleiding ontwikkelingsstu dies pdoo this programme has been organised by the chair of anthropology and development studies of the faculty of social sciences at the radboud university of nijmegen since 1998 from 2010 onwards amid s programme will be supplied in english thus enhancing its international character the management of amid is very pleased that from 2010 onwards several trainee positions offered by the collaborating organisations will be available for international trainees from developing countries this way the diversity between trainees increases and we expect that there will be more room for southern perspectives on development issues amid is in nature a dual master programme i.e a work-training programme trainees work 4 days a week at a development organisation and attend courses 1 day a week every year a large number of dutch development organizations as well as research and knowledge centres offers about 30 trainee posts in this way recently graduated young academics can acquire relevant work experience and at the same time follow a tailor-made training besides organisational aspects concerning the programme this brochure also supplies extensive information on important principles of the programme both with respect to content as to methodology next to this brochure a study guide is published containing further details on the programming final attainment level and individual trainings study credits per training and lecturers the programming of amid is fed by internal evaluations of the programme as well as oral evaluations with employers representatives we are very grateful to the members of the education commission the trainees of former years the direct supervisors of the trainees guest trainers staff members of the faculty bureau of the social sciences faculty at the radboud university nijmegen ru and colleagues of the chair of anthropology and development studies for their critical feedback on the curriculum any suggestions concerning the programme will be gratefully received nijmegen dr ir jasmin beverwijk dr anouka van eerdewijk programme coordinators advanced master in international development anthropology and development studies radboud university nijmegen

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tell me and i will forget show me and i will remember involve me and i will understand confusius

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table of contents voorwoord 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 background vision and objectives three modules in amid collaboration employers ­ amid methodological point of departure assessment and diploma quality organisation and staff selection of trainees practical information 5 9 10 12 15 16 18 18 19 20 20

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1 background for an influx of well trained young professionals in order to create new expertise in a changing context the focus of development cooperation also changes next to a focus on direct poverty reduction through strategic funding the role of northern development agencies moved to civil society building lobbying advocay research and knowledge sharing moreover the practice of development cooperation is increasingly characterised by a businesslike approach with a tangible insight into goals and results and an increasing stress on quality and efficiency amid intends to include all these different elements in the training of young professionals dutch and international development cooperation are among the most prominent fields of expertise of the chair of anthropology and development studies an extensive tradition in applied research and direct involvement with international development processes created the knowledge experience and networks to develop the `postdoctorale opleiding ontwikkelingsstudies pdoo and to initiate the programme in 1998 from 2010 onwards the programme will continue under the english name advanced master in international development amid working in development cooperation means working in a knowledge intensive and dynamic field which is forever on the go due to the complex challenges presented to the sector the requirements to those working in the field are increasing not only has the context of the work changed ­ due to rapid political economic and socio-cultural changes worldwide ­ but so has the way in which poverty reduction is approached besides the more traditional development organisations enterprises social organisations and individuals are increasingly involved in development cooperation in addition to this new visions and ideas on civil society in development processes are arising people working in development cooperation have to dispose of specific competences they have to be able to accumulate information fast and effectively to distinguish main and side issues to make fast analyses to express themselves well orally as well as in writing and to be able to contribute in policy discussions furthermore it is important that future employees of development organisations can reflect on their own personal and professional performance as well as on the role position and capacity of their organisation amid was created following the observation that the competences of graduates from development studies ­ or related disciplines ­ were insufficiently attuned to the demand of the work field of the dutch development agencies graduates often lacked the necessary work experience and specific skills that would make them attractive for positions in this field at the same time development agencies have a need 9

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2 vision and objectives 2.1 vision amid departs from the vision that the knowledge intensive field of development cooperation in a fast changing context needs young professions with specific competences amid wants to contribute to the attainment of these competences by educating graduates to full professionals with sufficient knowledge of current and critical debates on poverty and poverty reduction and the specific role of civil society therein they also need to attain the professional skills necessary to be able to contribute to the aims and primary processes of development organisations they have an attitude directed to personal and professional growth and to learning as an individual as well as inside the organisation these competences enable young professionals to contribute constructively and critically to an academic level in the work field of development cooperation action and learning is the core notion of the amid programme with this approach amid wants to indicate that trainees will acquire practical skills both on the job and during the training sessions action that are important in the field of international development cooperation at the same time lectures from university lecturers and senior trainers will teach trainees to reflect critically on the acquired skills and to position them in a broader debate on the actual and future directions of international development cooperation learning seen the vast variety of positions filled by trainees junior programme staff members junior researchers junior policy makers they will not always be able to practice the acquired skills directly in their work reversely acquired skills will not always be critically held against the light in the academic debate point of departure is to use the work experience of all trainees in their different positions as learning material we value complementarity and enriching interaction between different work practices and theory each trainee gains ­ either through own experience or through the experience of colleague-trainees ­ insight into the activities and skills of the sector of international development cooperation and is stimulated to reflect on the execution and underlying mentality of these work practices 10 in amid personal and other s work experiences are an important ingredient of the learning process both on personal and professional levels diversity is important both in terms of the organisations supplying trainee posts to amid and in terms of the cultural and educational backgrounds of the trainees also amid decided to admit foreign trainees from 2010 onwards and to motivate development organisations to offer trainee posts to them within their organisation learning is also stimulated when one has sufficient insight into one s own stronger and weaker points therefore an individual qualities assessment forms the basis for the formulation of one s personal learning aims during the programme in amid s vision the collaboration between the university and the work field aids to bridging the gap between

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theory policy and practice this collaboration allows for making the experiences and dilemmas of the development sector part of the academic debate and for stimulating the transfer of the latest theoretical and empirical insights to policy making and implementation social economic and political contexts in this field amid has the ambition to prepare young academics for a professional career in international and national development organisations and institutions b to create a pool of talented and well qualified young professionals in order to facilitate the access of development organisations when selecting new personnel in this way amid aims at connecting the academic background and the demand of the labour market c to bridge the gap between academic research policy and practice in the amid training programme research policy and practice are integrated as much as possible 2.2 objectives the afore-mentioned vision leads towards the three following definite objectives of the training programme a to further train graduated master students through an advanced master programme to become well qualified professionals who are able to contribute in a constructive and critical way to the complex and multi-dimensional field of international development cooperation and who can anticipate in rapidly changing 11

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3 three modules in amid 2 module ii professional skills acquiring the relevant skills needed for the primary work processes of the international development organisations as well as understanding the connections between different tasks and processes and being able to reflect on them critically 3 module iii personal reflection and development being able to reflect on one s own performance and having the competences in order to continue the learning process the number of trainings of each module is represented in the table below the full programme of the running year is available on the amid website amid supplies training and deepening of understanding on three strongly connected core modules 1 academic reflection 2 professional skills and 3 personal reflection and development the choice for this set-up surges from the vision whereby the practice of northern development organisations is linked with an academic deepening and reflection on one s personal performance the three modules have the following objectives 1 module i academic reflection being able to position the working practice in academic and policy debates and starting from that perspective being able to contribute to renewal and quality reinforcement within the sector training sessions per module for the 2010 amid programme i academic reflection · policy context of dutch development aid · international actors in development aid · positioning of dutch development organisations in international development cooperation · civil society en cs building · poverty and poverty dynamics · effectiveness and impact measurement · aid architecture and changing partnership · post mdg · humanitarian aid and development · fragile states and 3ds · innovations and initiatives from the south · gender and gender mainstreaming · public private partnership · scenario planning 14 training days ii professional skills · organisations in perspectives · financial assessment · planning methodology logical framework and outcome mapping · planning monitoring and evaluation · policy cycle · lobby en advocacy · knowledge management iii personal reflection · individual quality assessment · intervision · networking and interview training · intercultural communication · individual coaching 16 training days 6 training days 12

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module i ­ academic reflection the module `academic reflection starts from academic and policy debates to examine the current practice of partnerships and networks in development processes thereby we look into the future by reflecting on the question how these partnerships will develop themselves this module exists roughly of two parts at the outset of the year the policy context of dutch and international development cooperation will be expounded attention will be paid to the history of dutch development cooperation as a whole and that of the private sector in particular we will elaborate further on tendencies in worldwide poverty visions on the origins of poverty as well as different types of poverty reduction in an international perspective during these sessions the trainees learn to position the organisations they are working with within the dutch context just before and after the summer the second part of this module seeks to deepen reflection on the actual working practice and future trends some of the sessions in this module are directed at the field of international cooperation and concern aid effectiveness and impact measurement aid architecture and changing partnership post mdg and innovations and initiatives from the south in some of the sessions the focus lies on the changes in the south in others the changes in the north are the central theme in one of the last sessions of the year the processes and changes and continuity will be brought together in a scenario planning session several trainings have a specific thematic focus and concern fragile states humanitarian aid gender and gender mainstreaming public-private partnerships the role of the private sector in development processes and free trade agreements and development module ii ­ professional skills the professional skills modules is organised around the following seven subjects 1 organisations in perspectives oip three days planning methodology two days planning monitoring and evaluation pme two days policy cycle one day lobby and advocacy two days knowledge management two days and financial assessment three days a the overall aim of the training on oip is to gain insight into how organisations and institutions actors function and operate in the field of international development cooperation trainees learn this by first of all gaining insight in the different roles and power structures of the diverse and large number of stakeholders and organisations that operate in the field of international development cooperation in addition they learn the fundamental basics of how organisations can be analysed i.e what type of organisations can be distinguished in the field of international development cooperation having gained this basic understanding of the functioning and characteristics of organisations and actors in the field of international development cooperation trainees subsequently learn practical skills on programme management i.e the assessment of the execution capacities of partner organisations the `reading of their position in civil society and the recognising of the `stage of life and the `learning skills of an organisation after this attention is paid to capacity building of development organisations b in the two-day training on planning methodology trainees learn to work with two different planning instruments logical framework and outcome-mapping trainees learn about the differences between the fundamental principles of these two instruments and to reflect on the consequences and outcome the advantages and disadvantages of using these different planning instruments c the pme trainings introduce trainees to the conceptual debates on the different planning monitoring and evaluation instruments trainees are prepared to apply them to different activities in international development cooperation i.e programme manage13

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ment research programmes knowledge management programmes and lobby and advocacy d in the policy cycle training addresses the different phases of policy processes and how and in which phase development professionals can influence development policy e in the knowledge management training trainees look at the manner in which knowledge does and can play a role in international development organizations the training introduces several knowledge management techniques and methods f in the lobby and advocacy training addresses the conditions needed for successful lobbying and advocacy and which steps can be distinguished in the lobby process g to conclude a three-days training session financial assessment teaches trainees to assess the financial capacity and status of partner organisations module iii ­ personal reflection and development the third module of the amid programme concerns personal reflection and development this module is an ongoing process throughout the year and stimulates the trainees to reflect on their performance and on positioning themselves this module begins with the so-called individual quality assessment where the trainees based on an assessment of their own strong and weak points will come to formulating individual learning aims during the course of the year several intervision meetings under professional guidance will be held in which the trainees can exchange experiences the aim of these meetings is to learn from events deepen insight into problems arising in working life and broaden the scope of solutions the discussions on work experiences between the trainees gives them the chance to stimulate each other in balancing requests from work and the amid programme just before the summer trainees are offered the possibility to an individual coaching session where they can further explore relevant matters concerning their work the training intercultural communication teaches the trainees to reflect on their personal presentation how do others see you and to operate in networks composed of a wide variety of stakeholders who all have their proper cultural background how do you read the interests of different stakeholders trainees need to learn how to use these skills in an intercultural setting in the fall the programme offers an interview and network training to the trainees giving them a basis for better orientation on the labour market on the individual level the coherence between the different items of the module personal reflection and development is guaranteed through the reflection report that the trainees need to write at the end of the year these seven units of the module professional skills will be conducted by different trainers in order to promote the coherence of the different units some of the sessions will be accompanied by several trainers 14

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4 collaboration employers amid trainee posts during the year 2010 the following organisations/institutions take part in the programme · agri-profocus arnhem · care nederland the hague · cidin nijmegen · cordaid the hague · dgis ministry of foreign affairs the hague · edukans amersfoort · hivos the hague · icco/kerk in actie utrecht · ics international child support nunspeet · liliane fonds den bosch · maatwerk bij terugkeer utrecht · mama cash amsterdam · oxfam novib the hague · press now hilversum · stichting dark&blind veenendaal · vng international the hague · vereniging pso the hague · wageningen international wageningen the supervisors of the development organisations and coordinators of amid have regular contact about the job responsibilities and the learning process of the trainee twice a year a meeting is arranged between the direct responsible supervisor of the trainee one of the amid programme coordinators and the trainee her/himself these conversations take place at the beginning of the programme januaryfebruary and before or after the summer holidays june-july and august amid is a dual master programme i.e a learn-work trajectory this means that dutch development agencies or institutions employ one or more trainees for one year ­ from january to the end of december ­ and set them to work as regular junior staff members under the supervision of a senior at the same time the trainees participate in training at the chair of anthropology and development studies at the radboud university of nijmegen trainees work four days a week for the organisations at a so called trainee post one day a week they participate in training sessions in nijmegen the exact job descriptions of the trainee differ according organisation and position some positions focus on programme and/or project management others mainly concentrate on research policy or networking some of the positions will be a combination of the above mentioned although a main focus will be indicated in the job description in the first year of existence of the programme 1998 nine students were selected out of the development studies graduates from the ru nijmegen since then students of other universities and training centres took part in the programme through the years the number of trainees increased until about 30 trainees for every programme year due to the entry of new employers the basis of the programme broadened the current offer of trainee post within amid is a good reflection of the diversity that has marked the sector in the course of the last years the development organisation remunerates the trainee with a salary equal to the official minimum wage pays for the travel costs and also covers the fee of the amid programme 8.100 in 2010 regular employer/employee relations are applicable the right and duties of the employer the trainee and amid are secured in the `framework agreement advanced master in international development 15

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5 methodological point of departure learning the composition of the groups will vary in order to promote interaction between all trainees and set the dynamic process of learning in motion up to some point tailor-made support for individual trainees within amid is possible this can be reflected on during the intervision sessions the `case work during the programme and the master product at the end of the programme action and learning is a core principle that lies at the basis of amid with this approach amid wants to indicate that ­ on the job as well as during the training sessions ­ the trainees acquire a lot of different practical skills action that are important in the field of development cooperation during the training and by reading academic literature the trainees learn to reflect critically on the acquired skills and to position them and those of their colleague trainees in a wider debate on current and future directions of international development cooperation learning however as the work practice is in constant movement trainees need to fulfil new roles in the organisations moreover as not all tasks are fulfilled in every position not every trainee may be able to apply work experience in each training it is important for the trainee to learn that a wide variety of different activities play a central role within development organisations and that the ideas and core principles that form the basis of those activities have their consequences for the development processes in order to guarantee the scientific character of the programme amid intends to meet the academic criteria as incorporated in the strategic plan of the radboud university 2009-2013 the three core criteria are 1 the training is related to current national and international scientific research 2 the programme is carried out by lecturers involved in scientific research and 3 students are trained based on scientific research with knowledge and theories that they can apply in practice and critically reflect on the active participation of all trainees is of great importance for shaping action and learning participative learning comes into being when trainees actively introduce their work experience and expertise and share it with other trainees and under the supervision of senior trainers learn to reflect thereon en further deepen their insight of the content the amid trainings are diverse in format and include lectures discussions working groups assignments role-playing and scenario-planning the group of trainees will regularly be divided into smaller groups in order to accommodate participative and active 16 rapport between work ­ training a good rapport between the activities at the organisation and the modules within the programme is of great importance for the amid trainees in order to maximize the complementarity between work and learning trainees are requested to have read specific documents or have executed certain activities before a certain date for the year 2010 the actual moments of rapport are as follows week 3-7 6 subject introduction meeting between amid coordinator supervisor work and trainee having read the general policy document and eventually regional or thematic documents of the employing organisation having dealt with some programme or project applications discussing a research question for the master product with the employer hand in the proposal for the master product having read at least two evaluation reports having studied at least two financial reports hand in group assignment mid term meeting between amid coordinator supervisor work and trainee job evaluation interview employer-trainee submission individual assignment tor or concept note submission letter of application with cv hand in draft version of the master product hand in final version of the master product hand in reflection report assessment interview employer-trainee 8 9 12 14 23 23-36 24-26 28 40 40-41 44 45 48­49

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