U3A Victoria Learning Initiative
CREATE A COURSE PROGRAM - Design a course for your local U3A, a collaborative approach
Commenced! The inaugural Create a Course three-day program began on 16 March 2026 with twelve U3A members. Six from rural, regional Victoria and six from Melbourne and surrounding suburbs. This is an opt in program with participants registering their intent with the proposed content of their course. The proposed courses covered a range of topics with no two the same. There were five with health and well-being as the focus; three English language courses; two with an arts focus; one with a language other than English; and one on AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Why? Local U3As, through discussions with U3A Victoria, identified a need for more courses and more facilitators. The purpose of this program is to increase the number of courses in local U3As throughout Victoria by establishing a model that supports members to develop courses, based on their passion and expertise and implement in their local area.
Who? The target group is U3A members who have knowledge or a lived experience in a topic and are passionate about sharing it. They either want to design or refine a course for their local U3A. Four participants in the Create a Course Program are currently facilitators with two having designed courses for U3As previously. The Create a Course Program was open to first time or experienced facilitators.
How? At the heart of the Create a Course Program is a Community of Practice, defined as: A Community of Practice is a group of people who share a common interest in a topic. The focus is sharing best practice and creating new knowledge to advance practice. An essential element is ongoing communication, consultation, and collaboration to meet individual, group, and U3A goals. U3A Victoria
Features: Collaborative, highly interactive, practical; 3-day program, one day per month to establish deeper connections between participants with time to build a quality course during and between sessions; face to face - create time and space for deeper connections to be established; protocols - to create depth, efficiency and equity for sharing and feedback; flexibility - reflection at the end of each day to influence future planning; Teams workspace established to access information, share and collaborate during and beyond the Create a Course Program.
This was the plan for day one - Clarifying and Shaping Ideas, Scoping a Course
- Let’s get to know each other
- Let’s get started
- Features of a quality U3A course
- Principles of Facilitating Learning U3A Victoria
- Lunch
- Community of Practice
- Creating a course examples – structures
- Let’s continue
- Reflection
- Before the next session
Here is the original overview for days two and three.
Session 2: Monday 27 April – Designing Engaging Sessions
Session 3: Monday 25 May –Sharing, Refining, Promoting Approaches, Getting Ready to Implement
What? By the end of the three months participants: have a clear, well-structured U3A course ready to offer locally; understand adult learning principles relevant to U3A members; have an increased awareness of diversity and inclusion as it relates to U3A members; be confident in facilitating discussion-based learning; have received peer feedback and support; leave with session plans, outlines, and promotional text; and are an active member of a Community of Practice – Create a Course.
In conclusion, as facilitator and creating my own course as part of this program I found Day One to be a learning experience on many levels: ideas shared, feedback given, always respectfully and constructively in a room filled with knowledge, passion and curiosity.
Cathy Beesey, Chair Education – Learning Initiatives, U3A Victoria