Building Programs for ‘Beneficiaries’… or Building Power for them? Who Designs Learning?
We often speak about community engagement, participation, and systems change. In practice, decision-making in education and social impact remains largely centralized and adult-led.
This session explores that tension.
At its core is a simple but critical proposition: the effectiveness of any intervention is not defined only by what is delivered, but by who shapes it and how decisions are made.
Rather than presenting a model, this session creates space for reflection. It invites participants to examine how power shows up in the design of programmes, particularly those intended to serve children in underserved communities, and to question assumptions that often go unchallenged.
The session will begin with a framing question and a grounded story from work with Start A Library Trust in Kenya. From there, participants will engage in guided reflection on common sector beliefs, including whether more resources always lead to better outcomes, and whether children are meaningfully included as contributors in shaping the solutions that affect them.
Drawing on practical experience, the session will also explore shifts in approach, from infrastructure-heavy models to more cost-efficient ones, from isolated delivery to ecosystem engagement, and from adult-led design to child-informed approaches. These are not presented as answers, but as prompts to rethink how design decisions are made.
The session closes with a reflective exercise, inviting participants to reconsider their roles not only as implementers, but as designers of systems that distribute or retain power.
Who this is for
This session is for educators, funders, nonprofit leaders, and practitioners interested in education, systems change, and community-led design.
What you will get out of it
A deeper understanding of how power shapes programme design
Space to reflect on assumptions about participation and effectiveness
Insight into alternative approaches to designing with, not for, communities
Practical prompts to rethink your role in shaping systems and decision-making
This session is for those willing to question how things are done, and to explore what it would take to design learning in ways that truly center children.
Location & access
Accessibility matters deeply to us, and we do our best to choose spaces that reflect that. That said, some of our Oxford venues are in historic buildings without lifts. This room is unfortunately not accessible for wheelchair users, those with mobility challenges, or anyone needing step-free access.