Community Organizing Class Analysis

Taking this class in community organizing has been surprisingly gratifying. Prior to taking it, I just saw it as a requirement I had to fulfill in order to graduate. I was not interested in community organizing. However, as the weeks when on my perspective in the class and the subject of community organizing changed. I have learned valuable lessons from this class that I will take with me throughout my career as a social worker in the field.
One of the lessons I learned was the iron rule which is to Never do for others what they can do for themselves. This is something that I will take with me throughout my career because I can apply it whether I am doing micro work or macro work. The lesson I take from this rule is that the important thing to do is to empower people. To empower individuals through micro practice or empower people through macro practice for example in organizing. Putting in practice this rule will help me develop into a leader in whatever direction I decide to take my career.

However, even though I see myself working at a micro level directly with individuals and families there is a second lesson I take from this class.

The second lesson is that if I really want to become a good social worker I need to be open to all the areas of social work that including the macro aspect. I should not only focus on one thing but rather get involved in the bigger issues related to the field. I also take from this class the importance of becoming involved in our own community. Due to the Consensus Building Plan assignment I feel closer to my community and more eager to get involved than before. I want to take what I have learned in this class and put it in practice in my community and hope to contribute to making it a better

place.
Nonetheless, I can also make a change my clients if I am working in a micro level and yet also focus in macro issues. In order to do this, I need to get involve in issues that are affecting the population I work with. For example, in my internship I work with adults with Developmental Disabilities. Even though I work with them individually if I wanted to do something for them that could possibly affect them at a macro level. I would need to advocate for issues or policies that affect them. For example, an issue that adults with Developmental Disabilities struggle with is medical coverage for resources they need. Due to budget cuts many of their resources have been cut. Therefore, as a social worker and based on what I have learned in this class my responsibility is to not only work with my clients individually through my agency but also find ways to advocate for them. These are to main things I take from this class. One to always keep the iron rule and never do for other what they can do for themselves and secondly is to be open to all areas of social work.