From listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu Mon Oct 13 18:32:36 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:14:21 -0400 From: listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu To: aedmod@fcae.acast.nova.edu Subject: GET HORIZONS VOL5N1 (1/1) [1/2] Archive HORIZONS, file vol5n1. Part 1/1 (subpart 1/2), total size 128719 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** **************************** **************************** ********************* ********************* *************** *************** ************ *********** ******** ******** ****** ****** **** NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION **** SPECIAL THEMATIC ISSUE: COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION ** ** *************************************************************************** Volume 5 Number 1 Spring/Summer 1991 *************************************************************************** EDITORS Linda Newell.........................Syracuse University David W. Price.......................University of Missouri-Columbia Joan Durant..........................Syracuse University COPY EDITOR Mary Beth Hinton.....................Syracuse University EDITORIAL BOARD Judith Gwinn Adrian..................University of Wisconsin Nora Carrol..........................Syracuse University Sue Collard..........................University of British Columbia Wayne Hartschuh......................Arizona State University Christine Olgren.....................University of Wisconsin Lynn Paul............................University of Montana Anita Prieto.........................University of Missouri-Columbia Alice Schawo.........................University of Missouri-Columbia Butch Wilson.........................University of Georgia GUEST REVIEWERS Jane M. Hugo.........................Syracuse University Dave Paquin..........................Syracuse University _________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION is a refereed journal published by the Syracuse University Kellogg Project. The journal is managed by graduate students throughout the United States and Canada and is electronically transmitted via the Adult Education Network (AEDNET), accessible through BITNET. There is no cost for NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION; it is sent to all subscribers of AEDNET. All correspondence concerning change of address or membership in AEDNET should be addressed to AEDNET, Syracuse University Kellogg Project, 310 Lyman Hall, 108 College Place, Syracuse, New York 13244-1270. Send all article submissions to the Editor at the above address or in ASCII through BITNET (HORIZONS@SUVM). _________________________________________________________________________ N E W H O R I Z O N S IN A D U L T E D U C A T I O N CONTENTS Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer 1991 I N T R O D U C T I O N Editors' Preface.................................................1 I N V I T A T I O N A L A R T I C L E S Community Adult Education In America: An Overview Michael W. Galbraith and David W. Price..........................2 Community Adult Education In Developing Countries Linda Ziegahn...................................................16 A R T I C L E Facilitated Community Development In A Rural Area Allen B. Moore and Mary Anne Lahey..............................28 B O O K R E V I E W ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY: LEARNING OUR WAY OUT Daniel V. Eastmond..............................................37 F O R Y O U R I N F O R M A T I O N Editorial Policy................................................40 ______________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer 1991 EDITORS' PREFACE This special thematic issue of NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION is devoted to theory and practice in community adult education. The community-based practice of adult education, although it has long comprised an important component of the adult education enterprise, has recently emerged and flourished as a distinctive area of professional practice. Whereas other specialties organize around provider agency types, specific curricular areas and market demands, community adult education is context oriented, shaped by the special characteristics and dynamics of community life. Community adult education thus encompasses a diversity of organizational providers, content areas, and learner types. The single unifying element is the context of practice - the community - through which practitioners have generated a rich diversity of approaches and methods to facilitate learning and change. This issue of NEW HORIZONS, which consists of four articles, is devoted to this unique and exciting area of adult education practice. COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION IN AMERICA; AN OVERVIEW, by Michael W. Galbraith and David W. Price, contributes a comprehensive survey of community adult education practice in North America. This invited piece examines the concepts and methods of community adult education practice, reviews programs and providers in the North American experience, and explores the future of community adult education. Michael has written extensively in the field of adult education including recent publications in rural and community adult education. He is an Associate Professor of Adult Education at Temple University. David's professional experience includes rural community development and adult and extension education, and he has published in the areas of extension education and community adult education. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate in Higher and Adult Education at the University of Missouri. Linda Ziegahn provides the second invited article, COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, which examines community adult education practice in an international context. Her article describes and analyzes the various formats, methods, concepts, and key issues germane to the practice of community adult education in developing countries. Linda draws on extensive professional experience, research, and teaching in international and adult education. She is an Assistant Professor of Adult Education at Syracuse University. page 1 The third article, FACILITATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN A RURAL AREA, by Allen B. Moore and Mary Anne Lahey, is a case history of an ongoing community development project in the American rural south. This refereed article offers us a rare glimpse into the role of adult educator as change agent in the community development process. It also highlights the organizational mechanics of facilitating broad-based community participation. Their case study chronicles an holistic and integrated approach to planned community change wherein various organizational providers cooperate to address the diverse needs of rural community members. Allen B. Moore is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Community and Area Development and Department of Adult Education at The University of Georgia, and Mary Anne Lahey, also at the Institute of Community and Area Development at The University of Georgia, is a Public Service Assistant. The second refereed article is an interpretive review of ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY: LEARNING OUR WAY OUT (Mibraith, 1989) by Daniel V. Eastmond. Daniel analyzes Milbraith's ideas for addressing global environmental issues which revolve around the concept of social learning, and the essential role of adult learners and educators in creating and sustaining a learning society founded in environmentally sound principles and practices. Milbraith's ideas, as reviewed by Dan, promote an ethical perspective and a broad agenda for community adult education practice. Dan is a Doctoral Student in Adult Education at Syracuse University. The four articles within this community adult education issue demonstrate the inextricable link between adult learning, social change, and development in the community context. It is our hope that this special thematic issue will promote renewed recognition of these dynamic linkages and their value to adult education practice. ____________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer 1991 COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION IN AMERICA: AN OVERVIEW by Michael W. Galbraith Temple University and David W. Price University of Missouri - Columbia Community adult education can be considered a distinct area of professional practice within the field of adult education. It is within this aspect of adult education that most programs, instructional processes, and adult learning needs are realized, scrutinized, and analyzed. Galbraith (1990a) suggests that the community is a natural setting for the adult education process and that page 2 / Galbraith and Price "conceptualizing the community and adult education helps us to understand the connection they both have to society at large" (p.7). Both terms, community and adult education, are multidimensional. Connecting community and adult education contributes to the stimulation of the lifelong education process associated with adulthood. Community adult education recognizes that learning occurs throughout life (the vertical dimension) and that any learning is a result of prior learning, which in turn influences the nature and extent of future learning, whether it be through formal, nonformal, or informal processes. In addition, it recognizes and accepts the principle that education is for all age levels and that the ability to learn and grow continues over a lifetime. Community adult education also supports the horizontal dimension of lifelong education which stresses that education and life in the community are linked. Education is viewed as continuous throughout the lifespan and on a continuum that accepts the integration of school and life, as well as the multitude of various educational components that influence adult life. Perhaps the most salient feature of life- long education, which community adult education holds adamantly, is the belief that adult learners can effectively and meaningfully acquire the ability and skill to learn how to learn. They can learn how to adapt and change to whatever situation they encounter. In all cases, this situation is presented in some component or context of formal, nonformal, or informal community adult education in which adult learners come to recognize their identity, potential, and significance. Community adult education helps build communities of learners by recognizing that community-based organizations, community adult educators, and community adult learners must make choices in the development, construction, and realization of educational opportunities (Galbraith, 1990b). It is the purpose of this article to examine the concepts of community and community adult education, the methods utilized within community adult education, as well as a framework for understanding its programs and providers. In addition, we will briefly explore the future of community adult education in America by examining various societal trends that will influence its direction. COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION Numerous definitions of the concept "community" have been advanced in the professional literature, each emphasizing various and alternative features and dimensions. The geographical or spatial concept of community as place is one commonly held view. However, other definitions emphasize human interaction and relationships within places, and commonalities in interests, values, and mores. These are often denoted in the casual use of terms such as "sense of community," and "community interests." It is primarily the locational and geographic definition of community to which we refer in this discussion of community adult education, since it is largely within the geographical context that the resources and provisions for page 3 / Galbraith and Price lifelong education practice are realized. Several nongeographical views of community have been advanced, which merit particular attention. Brookfield (1983a) has suggested "communities of interest" and "communities of function," which may supersede geographic boundaries. Communities of interest are groups of individuals bound by some single common interest or set of common interests. This category is wide-ranging, including leisure interests (hobbies, sports, and various recreational interests), civic and special political interests (better government, improved health care, prolife or prochoice concerns, environmental protection) as well as the communities of interest formed around particular spiritual and religious beliefs and affiliations. Communities of function are those groups identified by the function of major life-roles, including vocational and professional (teachers, attorneys, mechanics, street workers, small business operators, farmers), as well as other major life-role functions such as those of homemaker, student, and parent. As is readily apparent, communities of interest, communities of function, and geographic communities intersect and overlap. Another typology of the concept of community is derived from the field of educational marketing. Besides the geographic concept of community, demographic and psychographic communities exist. Demographic communities are groups bound by common demographic characteristics such as race, sex, age cohort, religion, and occupation. It is not uncommon to speak of "the Black community" or "the elderly community." Psychographic communities are those formed by commonality of value systems, social class, life- style, special interests, and hobbies. A psychographic community, for example, may be the "yuppy community," the "gay community," or the "golfing community." Nonlocational conceptions of community bear special consideration in community adult education practice on two particularly salient points. First, it is precisely these nongeographic features of community through which formal, nonformal, and informal adult learning is facilitated, and by which adult educational programs often are designed. Such concepts of community stem from the particular needs and interests of adult learners. Programming based on clientele needs and interests has been a hallmark of community adult education since its inception as a professional practice (DeLargy, 1989). So persistent and integral has been the notion of meeting the needs of learners that it has become a shibboleth in the rhetoric of the field. Second, the nonlocational conceptions of community transcend geographic boundaries, calling attention to the fact that while community adult education relies principally on the geographic concept of community, the extra community patterns of interaction impact markedly on community-based programs. Some community adult educators, in fact, argue the merits of dismissing altogether the locational emphasis of community, focusing instead on the commonalities of interests, concerns, and functions of people in operationalizing the concept (Blakely, 1989; Roberts, 1979). New theory and practice, page 4 / Galbraith and Price suggests Blakely (1989), "must now consider the absence of geographic or territorial consciousness rather than the presence of it" (p. 313). Although in our view the geographical emphasis remains the single most definitive feature of the concept of community for the practice of community adult education, these other dimensions cannot be dismissed or regarded as irrelevant. Indeed, to do so would rob the concept of certain emotive and practical qualities that are particularly germane to lifelong education. THE METHODS OF COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION The community-based practice of adult education draws on a broad range of educational strategies and methods. To some extent the particular aims and objectives of the practitioner and the provider agency will determine the dominant methods used. The organizational culture of the provider agency, as well as the particular values of the educator, will also influence the types of methods employed (Nadler & Wiggs, 1986; Ellis, 1990). One commonly cited typology of adult education methods divides practices into formal, nonformal, and informal modes, suggesting a continuum of structure and formality (Ellis, 1990; Galbraith, 1990a; Jarvis, 1987; Price, 1990; Roberts, 1979). The formal mode is generally characterized by high curricular structure, bureaucratic organizational setting, and credentialing i.e., the award of certificates or degrees. Methods in the nonformal mode exhibit less curricular structure, nonbureaucratic organization, and usually no credentialing. The informal mode of educational practice emphasizes learning processes in the natural societal setting, and is characterized by low curricular structure and an absence of bureaucratic organization and credentialing. The methods chosen in community adult education practice may largely determine the types of learners served. According to Ellis (1990), less formal approaches are particularly suited to marginalized and disenfranchised members of society. He notes that "those who find themselves denied access to power in society develop for themselves a whole informal framework in which they operate with great skill and effectiveness....they understand instinctively that the whole system [of formal adult education] is designed to deny them access to the power structures" (p. 92). The more formal the educational mode, suggests Ellis, the more "up- market" learner groups become. The degree of formality and curricular structure also relates to control over the learning situation. Clearly, formal community adult education methods place the greater degree of control over the teaching-learning transaction in the hands of the educator, whereas informal methods invest a high degree of control in the learner. Methods in the nonformal mode typically exhibit a balance of control between educator and learner. The effective practice of community adult education requires a diverse methodology. Although several factors such as organizational culture, educator values, and learner characteristics page 5 / Galbraith and Price combine to determine one's principle mode of program delivery, community adult educators typically incorporate elements of all three modes into their methodological repertoire. Thus, formal and nonformal educational programs frequently have informal interludes, just as informal educational efforts take frequent advantage of more formalized structures (Jeffs & Smith, 1990; Price, 1990). PROGRAMS AND PROVIDERS Various frameworks and classifications have been developed that attempt to capture the essence of the adult education delivery system (Apps, 1989; Darkenwald & Merriam, 1982; Kowalski, 1988; Schroeder, 1970). The most recent framework developed has been by Apps (1989) in which he identifies four provider categories: tax supported, nonprofit, for-profit, and nonorganized. He bases his framework "on the assumption that adult learners have choices for learning opportunities" (p. 279) and that learners can engage in deliberate and nondeliberate learning within all four categories. A tax-supported agency or institution may consist of adult public schools, four-year colleges and universities, community and technical colleges, cooperative extension, armed forces, libraries, and museums. The nonprofit category would comprise religious institutions, health institutions, community-based agencies, service clubs, voluntary organizations, professional associations, and worker education programs. Correspondence schools, proprietary schools, private tutoring, publications, human resource development programs in business and industry, and conference centers are examples of for-profit providers. Apps's fourth category is concerned with nonorganized learning opportunities such as through the mass media, work setting, family, travel, and recreational and leisure-time activities. In connecting the concepts of community and adult education, Brookfield (1983b) proposed a threefold typology of community adult education according to characteristic approaches employed by providers. These are adult education FOR, IN, and OF the community, and can easily be identified within Apps' framework of providers mentioned above. Adult Education for the Community Central to adult education FOR the community is a consumer- oriented and market sensitive modus operandi. Specific programs are designed and delivered in response to perceived clientele interests within a specified agency service area. Programs FOR the community tend to be formal courses, workshops, seminars, or short courses; and program content is wide-ranging, depending on the availability of resource persons, cost-effectiveness, and marketability. In the context of lifelong education, such community page 6 / Galbraith and Price adult education program approaches contribute to the satisfaction of the ongoing expressed and felt needs and interests of learning- activity oriented community members. One of the more prevalent examples of community adult education for the community is the publicly sponsored community school. Responsible for addressing community educational needs and interests through the public school system, community school programs provide a broad spectrum of courses and workshops for adults. Class offerings often include technical and occupational courses (computing skills, beginning real estate), leisure and recreational courses (angling, home horticulture, various arts and crafts classes), family and personal improvement (parenting, family finance, stress management, auto repair), and personal enrichment topics (foreign languages, various music classes, etc.). Classes are typically offered during evenings and weekends in public school facilities, and taught by local community members interested in sharing their particular skills and talents through part-time teaching. The community school program in the United States is most often financed through a mix of state and local monies, and coordinated by a professional community school director employed by the local school district. Community school programs in Canada are more likely to be locally financed, and sponsored by nonprofit agencies such as community development corporations and economic development groups, rather than being attached to public schools (DeLargy, 1989). A prominent feature of the rural community adult education landscape is the adult educational services of the United States Cooperative Extension Service (CES). Mandated by an Act of Congress since 1913 (Smith-Lever Act), the CES serves to link the resources of state land grant universities with the educational needs of adults in rural communities. Programs are carried out by professional and paraprofessional staffs through county extension centers. They involve a variety of formal, nonformal, and informal educational approaches, and address clientele-identified needs in the principle areas of agriculture, home economics, and community resource development. Many specific extension service projects and efforts characteristically reflect programmatic approaches IN and OF the community rather than FOR the community, as here indicated. However, taken as a whole, and given the organization's pervasive and historical commitment to locally-determined needs, the agency is first a provider of adult education FOR the community. This may shift. As a result of several pressures, including fiscal austerity, increased concern for accountability, and demographic and socioeconomic changes, the CES nationwide is at present undergoing a fundamental transition in its mission and approaches to serving rural America. At the heart of the change is a shift away from a primarily locally-driven needs determination and reactive mode of program development, and toward a national and regional issues-based approach to educational needs and proactive mode of program page 7 / Galbraith and Price development. This may signal as well a shift from educational programming FOR the community toward an emphasis on adult education OF the community. Municipal recreation departments also provide a variety of leisure and recreation adult educational programs for the community. Educational services may include adult swimming classes, classes in various sports (tennis, angling), nature studies, and arts and crafts workshops and courses. Programs are typically supported through a mix of course fees and municipal revenues. Senior citizen centers or older-adult activity centers are another source of adult education programs for the community. Established and financed primarily through state funds, senior centers provide a variety of services, including adult educational programs for enrichment, self-improvement, and in various skill areas. Public health agencies and hospitals, in addition to their primary role as health care providers, in many communities offer adult health- related educational programs for the community. The community college has, since its inception, served as a principle provider of adult education for the community (Cohen & Brawer, 1989; Van Tilburg & Moore, 1989). In addition to its academic collegiate functions, many community colleges offer a wide variety of noncredit adult education workshops, courses, and seminars depending on expressed community interests. Community adult education programs through the community college are usually subsumed under the rubric community services (Shearon & Tollefson, 1989), and coordinated by a professional community services coordinator. Shearon and Tollefson (1989) suggest the likelihood that the community service functions of community colleges will continue to increase and expand during the 1990s. Private and nonprofit educational institutions also provide education for the community. The Adult Learning Center in Nashua, New Hampshire is a private, nonprofit corporation that is organized to provide relevant educational programs for disadvantaged and undereducated area residents. Their programs include such things as ABE, GED, ESL, and life-skill classes, vocational programs that deal with computer literacy, resume construction, and word processing, as well as career planning and counseling. In Stilwell, Oklahoma, the Flaming Rainbow University primarily serves Cherokee Indians and other low-income and educationally underserved populations of northeastern Oklahoma. Their programs are life-centered with a curriculum that is designed to incorporate job and life experiences, community and tribal involvements, and a cross-cultural environment. Adult Education in the Community This second type of community adult education identified by Brookfield (1983b) seeks to encourage, support, and enhance the educational features of community activities as they emerge in the natural course of community life. In this mode of practice the page 8 / Galbraith and Price community adult educator serves as a resource person, encourager, and process facilitator for the educational dimensions inherent in the activities of various community groups. Moreover, the practitioner often catalyzes valuable learning processes among group members, which may otherwise fail to emerge, in the context of ongoing community group efforts. The educator becomes immersed in the life of the community and seeks to fit into and influence the natural learning processes of individuals and groups. This approach to the community is referred to by one analyst as "justified community infiltration" (Polsky, 1978) and is strongly recommended by the findings of Canadian adult learning researcher Allen Tough (1982). This approach to community adult education recognizes and focuses professional attention on the vast and largely unrecognized portion of adult learning occurring in the natural course of individual and community life (Brookfield, 1983b). Adult education IN the community, however, is not limited to group work but also includes practices that support and enhance the self-initiated and self-guided learning efforts undertaken by individual community members, by providing such learners with, for example, resource information and materials, advice and educational consultation. Whether in the group or individual context, the important distinction between this mode of practice and other forms of community adult education is that community members themselves control all determinations of content, format, and duration of the educational episodes in which they engage (Brookfield, 1983b). As is apparent, community adult education IN the community typically incorporates nonformal and informal adult education practices. Included in this category, however, are those formal community adult education practices that use the community environment as a learning resource or laboratory, wherein program participants study various aspects of community life and functions. Site visits to local institutions (industries or governmental offices, for example), personal interviews with community members, windshield surveys of local neighborhoods followed by group discussion and analysis, and in-classroom presentations by local experts are some techniques exemplifying this form of community adult education. In the context of lifelong education, programs of adult education IN the community contribute greatly to the dimension of learning how to learn. Whether in the informal and nonformal educational modes characteristic of community group efforts and individual self- directed learning projects, or in the more formal class using the community as a laboratory, participants learning in the community develop knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other competencies for learning from and in their community environment. Further, the horizontal dimension of lifelong education is emphasized and strengthened through this type of community adult education practice. Describing programs and providers of adult education practice IN the community is an ambiguous and elusive task. Few, if any, agency providers conform wholly to this community adult education form, but rather, a myriad of community-based providers incorporate, somewhat unevenly, education in the community into their broader educational agendas. From the previous discussion, three distinct manifestations of adult education IN the community are noted: education through infiltration and influence of community action groups, community as learning resource for organized adult education classes, and support for self-directed learning. The technique of infiltration and influence is most often associated with community organization and development practitioners and agencies. Although their efforts are properly classified as education OF the community, given their characteristically held perspective of community deficiency, much of the work in this field of community practice emphasizes supportive and enabling educational functions with group participants engaged in community action efforts (Morris, 1970; Rothman & Tropman, 1987). Thus, the infiltration and influence approach to adult education in the community is seen in the work of community development specialists employed by the Cooperative Extension Service, community workers for the federally/state supported community action agencies, church and community workers associated with rural and urban ministries, economic development specialists employed by chambers of commerce, and a host of other community-based organizations and practitioners. The use of the community as a learning resource for organized classes is, unfortunately, an all-too-infrequently used adult education method (Brookfield, 1983b). Such approaches, however, do find occasional application through the community service course offerings in community colleges, community schools, and county extension service programs. A County Extension Homemakers Council in Howell County, Missouri, for example, sponsors an annual "local government day" in which members of the Extension- sponsored homemaker clubs county-wide visit offices of city and county government to hear informal presentations by local officials on the functions and operations of their offices. The visits are followed by a group meeting led by an extension educator in which participants discuss and critique their experiences. Similar programs sponsored by county extension centers have taken community members to local manufacturing plants, specialized farm operations, and other rural community institutions. Support for the self-directed learning efforts of community members include, among other things, the provision of informational brochures, guides, books, videotapes, and other learning resources on a variety of subject areas, and the provision of advice and educational counseling. Libraries and their staffs have traditionally served as important learning resources for self-directed learners (Neehall & Tough, 1983; Sisco & Whitson, 1990), as have CES county extension centers and staffs, from which informational and practical page 9 / Galbraith and Price how-to bulletins on topics ranging from parenting skills to farm and home water supplies to repairing leaky faucets are disseminated. Commercial noneducational institutions also contribute to the informational demands of adult self-directed learning projects. Many building supply and hardware retailers, for example, display racks of free how-to fliers that aid people in planning and executing various home repair and building construction projects, and retailers themselves offer customer advice on such projects. Similarly, financial institutions, medical, dental, and optometry offices, and various other public and private community institutions serve as learning resources for adults interested in gaining awareness, knowledge, and skills in subjects relevant to their daily lives. Recognition of the value to community adult education of such commonplace learning resources present in the community, and potentials for their enhancement, has been emphasized in the research and writings of Brookfield (1983a, 1983b), Galbraith (1990a), Hiemstra (1972), Knowles (1984), and Tough (1982). Adult Education of the Community In the third type of community adult education practice identified, program approaches are strongly prescriptive (Brookfield, 1983b). The community is viewed by the provider as deficient or lacking in certain features or qualities, be it effective leadership, self-reliance skills, esprit de corps, or economic viability. A gap between what is and what ought to be is perceived by the provider. Educational programs, then, are geared to address the deficiencies and narrow the gap. Several community adult educators use the concept of community health to describe such desired community qualities (Brookfield, 1983b; Lackey, Burke, & Peterson, 1987); others have used the terms "good community," "competent community," and "community well-being" (Lackey, Burke, & Peterson, 1987, p. 2). In a 1987 article, Lackey, Burke, and Peterson propose essential attributes of a healthy community as consisting of certain "(1) attitudes and values, (2) capacities, (3) organization and (4) leadership" (p. 3). Programs in this category are distinctive in their normative approach to the community. Whereas community adult education practitioners of the other two types respond to expressed and felt community needs and naturally occurring movements, the practitioner of adult education OF the community designs programs on the basis of his/her own perceptions and values of what constitutes a healthy community, and the attitudes and competencies desired of community members. According to Brookfield (1983b), "this avowedly prescriptive notion of community adult education is close to the classic tradition of citizenship training in which a vigorous, democratic society is seen as being dependent on the development of certain informed critical faculties among its members" (p. 157). This prescriptive approach to community adult education is not unlike the ideals of lifelong education in the page 10 / Galbraith and Price community, which itself can be viewed as a prescription for a healthy community. One of the most prominent forms of the professional practice of adult education OF the community is community development. Although a great many definitions of community development are advanced in the literature, most emphasize an educational process dimension (Hamilton & Cunningham, 1989). Essentially, community development is an adult educational process whereby participants gain the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that empower them to achieve their mutually determined goals of community improvement and problem resolution. This particular form of community adult education practice is referred to by other names: "community education for development" (Compton & McClusky, 1980), "locality development" (Rothman & Tropman, 1987), and "community resource development" (Phifer, List, & Faulkner, 1980). However, "community development" appears to be the most widely accepted and durable of the appellations. Community development providers in North America include the Cooperative Extension Service, local governments, state agencies of community and economic development, and a variety of nonprofit organizations. The specific accomplishments of community development projects vary widely, but some in recent years have included retail business development in economically declining rural towns and urban neighborhoods, the establishment of new occupational avenues for displaced farmers and for displaced homemakers, and the restoration and preservation of community historical sites, to name a few. One nonprofit community development organization of singular recognition is the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee. Established in 1931, and particularly noted for leadership training in the southern labor movement of the 1930s and on behalf of civil rights in the 1950s, the Highlander Center has addressed issues of social justice through community adult education for nearly 60 years (Glen, 1988). Current programs of the Highlander Center include environmental issues and economic development (Highlander Research and Education Center, 1987). Like the Highlander Center, many other community-based organizations found in American communities contribute to the specific educational, community, and personal development of adult learners. For example, the Dungannon Development Commission (DDC) in Dungannon, Virginia was formed in 1979 by 50 townspeople in an effort to improve the Dungannon community. The DDC works to promote the development of business concerns, to cooperate and work with the town of Dungannon, to engage in housing production to improve living conditions, and to serve the educational needs of its residents by working with a nearby community college in maintaining community-based classes for the rural community. Another example is the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, located in Epes, Alabama, which operates the Rural Training, Research and Demonstration-Farming Center, which also serves as the headquarters for the total economic development movement in the page 11 / Galbraith and Price South. The Federation's mission is to formulate and implement a comprehensive rural economic development strategy. It serves 30,000 families organized in 120 cooperatives in various rural communities. When discussing community adult education it is easy to generate various images. Some of these images will be of the providers of education, others will be of the adult learner or adult educator, while others will be of educational topics, agendas, and purposes. The information presented above covers many organizational forms that serve adult learners in the American community. Each holds as its primary focus educational opportunities for learners to engage in deliberate and nondeliberate learning that can enhance the intellectual, social, political, recreational, and professional aspects of their lives. The interaction of the dimensions of community, education provider, adult learner, and adult educator contributes to the development, structure, and implementation of effective community adult education programs. A recognition that American society holds this great potential for its adult learners can be realized through the various aspects of its communities. THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION If community members accept the idea that education is a function reserved for childhood and adolescence, then the concept of lifelong education and the dynamic dimensions and opportunities that it presents will be lost. Galbraith and Sundet (1988) found in their study, which used a key informant analysis, that American culture seems to dictate that the function of education is more formal in nature and not a lifelong process that incorporates or accepts informal and nonformal mechanisms throughout adulthood as valid and meaningful education. The need exists for American society to understand the vertical and horizontal integration of lifelong education and the potential it holds for the development of effective community education for adult learners. In addition, future forms, content, and value to individuals and society of community adult education in America will be influenced and shaped by various societal trends. Chief among these are demographic changes, technological changes (especially communications technologies), and the growing complexity of society itself. The aging of America suggests that the culture will give way to an older and more mature society and with it an increased demand in the educational marketplace for formats, methodologies, and content geared to the unique characteristics of adult learners. Cohen and Brawer (1989) suggest that the increase in adult community members will place greater demands on the community service functions of the community college. Other institutions of higher education must also reevaluate their missions, goals, and delivery modes if they are to effectively serve adult learners in the community (Apps, 1988; Treadway, 1984). Institutions must view page 12 / Galbraith and Price themselves as providers of nonformal as well as formal educational opportunities for all adult learners within their delivery systems. They must respond to the continuing-education needs of the professional as well as the paraprofessional within communities who seek a response to professional and personal needs such as certification, licensure, stress management, caregiving of older parents, displacement from agricultural occupations, and unemployment. Demographic changes influence the demands placed upon all community adult education providers, thus calling out for greater interagency cooperation among educational, religious, social, and human service providers. Community adult educators can play an important role in the coordination and development of these linkages. New technologies and the advent of the so-called information society will also markedly impact the American community. New communications technologies will give adults access to a multitude of opportunities for education (Black, 1986; Florini, 1990), as well as economic development opportunities. For example, economic development in rural areas, largely confined to extractive industries and highly dependent on transportation considerations, may more and more be based on an information economy enabled by communications rather than transportation. As telecommunications technologies build and enhance new extra-community patterns of interaction, rural and urban relationships will change, and ties among communities throughout North America will develop. Moreover, computer-mediated communication technology offers enormous potential for enhanced dialogue and information transfer among learners and institutional providers of community adult education, and for optimizing opportunities for interagency cooperation and the development of new modes of learning in the community environment. Communication technology and the changing nature of society to an information-oriented one will certainly require new thinking and action by adult educators with futuristic insight and vision. Its impact will affect the social, political, and educational dimensions of the community. The increasing complexity of society itself and the multitude of public issues born of it--driven by the rapidity of socioeconomic and technological change--will also impact adult learning needs in the community. There is growing concern that large numbers of adults will become eclipsed, unable to keep up with and comprehend the nature of the complex social issues that affect their lives and communities (Wellborn, 1982). One result is a greater demand in the future for community adult educational efforts, especially community development approaches, to better equip people to understand and influence through collective action the changes that impact their communities and their lives (Phifer, List, & Faulkner, 1980). Institutions of higher education, community schools, human service agencies, religious institutions, business and industry, libraries, and other community, social, and political action agencies page 13 / Galbraith and Price must begin to recognize the benefits of cooperative ventures, and the strength they can generate through such linkages. At the center of this cooperation is the function of education and the potential it holds for empowering individuals to solve community problems and build strong communication and sociopolitical networks. The future of American communities depends on many factors, education being only one. CONCLUSION Through community adult education and effective leadership, the opportunity to create lifelong learning communities for America holds great promise. This article has examined the concepts of community and community adult education, described the various aspects of FOR, IN, and OF community adult education, and briefly explored the potential each has contributed to a bright and productive future for adult learners and the communities in which they reside. Those who wear the badge of community adult educator must help educate the various communities within the American community to the potential that formal, informal, and nonformal education holds for solving personal, professional, social, and political problems. Community adult education can give individuals a voice in the common tradition of community life that is anchored in individualism and opportunity for free choice. References Apps, J. (1988). HIGHER EDUCATION IN A LEARNING SOCIETY. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Apps, J. (1989). Providers of adult and continuing education: A framework. In S. Merriam & P. 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Boone and Associates (Eds.), SERVING PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY NEEDS THROUGH ADULT EDUCATION (pp. 227-249). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Darkenwald, G., & Merriam, S. (1982). ADULT EDUCATION: FOUNDATIONS OF PRACTICE. New York: Harper & Row. DeLargy, P. F. (1989). Public schools and community education. In S. Merriam & P. Cunningham (Eds.), HANDBOOK OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION (pp. 287-302). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. page 14 / Galbraith and Price Ellis, J. W. (1990). Informal education--a Christian perspective. In T. Jeffs & M. Smith (Eds.), USING INFORMAL EDUCATION (pp. 89-99). Philadelphia: Open University Press. Florini, B. (1990). Communications technology in adult education and learning. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), ADULT LEARNING METHODS: A GUIDE FOR EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION (pp. 367-390). Malabar, FL: Krieger. Galbraith, M. W. (1990a). The nature of community and adult education. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS (pp. 3-11). New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 47. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Galbraith, M. W. (1990b). Building communities of learners. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS (pp. 89-92). New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 47. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Galbraith, M., & Sundet, P. (1988). Educational perspectives of rural adult learners: A key informant analysis. JOURNAL OF ADULT EDUCATION, 17(1), 11-18. Glen, J. (1988). HIGHLANDER, NO ORDINARY SCHOOL, 1932-1962. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. Hamilton, E., & Cunningham, P. (1989). Community-based adult education. In S. Merriam & P. Cunningham (Eds.), HANDBOOK OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION (pp. 439-450). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hiemstra, R. (1972). THE EDUCATIVE COMMUNITY. Lincoln: Professional Educators Publications. Highlander Research and Education Center (1987). HIGHLANDER REVIEW-- `87. New Market, TN: Author. Jarvis, P. (1987). ADULT LEARNING IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT. London: Croom Helm. Jeffs, T., & Smith, M. (1990). Using informal education. In T. Jeffs & M. Smith (Eds.), USING INFORMAL EDUCATION (pp. 1- 23). Philadelphia: Open University Press. Knowles, M. (1984). THE ADULT LEARNER: A NEGLECTED SPECIES (3rd ed.). Houston: Gulf. Kowalski, T. (1988). THE ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING OF ADULT EDUCATION. Albany: State University of New York Press. Lackey, A., Burke, R., & Peterson, M. (1987). Healthy communities: The goal of community development. JOURNAL OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY, 18(2), 1-17. Morris, R. (1970). The role of the agent in the community development process. In C. L. Cary (Ed.), COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AS A PROCESS (pp. 171-194). Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. Nadler, L., & Wiggs, D. (1986). MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Neehall, J., & Tough, A. (1983). Fostering intentional changes among adults. LIBRARY TRENDS, 31(4), 543-553. Phifer, B., List, F., & Faulkner, B. (1980). History of community development in America. In J. Christenson & J. Robinson, Jr. (Eds.), COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICA (pp. 3-17). Ames: Iowa State University Press. page 15 / Galbraith and Price Polsky, H. (1978). Community needs assessment--Another viewpoint. In C. Klevins (Ed.), MATERIALS AND METHODS IN CONTINUING EDUCATION (pp. 85-86). Los Angeles: Klevens. Price, D. W. (1990). Cooperative extension as community education developer. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS (pp. 79-87). New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, no. 47. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Roberts, H. (1979). COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: LEARNING AND ACTION. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Rothman, J., & Tropman, J. (1987). Models of community organization and macro practice perspectives: Their mixing and phasing. In F. Cox, J. Erlich, J. Rothman & J. Tropman (Eds.), STRATEGIES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION (pp. 3-26). 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San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Wellborn, S. (1982, May 17). Ahead, a nation of illiterates. U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, pp. 53-56. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer COMMUNITY ADULT EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES by Linda Ziegahn Syracuse University This article will explore community adult education within the developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Specific attention will be given to the purposes and forms of education in poor communities, the relationship between community education page 16 / Ziegahn and the concept of development, the respective roles of adult educators and community members in initiating educational efforts, and key issues for educators contemplating a role in communities labeled "developing." The author's perspective is that of a North American who has worked in developing countries as an employee of an international donor organization funding efforts ultimately aimed at improving the well-being of communities. The term "developing countries" is an arbitrary one (only marginally more acceptable than the term "Third World"), used to describe poor countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Implicit in this term is the eventual goal of development, a supposedly improved state of economic, physical, and educational well-being such as that attained by countries labeled "developed." Certainly, much of community adult education in the developing world is inextricably linked to the many challenges facing poor countries, such as high rates of infant mortality, inadequate public health systems, deforestation, and insufficient food supplies. These problems are complex and education contributes only partially to their ultimate solution. It is not always easy to identify community education efforts. The boundaries of community are sometimes geographic, such as towns or villages, or at times more figurative, such as the common beliefs of kindred spirits. Learning may take place in a formal instructional environment, or in natural settings--homes, village squares, or farmers' fields. Similarly, it is difficult to determine the ownership of community education, that is, who makes decisions about programs or activities, and the nature of participation. Catalysts and stimulators of community education can be community members themselves or outsiders--from as nearby as a neighboring village, or as far away as North America or Europe. In order for us as North Americans (or as outsiders to particular developing countries) to better understand community education in the developing world, it is useful to borrow a framework which delineates a range of relationships between the educator and the community members. A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Brookfield (1983) has suggested a typology for viewing adult education in communities: (a) adult education in the community, in which learners exercise control over the content and conduct of learning, while the educator is primarily a resource person; (b) adult education of the community, where the educator enters a community with a preconceived notion of the nature of an educated community; and lastly, (c) adult education for the community, in which the educator reacts to needs expressed by community members. Although this model is perhaps most directly applicable to Western page 17 / Ziegahn (North American and European) countries, it is a useful starting point for a look at communities in the non-Western world. Adult Education in the Community In Brookfield's (1983) view of adult education in the community, the adult educator provides materials and expertise in an attempt to activate the "educative" community (Hiemstra, 1975) only after a period of initial immersion in that community. This view assumes the educator is from outside the community and thus needs immersion. For their part, learners retain responsibility for setting learning goals and deciding which advice to accept from a professional educator. In developing countries, two scenarios exist: in one, an outside educator indeed provides resources for community education, after getting to know the community well enough to gain acceptance by its members. This is a common situation for development workers coming into countries with no particular programmatic agenda, but rather just a general mandate to respond to community needs. In many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, however, traditional systems for the education of adults still persist. In these systems, the "educator" is a member of the community, perhaps with a specific function in that society, but one that is unlike the Western notion of a professional educator. He or she is an integral part of the community, and education is part of the fabric of the culture, rather than a separate institutionalized function. Examples of adult education in the community include the intentional learning people engage in to cope with everyday change. For example, in Lesotho, a country in southern Africa, villagers come together in community meetings called "pitsos" to hear news from their traditional leaders and to discuss important events and decisions. In more recent times, the pitso has served as a forum for communicating innovations in health and agriculture to villagers. Such an example of community adult education is particularly hard for outsiders to "see," for it is integrated with other communication, religious, and political functions of cultural life. Community education linked to indigenous institutions frequently stems from the disenfranchisement of poor people. In India, a community of women organized around their common plight: they were all self-employed, as garment workers, vegetable vendors, farm laborers, junksmiths, and many other subsistence-level jobs offering no security, no legal protection, and almost no chance of attaining a level of health, shelter, and income considered minimal to survival. The formation of the trade union SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) represented a coming together of the labor, cooperative, and women's movements (SEWA, 1988). Many small communities comprised the larger SEWA community; SEWA members learned how to organize around the joint agendas of struggle and development to maximize political clout. SEWA encouraged its members to learn to page 18 / Ziegahn speak for themselves, to negotiate their rightful place in the economy, to live as members of an organization and learn organizational functioning, and lastly, to create a knowledge system based on their own lives and experiences. The "educators" in SEWA were more likely to be called organizers. They were a combination of paid union officials and active members- the self-employed women who have had experience in the organization, and who work towards SEWA goals while learning from and teaching other members. The processes involved in participatory research are similar to those described in the SEWA experience. Participatory research is a learning process for members of a "collectivity" organizing around social change (Gaventa, 1988). The three interrelated processes comprising participatory research are collective investigation of problems and issues, analysis of the problems and their underlying structural causes, and both long- and short-term action aimed at resolution. Common methods used by actors in participatory research are public meetings, discussions, research teams, community seminars, fact finding tours, collective production of audiovisual materials, and popular theater. Strongly influencing the practice of participatory research is Freire's (1970) concept of "conscientization," or learning to identify social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against oppressive forces. While the labeling of oppression and consequent action comprise the whole of the participatory research method (a term commonly interchanged with "Freirean methods"), in actual practice, this method is often fragmented. For example, community literacy programs will have group members analyze photographs of slum conditions, but then move on to traditional practices from the teaching of reading rather than connect the oppressive conditions identified to further questioning and social action. Many descriptions of participatory research fail to explain the role of the educator in stimulating and facilitating the participatory research process. The very term "participatory research" indicates the involvement of highly educated professionals who are in the position to articulate--in journals and educational conferences, as well as at the grassroots level--the linkages between theory and practice. The ambiguity of the educator's role is discussed by Gaventa and Horton (1981) in their description of a study in which citizens organized to change patterns of land ownership. While the genesis of the project was consistent with participatory research philosophy in that the research problem originated in the community, the study would not have been published without considerable assistance from university educators and students. This page 19 / Ziegahn situation suggests that we cannot assume true ownership by community members of efforts labeled "participatory." There is a real danger in participatory research that we create an illusion of community-spawned research when, in fact, social activists or activist academics generate the research problem from their own experience or interest. Then the name of "the people" is raised high as justification for our efforts, which may or may not emanate from the needs of the people (Gaventa & Horton, 1981, p. 37). In the examples of participatory research and of SEWA, education reflects communities' attempts to understand and alleviate poverty and marginalization. The role of the outside educator is that of a resource person and catalyst for the processes that community members have set in motion. These roles are not discrete, however, and adult educators may take on (with or without the sanction of members) more active initiator and leadership roles. Adult Education of the Community Adult education of the community assumes an idealized vision of the "good" community, and is strongly prescriptive. The educator takes responsibility for transmitting the values, skills, and knowledge that will bring the community to an improved state. One cannot talk about community education in developing countries without talking about the concept of development. At one level, development is portrayed in benign terms as a long-term process addressing poverty and suffering, and seeking resolution of basic societal problems through some direct intervention (Ewert, 1989). However, the antecedent notion of modernizing indigenous societies, dating back to colonial times, still affects our view of development and its goals. An unholy alliance of Western missionaries, colonial administrators, and multinational corporations converged to subvert indigenous economic and educational institutions and local initiatives in many countries in Africa, Asian, and Latin America (Ewert, 1989; Frank, 1972; Crowder, 1987). Today, at a time when countries are supposedly free from the last vestiges of colonialism, controversy continues around the motives of those who sponsor development and educational efforts in the Third World, and the supposed benefits to adults in communities. Adult education of the community is perhaps best exemplified by the phenomenon of nonformal education, a term generally referring to the out-of-school education component of national development plans in Third World countries (Moulton, 1977). Key goals of development, or modernization, are generally considered to be an increase in the literacy, numeracy, and informational learnings generally associated with basic primary education (Grandstaff, 1974), page 20 / Ziegahn along with an increase in income and productivity at the personal, community, and national levels. Proponents of nonformal education insist that meaningful individual and institutional development can be initiated by providing individuals, through education, with critical skills and competencies. Critics maintain that nonformal education is but another "reformist ploy" aimed at maintaining an unjust social and economic order and perpetuating dependency of poor nations on industrialized nations (Bock & Papagiannis, 1983; Carnoy, 1982). Perhaps more useful to an understanding of nonformal education as a force in communities are the social attributes described by Bock and Papagiannis in their theoretical analysis of nonformal education and development. These include (a) socialization and social mobility functions, (b) selection and recruitment functions, and (c) exchange value (what happens to graduates of institutions of nonformal education). The attribute of socialization recognized that nonformal education, like formal education, is consumer-oriented and has a service function--the moral and technical socialization of people. Selection and recruitment refers to the fact that participants in nonformal education may (or may not) be systematically selected into programs based on prior criteria such as social class, ethnicity, rural origin, or prior years of formal schooling. The "exchange value" of nonformal education refers to its ability to either transform society or reinforce existing disparities. Or, rather than promote aspirations, it could serve a "cooling out" function (Bock & Papagiannis, 1983, p. 18) in a developing society, lowering aspirations heightened by early years of schooling and images of an urban elite. Learners' satisfaction or disenchantment with nonformal education is influenced at least partly by the articulation between their expectations of what participation in nonformal education can do for them and the reality. Providers of nonformal education are numerous, from national ministry-sponsored activities to grass-roots efforts. Some grass- roots nonformal education efforts fit better into Brookfield's category "adult education in the community," because there is more involvement from community members in problem or program definition than educator involvement, and because national development is not much of an issue. Following are two examples, encountered by the author in Africa, of nonformal education efforts typical of adult education of the community. Both of these activities had as a key goal development of the community through education. Assistance Fund Project This project was, and still is, administered through a division of the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre (LDTC), a division of the Ministry of Education. The Assistance Fund Project received most of its funding, through the LDTC, from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The purpose of the project was to provide income and employment to rural areas of the country. The Assistance Fund provided both financial help in the form of a page 21 / Ziegahn revolving loan fund and technical assistance to rural groups applying for assistance. Proposals for assistance were selected by a screening committee comprised of LDTC staff. Groups proposed an income- generating activity they wanted to begin, as well as a plan for managing this activity. If the proposal was accepted, the LDTC disbursed the first loan installment, and then set up a training program with the group to talk about bookkeeping, planning activities, and group dynamics. A strong bias toward productivity characterized this project, both on the part of the USAID project personnel and the Basotho trainers who codesigned the project. Productivity was also a concern of rural people who were trying to increase income in a situation where local economic opportunities were scarce and dependency upon neighboring South Africa high. Members of Assistance Fund groups were socialized, through training from the center, into the management of money and planning processes. Selection was based primarily on whether or not the group could convince the screening committee of the viability of its proposed project. It was difficult to calculate the exchange value of the training received through the Assistance Fund. Certainly for a younger audience interested in this particular nonformal education activity as a substitute for the diplomas of the formal schooling system, the exchange value would be extremely low. No diplomas or certificates were issued, no jobs were promised as a result of completing the training sequence. Nonetheless, the group members (mostly women with families) receiving Assistance Fund loans and training expected their various projects--poultry raising, school uniform sewing, dairy breeding, to name a few--to result in added income for the group. A few projects were failures, and the others had varying degrees of success. There were a number of problems limiting the success of the Assistance Fund project that are relevant to other donor-funded nonformal education efforts. First, there was competition among foreign donors to "serve" the rural areas. For example, another donor was offering grants, rather than loans, for income-generating activities in the same communities receiving Assistance Fund aid. Second, it was extremely difficult to pinpoint projects that had a chance of taking off in an environment of poverty and political instability. Third, USAID project money provided salaries for many of the Assistance Fund trainers from Lesotho over a period of seven years. These trainers had done an excellent job of starting and maintaining project activities. By the time the project ended, however, the Distance Teaching Centre had not been able to find money to continue their employment and most had to find other page 22 / Ziegahn employment. The local projects have continued, but with far less assistance from project trainers. ADECOK (the Community Development Association of Kanage). The ADECOK community development center, located in the African country of Rwanda, started out in 1964 as a health dispensary for a rural district in the center of the country (Ziegahn, 1978). At this time, people from the surrounding hills (the significant community unit, as opposed to villages) came to the Kanage dispensary for free medical attention and free food from the Catholic Relief Service. A European missionary working with the center became concerned that providing routine health care was not sufficient to truly effect the development of the area, and that alternative social and economic structures were necessary. (Interestingly, another center in Rwanda (Ziegahn, 1978) similar in development philosophy and range of activities reversed this order: The Kirarambogo Health Centre started with the goal of overall social development, and eventually singled out preventative health care as the cornerstone of development (Ziegahn, 1978). Together with local priests and government workers, she developed an integrated rural development center comprised of a number of services. Health services were both preventative and curative (whereas before they had only been curative), conducted with the goal of changing attitudes and practices. Visitors to the health center either paid a small amount for services received or worked in the center's model farm. One of the most popular education programs was the maternal-child health center, where mothers came in monthly to weigh their babies. They learned recipes from nutritionists and listened to talks on child health topics. Center nutritionists made regular visits to parents and their children in the hills to see how things were going. Another feature of the Center's activities was the "economic block," which contained a silo, a warehouse, and a store where government agents would come to purchase agricultural products such as coffee and oil. Here, farmers learned by selling their own produce. The ADECOK center was viewed as a model of cooperation between the private and governmental sectors as well as a good example of outside development agents successfully turning over leadership to community members. After 14 years of working with the original ADECOK center at Kanage, the Belgian missionary who had been active in this center's founding moved to a nearby district to start a similar center. She had great confidence in the management abilities of a local governmental official who had just taken over as director of the original center, as well as the local parish priest and several social workers, who together comprised the new, all-Rwandan leadership team. Center activities were run jointly by ADECOK representatives (including local parish priests and community members) and representatives from local government. This arrangement ensured that changes from either the governmental or private side would not disrupt center operations. As with the Assistance Fund in Lesotho, the founding philosophy of ADECOK was one of development, meaning a lessening of dependency on outside services, goods, and capital. Free food page 23 / Ziegahn distributions from international relief agencies were being phased out, and the only alternative was for local people to somehow pay whatever they could for food and services or grow their own. A parallel issue was the creation of social structures that would support development. Rwanda had only recently gained independence, and was in the process of rethinking the utility of both the administrative patterns inherited from the colonials and traditional Rwandan governing practices. The practice of paying for services, either through fees or work with the various center activities, coincided with the government's stress on "umuganda," the communal labor required of all citizens, as well as with the ADECOK founder's emphasis on lessening dependency on foreign aid. Once again, the educational aspect of this project was not carried out by people with the title of "educator." Rather, nutritionists, team leaders, agriculturalists, social workers, priests--all at some point "taught" in natural social settings revolving around work, health, and family life. Community participation displayed various forms: bringing children to the clinic and taking part in related health activities, working in Center gardens, road building, construction of new silos and other buildings, selling produce grown in the home fields at the store run jointly by the government and ADECOK. The procedure for decision-making was described by the founder as one of "laying out the options," and then inviting discussion--a process described as imperfect, but improving. Community members were "selected" by their willingness to pay with their labor or money for certain services, or by their willingness to participate in economic activities. As with the Assistance Fund, as well as the earlier SEWA example, the concept of exchange value was not relevant, simply because the worth of the education was in the improved health of the family and greater economic well-being. In another example of nonformal education in Rwanda, the exchange value of participation in education was an issue. The CERARS (rural training centers) were established by the Ministry of Education as an alternative to the traditional secondary school system, which emphasized only academic subjects. Graduates, who had learned skills in agriculture, carpentry, and masonry, were expected to return to the hills, build houses, and till the soil. This was an earnest attempt by the government to deal with the many development needs of a poor, agricultural country. Instead, many graduates left rural areas and, with CERAR diplomas, got salaried employment as carpenters and masons for urban building projects funded by international donors. Unlike the Assistance Fund, more attention was paid to building a local infrastructure that could support economic projects. All of these nonformal education activities, aimed at helping the community, had the involvement of outsiders from donor (generally Western) countries. This is not to suggest that all nonformal page 24 / Ziegahn education activities have such involvement, but the very term is Western in origin, and is promulgated by Western financial and technical assistance. Adult Education for the Community Brookfield has characterized adult education for the community as a consumer-oriented approach to adult education, in which the adult educator surveys the needs or interests of community members, but makes no decisions as to the merits of particular activities. He cautions that, despite claims to impartiality, educators all have opinions, values, and ethics that influence their inevitable decisions about which courses or activities to include as part of community education programming. This third way of viewing adult education in communities is one of the best known in North America. Needs assessment is a popular tool for making decisions about which courses to offer, generally after major decisions about the form and financing of community education have been made. Needs assessments are frequently a part of program-based community education, either in schools affiliated with universities (such as Cooperative Extension) or in nonprofit organizations (the YWCA, Red Cross, etc.). Unfortunately, many lessons about the specific utility of the needs assessment survey have been lost in attempts to transfer this particular type of community education to developing countries. Needs assessment instruments are constructed to survey every possible aspect of life in a community, with no particular thought as to the ultimate audience for survey results or for the feasibility of changes suggested by respondents. Instruments constructed in one country are transferred with little adaptation to other countries having completely different community structures. There are many accounts of international development agents trying to use survey questionnaires in a participatory manner in order to convince community members to buy into a process of change. For example, Ibikunle-Johnson (1989) talks of efforts to educate people in a participatory fashion (at the village level in Uganda and Lesotho) about environmental problems and then mobilize them toward action. Again, the question of relative balance of power between outside community educators and community members is critical. Are people "participating" in a process carefully orchestrated to meet the outcomes desired by professional educators? Or is their participation grounded in their own views of the community, its problems, and possible solutions? The idea of surveying the needs of the community in order to identify activities perceived as important is not in itself negative. Problems arise when one particular research tool, such as the needs assessment, replaces a larger collective process. ISSUES FOR ADULT EDUCATORS The processes associated with adult education in, of, and for the community assume a relationship between an adult educator and community members. This relationship is critical to the ultimate success and strength of community education efforts. These efforts falter when the adult educator: (a) exercises power that is not page 25 / Ziegahn legitimately his or hers in determining the course of community education, (b) does not know the culture sufficiently to understand members' views on problems, their sources, and alternatives for resolution, and (c) mistrusts the experience and wisdom of local people to grapple with their own problems and to educate themselves in the process. These conditions contribute to what John Gay (1985) termed the "failure of success." [The failure of success] occurs when village people have been inducted into an activity, largely not of their own making, which has been designed and executed- -with the help of the village people, to be sure--by an energetic, innovative, concerned outsider... It is difficult under any circumstances for ordinary people to see ways to change their lives. But when others do the changing, the difficulty is compounded. (p. 39) Beyond these cautions about the educator-community member relationship, there are some other specific issues worth considering about community adult education in developing countries. 1. To what extent do community adult educators, especially those who are foreign to a culture, listen to the "stories" (Wass, 1976) of a people that make one community (based on geography, ethnicity, or purpose) different from another? Linking traditional community forums and cultural practices to a modern educational agenda is not the prerogative of an outsider, but one that should be explored jointly by educators and community members. Often the cultural institutions with the deepest roots in a community provide the best vehicle for education. 2. Adult educators working with donor organizations (USAID, UNESCO, FAO, etc.) may eventually have to decide who gets their loyalty: sponsors of particular community education projects, or members of the community itself. This is especially true when it becomes clear that the donors have an agenda that differs from that of local communities. In many cases the most useful educational purpose served by foreign project advisors is to explain the nature and needs of a community in a developing country to international project sponsors. 3. Community education programs that depend heavily on outside financial and human resources risk failure when those resources dry up. A common problem in externally funded community education programs is that the people working directly with community ventures are paid through donor funds. The loss of outside funding affects not only the life of a program, but also the careers of committed community educators. 4. Adult educators wanting to see change must be willing to invest more time than the usual development project frame of two to eight years. This is especially true when community education efforts are started by outsiders, not by people from the community. In order for new ideas to become a part of community life, dialogue must occur over a long period of time so all parties involved learn and act together. 5. Adult educators must understand the political nature of community education in developing countries. Most community education focuses on improving the health, economy, and general well-being of communities--all intensely political issues. Adult educators must recognize the potential political ramifications of their actions, and decide, together with community members, what their stance will be. 6. Finally, learning is the lynchpin of community adult education. To remove learning from community education is to reduce the process to one in which community members undertake activities that are, in the end, groundless and futile. It is in the collective page 26 / Ziegahn learning of new processes, skills, ways of thinking, and relationships that people come to a better understanding of themselves, their communities, and their world. References Bock, J. & Papagiannis, G. (1983). Some alternative perspectives on the role of nonformal education in national development. In J. Bock & G. Papagiannis (Eds.), NONFORMAL EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (pp. 3-20). Brookfield, S. (1983). ADULT LEARNERS, ADULT EDUCATION AND THE COMMUNITY. New York: Teachers College Press. Carnoy, M. (1982). Education for alternative development. COMPARATIVE EDUCATION REVIEW. 26(2), 160-177. Crowder, M. (1987). Whose dream was it anyway? Twenty-five years of African independence. AFRICAN AFFAIRS, 86(342), 7-24. Ewert, M. (1989). Adult education and international development. In S. Merriam & P. Cunningham (Eds.), HANDBOOK OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION (pp. 84-98). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Frank, A. (1972). The development of underdevelopment. In J. Cockcroft, A. Frank, & D. Johnson (Eds.), DEPENDENCE AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT: LATIN AMERICA'S POLITICAL ECONOMY (pp. 3-17). New York: Anchor Books. Freire, P. (1970). PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED. New York: The Seabury Press. Gaventa, J. (1988). Participatory research in North America. CONVERGENCE, 21, 19-28. Gaventa, J. & Horton, B. (1981). A citizen's research project in Appalachia, USA. CONVERGENCE, 14, 30-40. Gay, J. (1985). Report on a survey of handicrafts, agronomy, and horticulture: Young farmers' projects for Peace Corps. Maseru, Lesotho. Grandstaff, M. (1974). Study team reports: Historical perspectives on nonformal education. E. Lansing, Michigan: Institute for International Studies in Education. Hiemstra, R. (1975). THE EDUCATIVE COMMUNITY: LINKING THE COMMUNITY, EDUCATION, AND FAMILY. Baldwinsville, NY: HiTree Press. Ibikunle-Johnson, V. (1989). Managing the community's environment: Grassroots participation and environmental education. CONVERGENCE, 22(4), 13-22. Moulton, J. (1977). Animation rurale: Education for rural development. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Self-Employed Women's Association (1988). SEWA in 1988. Ahmedabad, India: Mahila SEWA Trust. page 27 / Ziegahn Wass, P. (1976). Community learning systems: Some thoughts for African educators. In K. King (Ed.), EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY AFRICA (pp. 327-340). Edinburgh, Scotland: Centre of African Studies. Ziegahn, L. (1978). Final report: Survey of rural education for youth and adults in Rwanda. Kigali, Rwanda: United States Embassy. ___________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer FACILITATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN A RURAL AREA by Allen B. Moore and Mary Anne Lahey The University of Georgia BACKGROUND The purpose of this project was to develop and improve the capacity of local citizens and community leaders to solve problems and to engage in a variety of activities designed to foster community development and improvement. The project involved several university service organizations including: the Institute of Government, Small Business Development Center, Continuing Education Center, Cooperative Extension Service, Leadership Development Center, and Institute of Community and Area Development (ICAD). In addition, agencies such as the state department of community affairs, industry and trade, the statewide city and county government associations, and major utility companies cooperated with the university to work with leaders in selected communities. The primary mechanisms for change employed on this project were education and technical assistance. Funding was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to design and test different approaches to community education and economic development. ICAD's role was to design four approaches or models to address this purpose. Funding was made available in July 1988 and continued through June 1991, although longer-term work programs would be supported by the university. Coordinators from the university service organizations and cooperating statewide agencies formed an organizing council to facilitate implementation of the grant in twelve rural communities. Three of those communities and one multicounty region were singled out by ICAD to field test four models of community development. Faculty at ICAD with backgrounds in sociology, social work, adult education, land use and planning, and with small group facilitation skills posed models. They also suggested options, gathered secondary source information (i.e., reports, studies), and conducted interviews in selected counties to design a strategy for each of the different models. Strategies were guided by faculty experience in community development, knowledge of the research literature (e.g., page 28 / Moore and Lahey Christenson and Robinson, 1980, 1989; Poston, 1976; Twain, 1983; and Loomis, 1960) and, most importantly, reactions from citizens in the communities. Four models or approaches were used by ICAD. The first model was based on an economic planning approach, and it established a local data base of primary and secondary sources. Information on employment, housing, spending, and taxing patterns was used to assess local business conditions and patterns. A second model addressed local problems such as health, literacy, and child care for improving economic development conditions in the community. The third model, a regional (or multicounty) approach, was based upon the availability and interest of a regional planning agency to test this program. Finally, the fourth model was designed with local leaders who identified existing goals for community economic development and requested assistance in organizing for and achieving these objectives. A modification of the social action process described by Blakely (1980, p. 215) was used as a guide for working with this community in a facilitated community development program. Blakely suggested that planned social change includes setting goals, acknowledging a change process, attending to barriers, being aware of group norms and roles of individuals and groups, arranging for group action, assessing the group's capability to produce change, organizing for change, and developing leadership to achieve change. This approach was used as a guide in the following ways: (a) goals of the community had been developed in August 1988 when eighteen community leaders participated in a two-day retreat; (b) the change agent was informed of the retreat and goals during the initial interviews of leaders and by reviewing local news media (i.e., the change agent subscribed to the local paper in order to keep informed of local issues and events between visits); (c) ideas were generated and reactions were collected to suggestions from groups such as the chamber's committee chairpersons; (d) the acceptance of these ideas was judged by conferring with local elected officials, business leaders, and citizens; (e) local leaders were asked to disseminate ideas into the community and to call community meetings to discuss actions toward achieving goals; (f) efforts were made to expand the scope of participation at community meetings and for work projects; and (g) for evaluation purposes the Leadership Alliance was formed, and this group was used to help host the horse show and prepare for the upcoming (September 1991) event. COMMUNITY CONTEXT The county selected for the facilitated community development model is one of over 150 in a large southern state that is primarily rural. The state's Department of Industry and Trade literature describes the area as follows: the city is located 122 miles southeast of a major metropolitan area and 22 miles east of the nearest interstate. Population estimates in 1988 were 8,950 people in the county, with 4,372 of these residing in the county's only incorporated city. Per capita income for citizens in the county in 1987 was page 29 / Moore and Lahey $11,240 as compared to $14,320 for the state and $15,484 for the nation. All higher education facilities are located outside the county, one as close as 11 miles. In 1988, the elementary and secondary schools system had 3 public schools with 98 teachers, 1,483 students, and 100 high school graduates. The county is located in a seven county area, which in 1988 was noted for its apparel manufacturing and stone, clay glass, and concrete production. Agriculture production was identified with lumber and wood, food, and kindred products. Prior to initiating this project, local leaders participated in a goal setting retreat and designated four areas of emphasis for the next five years of development activities. These included: (a) improve quality of life and leadership enhancement; (b) improve education for youth and adults; (c) revitalize the downtown; and (d) develop the economy. The chamber of commerce organized individual committees to address items a, b, and c. Item d, economic development, was the responsibility of an independent industrial development organization which included membership from the local business community. The initiatives identified under each of these four topic areas formed the initial agenda for the efforts of the change agent. Although local community leaders and interested citizens had a history of meeting together to generate strategies for dealing with local issues, the separate groups in the community worked somewhat independently in implementing those strategies (i.e., the city had their plan, the county theirs, and different citizen groups had their plans). Thus, one need that surfaced early in the project was encouraging different groups to work together cooperatively in a complementary, rather than competing, fashion. METHODS USED IN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The methods used by the change agent assigned to this county included meeting and interviewing local leaders, chamber of commerce committee chairpersons, city and county officials, executive directors of economic and industrial development groups, and interested citizens. During the interview process, the change agent was asked to attend monthly meetings of the chairpersons of the chamber's committees (approximately 10 individuals) and suggest ways the university could assist in community development. Based on information obtained from these meetings and an analysis of interviews, the change agent was able to suggest ways of using education, information, and technical assistance to assist local citizens and leaders. DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION COMMITTEE A local newspaper article recounting the editors' recent visit to Abbeville, South Carolina, sparked the interest of community leaders concerned with downtown and business development activities. At page 30 / Moore and Lahey the same time, the grant coordinating council at the university was considering offering a tour of locations that had successfully engaged in community development projects. It was determined that a sponsored tour of Abbeville for local leaders and interested citizens would help the community focus on downtown revitalization and riverfront development. Participating citizens (a total of 40 people) paid all their own expenses, and the grant provided funding for transportation. Two locations were visited: Abbeville, South Carolina and Augusta, Georgia. In preparation for the tour, a community and industrial developer from Abbeville visited the grant community and provided a three- hour slide program describing their conditions, needs, organizational efforts, and successes of their community development. One of the strengths of this effort was a two-day visit by the presenter to the grant community where he toured the town, examined local historic buildings, took pictures of selected locations, and visited with local leaders to discuss possible revitalization projects. These conversations, and knowledge of local structures in the grant community, enhanced the tour of Abbeville, and the local slides (of the grant community) were incorporated into an instructional session presented by the developer during the tour of Abbeville. The instructional program was complemented with a walking tour of downtown Abbeville and attendance at a play by the Abbeville Opera Company in their restored opera house. Following the visit to Abbeville, the group traveled to Augusta, Georgia, where they met with the mayor, toured the riverfront, flood wall, walking and bike trails, shoreline, and building preservation and development. Based on the interest generated by this tour, grant resources were used to employ an architectural design graduate student to visit the community, meet with the Regional Development Center (RDC) staff, visit the riverfront in Augusta, and prepare a visual of a "riverfront design concept" for the community. This concept visually presented a plan for the development of recreational areas along the river and emphasized the proximity of downtown businesses, historic buildings, and other points of interest to the recreation area. Upon return from the tour, participants from the grant community sponsored a "town meeting" (55 people attended, 10 of whom were on the tour, and 45 interested citizens who did not go on the tour) to discuss their reactions and observations with a broader leadership. Results of the tour, the meetings, and other subsequent discussions about development and preservation of historic sites generated several local newspaper articles and created excitement and motivation in the community to "do something" about the riverfront, downtown, and historic buildings. Copies of the riverfront design concept were displayed in several banks, utilities, and offices in the community. Also, community leaders began to discuss the page 31 / Moore and Lahey ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ From listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu Mon Oct 13 18:45:33 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:14:27 -0400 From: listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu To: aedmod@fcae.acast.nova.edu Subject: GET HORIZONS VOL5N1 (1/1) [2/2] Archive HORIZONS, file vol5n1. Part 1/1 (subpart 2/2), total size 128719 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ possibilities of purchasing the necessary lands for the riverfront recreation area, as well as raising money for the restoration of local historic structures. The most visible result from the tour was the motivation to have the RDC assist the community in designing an "historic" community symbol and erecting welcome signs at strategic entrances to the community. Based upon this support from the RDC, a proposal was also completed and submitted by a local committee to the appropriate state agency designating specific buildings and sections of the town as historic locations. Another project supported by the RDC was utilization of plans for storefront facades and color patterns for exterior paint. The RDC developed these plans for the community over ten years ago, but they had not been implemented prior to the grant-sponsored tour. Two individual store owners used these RDC designs to paint and remodel their businesses, which are located downtown. One owner painted and remodeled without benefit of these designs. QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE The quality of life committee asked for assistance in identifying existing and new or expanded recreational facilities in the community. The change agent secured assistance from recreational professionals within the university, and sponsored a meeting with about 30 local citizens and recreational professionals to discuss the project. The change agent then designed a recreational survey instrument and sampling procedures for obtaining citizen's opinions about the types of recreation facilities and services needed. The survey instrument was prepared, delivered, and explained at a local citizens' meeting (25 people attended, including 2 members of the city council). During this meeting several other issues were expressed, especially the inaccessibility and lack of involvement of the local citizens serving on the recreational board. To date, the recreational survey has not been implemented as planned. A direct result of this effort, however, was the appointment of new members to the local citizens' recreational board, expansion of the summer recreational activities schedule, and the hiring of a local recreation director. Although the survey was not implemented, the work of the change agent was considered to be the critical motivating force behind these positive changes in the recreation opportunities in the community. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Economic development activities progressed in the community with the support of the private economic development agency and the local chamber of commerce. The county has two industrial park sites. West Park had been developed and existing buildings expanded to accommodate industrial development. East Park is only land, with no development. However, a 1990 plant closing and page 32 / Moore and Lahey shift of manufacturing to a neighboring community has had a negative impact on the local economic situation. The recent addition of an antique mall in the downtown area, the opening of a 24-hour fast food restaurant and two other restaurants, plus completion of an "up-scale" bed and breakfast inn have helped to shore up some of the otherwise negative economic developments. Another economic development opportunity exists in the form of a city-owned horse racing facility. Many of the economic development efforts of the community center on promoting the race track and recruiting potential users of the facility. The change agent was asked to assist in expanding citizen involvement in the community's efforts to host a statewide horse show at the track. In order to accomplish this expansion, a "Leadership Alliance" was formed. The alliance included approximately 30 individuals from the community, including representation from civic clubs, minority church groups, and women's clubs, who agreed to coordinate and organize volunteer support (e.g., running concession stands, clean-up, etc.) for the show. Two local meetings were held to generate support for the horse show and communicate the plans and needs for the show. The change agent facilitated these meetings and assisted community leaders in discussing the need for scheduling and facility arrangements. The change agent also designed, administered, and analyzed a survey of horse show participants in order to identify areas of strength, and ideas for future promotion efforts. Survey results also identified several important considerations for improving the facility and local arrangements to meet participant expectations and needs. Finally, the change agent designed, administered, and analyzed a brief survey of community merchants (n=12) in order to determine how they modified their business operations for the horse show and to assess their level of preparedness for the additional visitors to the area. Results of this survey suggested ways that the community might better prepare its services (e.g., lodging, restaurants, etc.) and merchants for future events. As a result of these activities, the economic development committee had a nearby two-year college engage one of its business instructors and class in a study of the need for hotel/motel accommodations in the community. EDUCATION COMMITTEE Prior to the grant period, members of the education committee began to implement their work agenda. As planned, they prepared and distributed a brochure highlighting the positive aspects of the city and county public schools and the education system. Also, a concerted effort was made to keep the public informed of a broad range of educational events, opportunities, and accomplishments in the community via the local news media. Developing a recognition and awards program for teachers and students was one of the committee's efforts. Publicizing basic literacy programs for adults was another. The change agent was not asked to become involved in the work of this committee. It must be noted that the education page 33 / Moore and Lahey committee had identified their goals, objectives, and actions, and did not perceive that the change agent would be helpful to their efforts. Chairs of the education committee were active participants in the monthly meetings. FOLLOW-UP RETREAT Approximately 18 months after the initial community leader's planning retreat, the change agent suggested that it might be appropriate to have a meeting to look at accomplishments since the retreat and begin exploring an agenda for community development efforts during the next two or three years. A follow-up retreat was held to recognize what had been accomplished and to identify future needs. A total of 28 citizens representing a cross section of the community attended the retreat--including the chairman of the county commission, a city commissioner, local business owners, and the assistant superintendent of schools. One of the significant items discussed at this retreat was the need for broader participation of citizens in local community development activities... "More people representing a diverse citizenry is a must if we are to accomplish what is needed in the future." Of particular interest was the broadening of the resource base by including church groups, the Association of Retired Persons, high school groups, and other organizations that are often overlooked in the community. Retreat participants suggested forming a collective "Leadership Alliance" representing interested citizens and civic groups to help identify and complete projects in the community. The change agent worked with resource people in the university to develop suggestions for organizing the alliance. Two community meetings (first meeting n=35; second meeting n=25) were held to discuss and promote the alliance concept. Although the concept was met with some skepticism by the established political and business leadership, many individuals in the community saw the Leadership Alliance as a mechanism for implementation of broad-based community and economic development activities. In fact, the coordination of efforts necessary to host the horse show, described previously, were the first successful efforts of the alliance. Results of the horse show participant survey, which were generally positive and were highly complimentary of the services and efforts made by the community in their behalf, provided a successful beginning for the alliance. Based on that experience, community groups have developed a clearer understanding of the ways in which they might work together and have explored the possibility of jointly hosting other events. Unfortunately, since that time there have not been any recognized opportunities for members of the alliance to work together on additional community projects. A third retreat was conducted in February 1991 with a group of 34 leaders and volunteers emphasizing education and literacy, tourism, downtown and page 34 / Moore and Lahey riverfront development, quality of life and beautification, economic development, and housing improvements. DISCUSSION A review of the grant-sponsored activities within this community requires examination of the change agent's assumptions (Loomis, 1960). In this situation, the change agent: 1. Assumed that local leaders had a plan (i.e., 1988 Retreat Report) and that they wanted to implement the suggestions in the plan. 2. Assumed that most if not all of the key leaders in the community endorsed and supported the plan. 3. Knew that there was friction building between competing economic development groups in the community. 4. Was aware, after interviewing many individuals and leaders, that there was no agreement between key individuals and groups on how to carry out the activities suggested in their retreat report. Based on these assumptions and information, the strategy adopted by the change agent included: (a) heightened awareness of the general interests of leaders in the overall development of the community; (b) staying out of and trying not to be drawn into the battles between the competing economic development groups; (c) meeting with designated committee chairpersons to listen for opportunities to provide assistance and at the same time promote the expertise and technical assistance available within the university; and (d) contacting the grant's cooperating agencies for assistance in delivering services to the community. Although the general objectives for this project were specified in the grant proposal, there was considerable flexibility for the change agent to respond to local needs and the characteristics of the community. In fact, the grant specifically called for the change agent to test different strategies from those typically employed by technical assistance and development groups. This allowed the change agent to use a modified social action process following Blakely (1980, p. 215). In addition to the involvement of the university and state agency cooperators, it is important to acknowledge the support of other groups in the area; for example, the RDC, private industrial development groups, city and county officials, and local citizens. Regional Development Center Role Several agencies played important roles in community development during the grant period. Specifically, the RDC had a history of working with local elected officials in the community to provide specific plans, projects, and designs. These designs included storefront facades, paint color coordination schemes, historic signage design, downtown park designs, and tree planting designs for downtown. The RDC had developed most of these plans and designs page 35 / Moore and Lahey prior to 1988; they were developed to specification and made available for immediate use. However, recent grant activities provided renewed interest in implementing these plans. Role of Economic Development/Industrial Development Groups The chamber of commerce and the private incorporated industrial development agency in this rural community competed for resources from some of the same businesses and individuals. During the grant period, it was difficult for either of the two organizations to solicit enough support, both financial and manpower, to do an outstanding job in general community development and in industrial development. In fact, competition between these agencies often slowed or stalled communications on activities undertaken for part of this project and limited the change agent's abilities to effectively follow through on some proposals for involvement in community development activities. One perception is that competition between these agencies diluted the available support so that neither group could be as effective as they might otherwise have been. Role of City and County Officials Elected officials in the city and county governments appear, on the surface, to work reasonably well together on many issues. The city owns and manages the racetrack training facility and thus has a potential revenue generating resource. The chamber of commerce and several committees have been instrumental in promoting the improvement, development, and marketing of this facility to groups within and outside the state. Revenues generated by the facility, for the most part, have been reinvested in the track to make it more marketable. Role of Citizens-At-Large in the Community Citizens from the community are directly affected by the location of new or expansion of existing businesses or industries. The encouragement and recruitment of citizens to become members of, and participate in, the Leadership Alliance has many positive spinoffs. For example, there will be more volunteers and workers to help with future horse shows, recreation studies, and riverfront development. There needs to be an influx of new ideas and suggestions on how to improve city and county services, and resources to maintain and improve the quality of life in the area. One of the first factors studied by business leaders when considering relocation and/or development in a community is the quality of life for their employees and managers. What are the available city and county services? Where are the schools? What is the academic/vocational standard of the schools? These and many other community development issues are of vital importance to existing residents and newcomers to the area. CONCLUSIONS The original purpose of the facilitated community development model was to work with existing leadership and local organizations to facilitate achieving their goals. One of the roles of the change agent was to observe, listen, and be available to suggest resources of the university and/or other cooperating agencies. Facilitation was promoted by using the Blakely (1980) guide for social action, such as evaluating the social situation, initiating ideas via the chairperson's group, etc. Progress toward goals also appeared to be supported by holding periodic retreats and monthly committee page 36 / Moore and Lahey chairperson's meetings. Another vital part of the implementation strategy was the prior work done by the RDC and the continual involvement of the RDC in a variety of local projects such as the study about offstreet parking, planning for the planting of trees in the downtown area, designing welcome signs for major roadways into the county, and planning the design of a small downtown park. It was evident throughout the three-year project that local citizens and leaders had taken a more active role in volunteering for community development projects. More people volunteered to help with the 1990 Labor Day Horse Show than had worked on previous projects. This effort paid off in both satisfaction of horse show participants as well as securing a contract for 1991. Downtown storefronts, parking, tree planting, and historic signage are other indicators of how leaders, merchants, and volunteers worked together to improve the community. The local historic preservation commission is currently promoting the historic designation of selected building sites and several blocks of houses in the downtown area. One area that needs additional emphasis, according to the change agent, is recognition of local citizens and leaders for their efforts in volunteering their time and energy to discuss, plan, and do much of the hard work necessary to complete local projects. A broader base of support and involvement of local citizens, including minorities, should be encouraged with a systematic process for recognizing the efforts via news articles, awards, and "certificates of effort" for volunteers and their families. References Blakely, E.J. (1980). Building theory for CD practices. In J. Christenson & J. Robinson, Jr. (Eds.), COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICA (pp. 203-219). Ames: Iowa State University Press. Christenson, J.A. and Robinson, J.W. Jr. (Eds.). (1980). COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICA. Ames: Iowa State University Press. Christenson, J.A. and Robinson, J.W. Jr. (Eds.). (1989). COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN PERSPECTIVE. Ames: Iowa State University Press. Loomis, C.P. (1960). SOCIAL SYSTEMS: ESSAYS ON THEIR PERSPECTIVES AND CHANGE. Princeton, NJ: Van Norstrand Company, Inc. Poston, R. (1976). ACTION NOW: A CITIZENS GUIDE TO BETTER COMMUNITIES. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Twain, D. (1983). CREATING CHANGE IN SOCIAL SETTINGS. New York: Praeger. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer B O O K R E V I E W Milbraith, L.W. (1989) ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY: LEARNING OUR WAY OUT. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. 403 pages. Reviewed by Daniel V. Eastmond Syracuse University In the past few years there has been growing global concern about the degradation of our environment. The recent Persian Gulf conflict has surfaced the need to seek out alternative, less pollutive energy sources, while less developed nations view the plea to page 37 / Eastmond conserve natural resources as a strategy of environmental colonialism. Last December, adult educators from several nations carried on a lively computer discussion over the Adult Education Network (AEDNET) about how our discipline should be involved in the environmental crisis. The crucial questions that emerged were: (a) why should adult education assume a role in solving the environmental dilemma, and (b) what should be the role of adult education? Lester Milbraith, a political scientist, addresses these questions in his recent book, ENVISIONING A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY: LEARNING OUR WAY OUT. The role education plays in "learning our way out" may not be through formal institutions of adult education, although they could certainly capitalize on this opportunity. Milbraith promotes an adult social learning response, a phenomenon that occurs when the societal majority gains sufficient awareness and decisiveness on an issue to affect immediate change. Effective social learning becomes an on- going process when a society becomes forward looking--planning for on-going policy directed towards environmentally sound lifestyles for all global citizens. Adults are the only group who can deliver immediate, informed solutions and implement them. And, the global environmental crisis is so acute that there is not time to wait for a response from upcoming generations. Milbraith sees education playing the central role because other institutions have failed to generate an adequate response to the environmental crisis. The political arena is dominated by the ethos of development, a process inimical to environmental sustenance. The economic sector is governed by free marketplaces that cannot anticipate future calamity and prepare for it. Unharnessed technology increasingly decimates the ecosystem and is wielded by those in power who generally seek their own ends and not the general social good. Education cannot unravel the environmental tangle alone, though. It must work effectively with political, economic, and scientific sectors, too. The appeal of Milbraith's approach is its detailed emphasis on solutions. Society must learn its way to a New Environmental Paradigm (NEP), the shared rationale for sustaining high quality page 38 / Eastmond human life while preserving all species. Such a society: (a) values nature, (b) has compassion towards other species and peoples (including future generations), (c) plans and executes change to avoid risk, (d) places limits on growth, (e) creates a new political structure emphasizing long-term planning and citizen participation, and (f) reforms itself towards simple lifestyles, satisfying work, cooperation, increased valuing of public goods, and opening up participation by all peoples to social, political, and economic opportunities. Each aspect of the sustainable society is elaborated fully within the book, such as what ecology in a future society will be like; how the world can create a renewable food supply for its burgeoning population; what constitutes fulfilling work in an economic order that disavows development and growth; and how we can learn to enjoy life without compulsive consumption of material goods. He also elaborates upon the transformation of political systems, the role of science and technology, and the movement towards equity among nations. Another appeal of the book is its elaboration of the role of learning to enhance the environmental condition. Social learning for Milbraith is not just the solution, but also a fundamental characteristic of a society formulated upon the NEP. He envisions a society where all citizens engage in information processing. Social learning: (a) is supported by society, (b) allows for utilizing the plethora of information, (c) promotes probabilistic and integrative thinking, (d) emphasizes values, as well as facts, (e) is critical of science and technology as the sole authoritative means to arrive at truth, and (f) promotes systematic thinking and anticipates future change. He argues that we need to work out our values as a society through discussion, seeing how each value contributes or detracts from the core value of a viable ecosystem. Using nature as the basis for learning, not social institutions, Milbraith explains three maxims that environmentalists derive from the first law of thermodynamics: (a) that everything must go somewhere; (b) we can never do merely one thing; and (c) we must continually ask, "and then what?" Education must emphasize the integral place humans occupy in nature and nurture a nonexploitive role in that relationship. How might social learning actually extricate us from the environmental challenges we face? Milbraith creates a scenario of society not being transformed until the mood is right - until the idea's "time has come," perhaps as a result of successive and deepening ecological crises within the next twenty years. He thinks society will take a defiant, reactionary approach to the environmental crisis first; but, finally, a societal "openness" will occur, and enough receptive people will become a critical mass to usher in the NEP. The mass paradigm shift will then be swift, probably taking a three-year period. Changes in lifestyles and institutions will take approximately 100 years, he presumes. Milbraith suggests how we should act to promote environmental social learning. As individuals we can cultivate environmental awareness and make it central to our page 39 / Eastmond thought processes, translate that awareness into personal action - living a simple, environmentally sound life, and share these beliefs and values with others as much as possible. (These obligations are similar to the responsibilities religious adherents take upon themselves). While the NEP remains the minority perspective, educators can move toward social learning by: (a) disseminating information about the crisis and solutions; (b) using economic, political, moral, or physical pressures to alter social behavior; (c) targeting the conversion of the elite to this paradigm; (d) inventing social remedies to change behavior; (e) organizing others into a social movement; and (f) working to change other's beliefs and values about the environment. Milbraith's prophetic analysis can't be entirely accurate, but the book is filled with rich ideas. His rosey prediction that society will solve the environmental crisis through social learning would probably not be shared by all environmentalists. But, the pessimistic views many hold offer few solutions. With Milbraith, the trend among environmentalists is to see the very institutions formerly targeted as the source of the environmental problem as essential players in finding and implementing efficacious solutions. The book's vision of the sustainable society is alluring to pursue. The optimism he expresses that human societies can change and improve is a welcome alternative to the skepticism that pervades much of the environmental literature. Societies may not, but at least it helps me feel that my individual effort is meaningful and may someday contribute to that final, positive result. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 5, Number 1, Spring/Summer 1991 E D I T O R I A L P O L I C Y NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION is a refereed journal published by the Syracuse University Kellogg Project and is electronically transmitted to subscribers via the advanced communications technology of mainframe computers. The journal is managed by graduate student editors at page 40 Syracuse University in cooperation with an international editorial board comprised of graduate students. 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