New voluntary sector leadership courses
The CVSL offers a fresh take on leadership in the voluntary sector, exploring everyday practices, and the actions and interactions that ultimately get things done. On this page you'll find information about free learning materials from the CVSL, see the CVSL page on OpenLearn for recommended content from OpenLearn on relevant topics.
The CVSL's leadership courses draw on cutting edge research and real life cases to explore:
- the distinctiveness of leadership in a voluntary sector context
- the kind of leadership practices most needed in voluntary organisations
- contemporary understandings of leadership and their relevance for people at all levels of the sector.
Introducing leadership in voluntary organisations
Please note that this course has been updated and migrated to OpenLearn and enrolment on this version of the course is now switched off for new enrolments. If you are already studying the course here, your enrolment will not be transferred to the OpenLearn version and you can complete studying this version of the course.
The new version of the course on OpenLearn is at Developing leadership in voluntary organisations.
Approximately 15 hours of learning
This free course provides an opportunity for people who work within voluntary organisations, as paid employees or staff, to develop energetic, practical and thoughtful leadership practice. The course explores this rich concept from a number of different perspectives but emphasises that any group of willing people is capable of energetic leadership. Learners will gain insights and practices to facilitate stepping into leadership. Core to the course will be developing a vibrant community of leadership within the voluntary sector, one that connects the academic, voluntary and political worlds, bringing together people committed to fresh thinking.
Collaborative leadership in voluntary organisations
Please note that this course has been updated and migrated to OpenLearn and enrolment on this version of the course is now switched off for new enrolments. If you are already studying the course here, your enrolment will not be transferred to the OpenLearn version and you can complete studying this version of the course.
The new version of the course on OpenLearn is at Collaborative leadership in voluntary organisations.
Approximately 24 hours of learning
This free course helps learners to reflect on and develop collaborative leadership practices that will make a difference. Collaborative leadership has achieved prominence in recent times as a way of moving beyond the figure of the leader to ways of leading that engage and energise a wider group of people. Leadership is conceptualised as something that crosses organisational and sectoral boundaries. Exploring the dynamics, contexts and practices of collaborative leadership, the course will introduce new concepts and practices. It draws on a range of contemporary issues and case studies from the voluntary sector, so that learning takes place in an intimate relationship with lived practice. The course is aimed at people who work within voluntary organisations as paid staff or as volunteers or for people who work regularly with voluntary organisations, such as public sector staff or politicians.
By completing the course you have the opportunity to earn a free badge.
Involving Volunteers
Approximately 14 hours of learning
This is a short course on volunteering developed by Volunteer Scotland and the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership at The Open University Business School. This course is about the essential things you need to consider to ensure a positive experience for individuals engaging in volunteering.
- Ronald Macintyre under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Keeping Volunteers Safe
COVID-19 had and continues to have a profound effect on all aspects of peoples lives, including volunteering and volunteer programmes. Keeping Volunteers Safe is a short course developed by Volunteer Scotland with support from the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership which reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on volunteer programmes. The course sets out a series of questions and considerations drawn from Volunteer Scotland discussions with volunteer managers as a way to help volunteer practitioners to examine how they will respond to COVID-19. The course is a work in progress, changing as the context changes, and is not prescriptive about what to do and what not to do, instead, it encourages practitioners to reflect on what is appropriate in their context.
Try this courseCourse
10 hrs
- Matthew Driver under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Introducing leadership in voluntary organisations
This free course provides an opportunity for people who work within voluntary organisations, as paid employees or staff, to develop energetic, practical and thoughtful leadership practice. Approximately 15 hours; Introductory level After studying this course the learner will be able to: • approach leadership in a more energetic and thoughtful way • discuss approaches to leadership in relation to a number of pressing concerns relevant to voluntary organisations • practise leadership in a more robust way, through drawing on some key practices • offer a critique of dominant approaches to leadership in relation to cases from the voluntary sector • discuss and reflect on leadership in the voluntary sector in relation to ethics • articulate a form of leadership rooted in practice between diverse groups of people and contexts.
Try this courseCourse
15 hrs
- Matthew Driver under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Collaborative leadership in voluntary organisations
This free course helps learners to reflect on and develop collaborative leadership practices that will make a difference. Approximately 24 hours; Intermediate level After studying this course the learner should be able to: • describe the context and need for collaborative forms of leadership • describe the range of different leadership identities suggested by collaborative settings and the power relationships implied in these identities • plan and think about the challenges of leading collaborations • experiment with a range of practices of collaborative leadership • practice collaborative leadership in a more robust way • offer a critique of collaborative leadership in relation to its potential and limitations for leadership of voluntary organisations • discuss and reflect on collaborative leadership in the voluntary sector in relation to power.
Try this courseCourse
24 hrs
- Ronald Macintyre under Creative Commons - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International
Involving Volunteers
This course is about the essential things which need to be considered to ensure a positive experience of volunteering. It asks you to consider those essentials, explore them in your own context and develop an approach to enabling them that is proportionate to that context. The course is structured around the volunteer’s perspective, from thinking about volunteering, through getting started and making a difference, to building on a successful experience. In each of the four sections overlapping phases of the volunteer journey we ask you to consider the issues raised, explore then reflect on them in your context, and develop an appropriate plan.
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14 hrs