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About
us :
Definition
of Community Development Learning
We use a range
of words and phrases within this website. Here we define what we
mean by community development, community work and community development
learning. The community development training checklist will help
you see how the definitions fit together and relate to your work.
What is community
development work?
The key purpose of community development work is collectively to
bring about social change and justice, by working with communities
to:
- Identify
their needs, opportunities, rights and responsibilities
- Plan, organise
and take action
- Evaluate
the effectiveness and impact of the action
all in ways
which challenge oppression and tackle inequalities.
For details
of underpinning values and principles, a fuller statement of community
work aims and objectives and the knowledge and skills required for
community work, please contact us.
The
Six Key Values
Social Justice
- Respecting
and valuing diversity and difference
- Challenging
oppressive and discriminatory actions and attitudes
- Addressing
power imbalances between individuals, within groups and society
- Committing
to pursue civil and human rights for all
- Seeking and
promoting policy and practices that are just and enhance equality
whilst
challenging those that are not.
Self-determination
- Valuing the
concerns or issues that communities identify as their starting
points
- Raising people's
awareness of the range of choices open to them, providing opportunities
for discussion of implications of options
- Promoting
the view that communities do not have the right to oppress other
communities
- Working with
conflict within communities.
Working and
Learning Together
- Demonstrating
that collective working is effective
- Supporting
and developing individuals to contribute effectively to communities
- Developing
a culture of informed and accountable decision making
- Ensuring
all perspectives within the community are considered
- Sharing good
practice in order to learn from each other.
Sustainable
Communities
- Promoting
the empowerment of individuals and communities
- Supporting
communities to develop their skills to take action
- Promoting
the development of autonomous and accountable structures
- Learning
from experiences as a basis for change
- Promoting
effective collective and collaborative working
- Using resources
with respect for the environment
Participation
- Promoting
the participation of individuals and communities, particularly
those traditionally marginalized or excluded
- Recognising
and challenging barriers to full and effective participation
- Supporting
communities to gain skills to engage in participation
- Developing
structures that enable communities to participate effectively
- Sharing good
practice in order to learn from each other.
Reflective
Practice
- Promoting
and supporting individual and collective learning through reflection
on practice
- Changing
practice in response to outcomes of reflection
- Recognising
the constraints and contexts within which community development
takes place
- Recognising
the importance of keeping others informed and updated about the
wider context.
Key Roles
for community development practice
- Developing
working relationships with communities and organisations
- Encouraging
people to work with and learn from each other
- Working with
people in communities to plan for change and take collective action
- Working with
people in communities to develop and use frameworks for evaluation
- Developing
community organisations
- Reflecting
on and developing own practice and role
What
is Community Development Learning?
Community Development Learning takes place when individuals and
groups/organisations come together to share experience, learn from
each other, and develop their skills, knowledge and self-confidence.
It is a developmental process that is both a collective and individual
experience, based on a commitment to equal partnership between all
those involved to enable a sharing of skills, awareness, knowledge,
and experience in order to bring about sustainable desired outcomes.
Community Development Learning is as relevant to policy makers and
local authority officials, for example, as it is to community workers
and community groups.
Community Development
Learning occurs in formal and informal settings, including professional
qualifications as a community worker alongside exchange visits between
groups or an organised training course on Community Development
for local authority councillors.
In practice
this means:
- The content
of learning is rooted in people's experience and community development
principles.
- The learning
process is inclusive and participatory.
- The outcomes
facilitate the transfer of community development learning into
action for positive change within communities.
Community development learning checklist
Full membership is intended for groups or organisations (not individuals)
whose main activity is centred on community development training
and learning. This means that you should be trying to bring community
development principles and values into all that you do. To help
you decide whether you should apply for Full membership you can
use this checklist which spells out some of the things we think
are central to community development training. None of us are perfect
but you should be trying to work to the following.
- You help
communities to define their own training needs rather than just
running pre-arranged courses. In other words, the process of training
is as important as the content.
- You use the
National
Occupational Standards in Community Development Work
as the basis for planning and delivering your community work training.
- You use participatory
learning methods and acknowledge that participants have existing
skills, knowledge and experience that will form an important part
of the learning process.
- Your training
helps develop people's community work skills - ie the role of
enabler and facilitator helping local groups take collective action.
- In designing
and delivering training you address issues of access, equality
of opportunity and anti-discrimination.
- Your training
includes looking at the social issues and experiences facing participants,
including power and powerlessness, and helps people reflect on
and translate their learning into collective community action.
- Your group
works in a participatory, democratic and accountable way.
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