Community Arts Principles and Philosophy Training

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the key principles and philosophy of community arts, including participation, empowerment, and social transformation.
• Analyze the historical and theoretical foundations of community arts practice in South Africa and globally.
• Apply ethical, inclusive, and culturally sensitive approaches when facilitating community arts projects.
• Evaluate the impact of community arts on individual and community well-being, identity, and social change.
• Design a community arts project plan that reflects the principles of collaboration, co-creation, and community ownership.
• Demonstrate reflective practice by critically assessing one's own facilitation methods and community engagement strategies.

Target Audience

This course is designed for community arts practitioners, facilitators, project coordinators, and cultural workers who engage with communities through arts-based initiatives. It is also suitable for educators, social workers, and development practitioners seeking to integrate community arts into their work.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

Practical sessions provide hands-on experience in community engagement, facilitation, and project design. Learners apply theoretical concepts through simulated community scenarios, workshop facilitation, and developing a mini-project plan, ensuring they can translate principles into practice.

Practical Activities

• Community Needs Assessment Simulation — Learners conduct a mock needs assessment using role-play and asset mapping exercises in a simulated community setting. (4h)
• Participatory Workshop Facilitation — Learners design and facilitate a short participatory arts workshop (e.g., drama, visual arts) for a peer group, incorporating inclusive techniques. (6h)
• Project Proposal Development and Presentation — Learners work in groups to develop a mini community arts project proposal, including budget, timeline, and evaluation plan, then present it for peer feedback. (8h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.