Each and every action can have an impact as part of your advocacy.
One thing is for sure: there aren’t many activists like Malala Yousafzai.
Ever since I learned about her advocacy for girls’ right to education, which she carried out despite the terrible thing that happened to her in 2012, I’ve had a deep admiration for her.
I mean, she is younger than me, and she has already done so much, especially for women and children in her homeland.
With the hope that I’ll find some motivation and learn about effective advocacy strategies, I decided to take Malala’s MasterClass.
In the following paragraphs, I’ll tell you more about the content, highlights, and target audience and give you my honest opinion of the course.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
What is the Malala Yousafzai MasterClass?
“Malala Yousafzai Teaches Creating Change” is an online course offered by MasterClass, a popular online learning platform known for its team of well-known instructors.
The course is taught by Malala Yousafzai, a young activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and the founder of Malala Fund, a non-profit organization that advocates for girls’ education.
In her MasterClass, Malala talks about her journey of becoming an advocate for women’s education and shares advice on how to begin an advocating journey of your own. She talks about research, strategy, and collaboration, offering helpful tips that will help you make an impact.
She also talks to fellow activists to provide a broader picture of what it means to be an advocate and emphasize the importance of taking action.
The course contains 15 video lessons with a total duration of 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Who is Malala Yousafzai?
Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist and advocate for female education. She is the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, the second Pakistani, and the first Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize.
Inspired by her father’s humanitarian work, Malala started a blog about her life during the Taliban’s occupation of Swat when she was 11. The following summer, a New York Times journalist made a documentary about her life, which helped her rise to prominence and be nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize.
In 2012, Malala was shot by a Taliban gunman as a response to her activism. After the recovery, she continued her fight for the girls’ right to education. She co-founded the Malala Fund and wrote I Am Malala, which became an international bestseller.
Who is Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass for?
As Malala points out at the beginning of the course, her MasterClass is for anyone who wants to see change, big or small, and do something to create a better, fairer world.
Anyone can be an advocate, says Malala. So, the only thing you need is motivation and willingness to take action.
In her lessons, Malala introduces her four-stage advocacy plan and provides useful exercises to figure out how to be a changemaker. Therefore, her course is best for driven individuals who need guidelines for developing an effective strategy plan.
It’s also great for those who want to take action but aren’t sure exactly where to begin or what their values and goals are.
What does Malala Yousafzai's MasterClass cover?
Malala begins her class by briefly telling the story of how she started advocating for women’s education.
She then tackles each phase of her advocacy plan, including:
- Understanding the issue
- Developing a strategy
- Taking an action
- Assessing the impact
In addition to one-on-one lessons where Malala talks about the pillars of advocacy, there are conversations with other activists like Amika George and Lewis Iwu.
Now, here is what you can expect from each lesson:
- Lesson 1 covers Malala’s story and a brief description of the course.
- Lesson 2 highlights small actions you can take to make an impact.
- Lessons 3-4 deal with values and ways you can determine them. Malala also discusses the skills that helped her in advocacy work.
- Lessons 5-8 feature Malala’s conversation with Lewis Iwu, her advocacy adviser and cofounder of Purpose Union. They discuss research, goals, strategy, and the importance of a strong argument.
- Lesson 9 is focused on the techniques and exercises that can help you make an impactful speech.
- Lesson 10 shows how advocating for a local community is a good way to become a changemaker.
- Lessons 11-13 feature Malala’s conversation with Amika George. They talk about Amika’s FreePeriods campaign and effective ways you can craft your message and make an impact.
- Lessons 14-15 are final lessons where Malala talks about the importance of taking care of yourself and shares her final encouraging advice.
My favorite parts of Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass
In my opinion, there’s an important message in all of Malala’s lessons.
But here are some of the chapters that I found especially motivating and useful.
Determining your values
If you want to start taking action but you feel a bit lost, this lesson will help you get on the right track.
Before developing any kind of strategy, you need to understand your issue. And to find an issue, you need to know what your values are.
For Malala, this includes truth-telling, hope and optimism, listening to others, and ensuring that her platform amplifies other voices.
Doing your research
In this chapter, Malala talks to Lewis Iwu, who leads Purpose Union and works with leaders and activists to develop advocacy strategies.
According to Lewis, if you want to create change, you must first understand the issues you need to get to grips with. You also need to use strategy to drive change – this way, you’ll know that your time, energy, money, and resources will be spent in the right way and deployed effectively.
Starting at the local level
The best way to start your journey as an advocate is to get to know the issue related to your own community.
That’s how Malala became an advocate too. As a part of her local-level activism, she was trying to raise awareness about what was happening in the north of Pakistan. It was important to her that government and local authorities recognize that the issue of girls not being able to go to school had long-term consequences.
How much does the MasterClass cost?
MasterClass is a subscription-based learning platform, so it’s not possible to purchase courses individually. If you want to take this MasterClass, you have to become a subscriber.
The standard annual plan has been renamed "Plus" and is available at $120 a year (which makes it $10 per month, billed annually), and now provides access to all MasterClass courses on two devices instead of one. The Premium plan, providing access for up to six devices costs $240 per year.
A MasterClass subscription gives you unlimited access to a catalog of 200+ classes, so if you want to take multiple classes throughout the year, the subscription is definitely worth it, and there are pleny of interesting courses on related topics to explore.
Also, the platform offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so if you’re not happy with your learning experience, you can request a full refund.
Note that the "Standard" membership, priced at $72 per year, only gives you access to their short-form learning content – none of their full MasterClasses are included.
What I liked about Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass
Malala’s MasterClass is incredibly motivating and, for people who aren’t familiar with her work, very insightful.
Now, here are some of the main reasons why I think her course is worth taking.
Inspiring instructor
The main reason why I found this course enjoyable and inspiring is, of course, its instructor.
Malala is a very intelligent, calm, and driven person, everything I appreciate in an instructor, and it was a delightful and humbling experience listening to her speak about her journey, goals, and values.
Important message
As an advocate for women’s rights and activist in general, Malala has an important message for her learners: find an issue you’re passionate about, do your research, and take action.
She also advises to say yes to opportunities and points out that confidence doesn’t require perfection.
Finally, if you want to become a changemaker, you really need to understand the issue – that’s the only way to tackle it. I’m glad that Malala pointed that out, rather than making it seem easy.
Dynamic lessons
Even though the topic is complex, Malala’s lessons are very fluid and easy to follow.
They are also rather versatile, as she talks to other activists and discusses their own campaigns and experiences, which ultimately makes the course more dynamic.
Assignments
I’m always up for assignments and exercises, and thankfully, Malala provided many of them.
For instance, she suggested thinking about your goal and using the SMART technique that she previously explained. This is a useful exercise for any kind of project, whether you’re an advocate or not.
Drawbacks of Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass
Although I genuinely liked Malala’s class, there are some things that could be improved…
Lack of in-depth material
There’s no doubt about it – Malala’s MasterClass was great. But honestly, it was great in the exact same way as I had expected it to be. There weren’t any surprises in terms of information and knowledge I received, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.
The course is relatively short, so I guess that contributed to that feeling of missing something as well. Perhaps more case studies and thought-provoking discussions would make it better.
Speaking about the topic like creating change isn’t easy though. Luckily, Malala was rather practical about it, and her advice wasn’t too vague or idealistic, but I would prefer more challenging, in-depth lectures nevertheless.
Review conclusion: Is Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass worth it?
All things considered, I’m really glad I got the chance to take Malala Yousafzai’s MasterClass.
Malala is an inspiration in every sense of the word. She is honest, bold, and determined, and she knows exactly what her goals are. Her lessons turned out to be very helpful, providing specific tips and guidelines on how to become a changemaker.
I wish the course was a bit longer though, more case studies and in-depth discussions would certainly add to its value, but I took a lot of out of it nevertheless.
And I believe anyone interested in any kind of activism would take a lot out of it, too.
So, in my opinion, Malala’s course is definitely worth taking – for a proper motivation boost at least- especially if you’re already subscribed to MasterClass.
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