Jean McNiff at jeanmcniff.com

Developing a Theory of Community Education for Social Change

Introduction

My research documents my professional practice as an independent Facilitator of Specific Adult Education Programmes for marginalized individuals and groups based in community settings in the West of Ireland. I have undertaken this research with a view to effecting social change through enabling individuals and groups to access further educational and employment opportunities.

I espouse the values of social justice, social inclusion, freedom and the rights of others to determine what they learn and how they wish to learn it. I endeavour to create a caring and supportive learning environment in which adults who have been marginalized can gain the confidence to take control of their own development and enrichment through lifelong learning.

I aim to show the significance of my work through generating my own theory of practice and contributing to the wider body of educational knowledge. The form of my practice as a professional educator is in contrast to traditional forms where practitioners are expected to implement theory. Instead, I encourage others to generate their own theories of practice that also show their processes of learning. Together with participants I am aiming to reconceptualise the prescribed curriculum as we consider what constitutes knowledge and how we come to acquire knowledge.

While I examine the question 'How do I use my educative influence to develop a theory of community education for social change?' I also examine my own motivation and actions and critically engage with participants and colleagues in order to reflect on and enhance my performance as a professional educator.

The concept of community education is relatively new. It may have had a clear, concise definition at one time, but that definition has been re-worked by the dynamic interpretations that have imbued it as a result of the community education movement, over two decades. Community education has been created by people who wanted different ways of taking their place in the world, through generating knowledge by action and reflection (Connolly, 2003). AONTAS, National Association of Adult Education, identified community education as an area of Adult Education requiring development (AONTAS, 1989:82) in order to:

enable people to understand the social, political and economic forces which shape their lives and work towards identifying realistic courses of action to change them.

The consultative document, the Green Paper on Adult Education, 1998, followed by the White Paper in Adult Education, 2000, (the first policy document) formalised Community Education and offered two concepts of Community Education:

1. Extension of the service provided by second and third-level education institutions into the wider community (In the community but not of the community).
2. As a process of communal education towards empowerment, both at an individual and collective level.

A more comprehensive concept, later developed by AONTAS, the National Association of Adult Education, defined community education as:
A process of empowerment, social justice, change, challenge, respect and collective consciousness. It is within the community and of the community, reflecting the developing needs of individuals and their locale. It builds the capacity of local communities to engage in developing responses to educational and structural disadvantage and to take part in decision- making and policy-formation within the community. It is distinct from general Adult Education provision, due both to its ethos and to the methodologies it employs (AONTAS, 2000).

The literature on community education is sparse, due, perhaps to the growth in the non-formal, non-academic, organic way (Connolly, 2003). Slowey (1985) noted the early days of community education. Basset et al (1989) made the case for adult education and emancipation, emanating from the work of AONTAS. Connolly and Ryan (1999) looked at group work and facilitation in community education. More recently research on the impact of community education on poverty and on feminist models of community education and lifelong learning has been conducted by WERRC (2001, 2003).

There are a large number of providers of education in the community. The main providers are the Adult Education Board, Vocational Education Committee; Secondary Schools; Fás - Training & Employment Authority; Centres for Unemployed; Health Board - Department of Health & Children; Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs; Teagasc - Department of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development; CERT - Department of Tourism; County Enterprise Development Board; Local/Community Partnerships; Private Enterprise/Voluntary Bodies/Sports and other interest groups. However, these organisations have specific goals and social agendas in mind and are based in the community rather than of the community.

Who are the individuals and groups seeking community education? According to the Department of Education and Science they are people who are marginalised and disadvantaged through lack of educational opportunities in their communities, categorised in the White Paper on Adult Education (2000) as follows:

n Women's Groups
n Men's Groups
n Travellers and Ethnic Minorities
n People with Disabilities
n Community Arts Groups
n Elderly

Why research my practice?

During the course of my research, which has extended over three years, and builds on previous research, many changes have taken place in the area of Adult Education. The 1995 OECD Report on Adult Education had identified low literacy levels in 25% of the adult population. The Government brought out a consultative document, the Green Paper in Adult Education, Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning, published in 1998, followed by Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education, published in 2000. €4.2bn was pledged in the National Development Plan for Further and Higher Education. The Adult Guidance in Education Initiative was launched. The National Qualifications Authority and The National Adult Learning Council were established. Pilot schemes were launched in Adult Literacy, Family Literacy, Literacy Through the Airwaves (radio and TV), Workplace Learning and the Back To Education Initiative (BTEI). All of these initiatives challenged the existing structures and opened up new opportunities within the area of Community Education. In my practice I found that I, and others, had to adapt to these changes and either assimilate them into an existing system or accommodate the changes through developing a new approach to community education.

My aim in conducting this research was to identify how I could promote education as a process that would enable communities to take control of their own development and enrichment through lifelong learning. My experience had been that despite the changing ethos in Adult Education there was considerable slippage between theory and practice and that the majority of courses offered were based on traditional values of technical rational knowledge and did not meet the needs of adults in rural communities.

I wished to develop a personal theory of community education based on my values of social justice, social inclusion, freedom, acknowledgement of rights of others to determine what and how they learn, shared responsibility for learning, development of a critical outlook and search for meaning.

Through development specific programmes I attempted to utilize public, private and voluntary resources to build and enhance communities through the identification and meeting of community needs. Through taking this approach I sought to empower people to make community decisions and take community action. I wished to gain an insight into the nature of my practice with a view to effecting social change through enabling individuals and groups to access further education/employment opportunities; through creating an awareness of the effects of marginalisation and to engage in decision-making and policy formation within their communities.

A further aim was to engage in self-study in order to examine my own motivation and actions; to critically engage with participants and colleagues in order to reflect on and enhance my performance as a professional educator.

Conceptual Framework

I sought out a conceptual framework which would embrace my values as follows:-

o Brookfield (1987) - take the risk to think critically
o Dewey (1916)- project work
o Freire (1973; 1998)-relationship between liberation and education
o Illich (1971) - learning from things, models, peers and elders
o McNiff (2002)- generative transformational process of education through engaging in cycles of learning
o Rogers (1969) - students at the centre of learning
o Whitehead (1989; 1993) - action research living theory where I am at the centre of my research

Drawing on the work of Whitehead, I engaged in action research living theory and problematized my situation as follows:

What was my concern?
Why was I concerned?
What did I/we do?
Why did I/we do it?

What was my concern?

There has been a movement to formalise and institutionalise many kinds of learning that previously occurred in community contexts, for example, the way in which, by public demand, we are currently developing formal programmes that run the entire spectrum of a person's life.

My concern was that this movement from formal to informal education in communities may create a dependency on 'expert knowledge'.

A further concern was that the needs of funding agencies rather than the needs of individuals or communities determined the expected outcomes which were sometimes unrealistic.

Short-term nature of programmes did not offer progression routes to participants.

Why was I concerned?

As I subscribed to the concept of education as one of heightened awareness and intellectual curiosity rather than an unquestioning process of socialisation into cultural and social norms, I was concerned that I might be unwittingly contributing to the institutionalisation of education within communities.

I believe that education is a process of engagement in living (Illich, 1971), therefore, I wished to create an informal and caring environment where learning could be shared and learners' experience valued; an environment in which I could live my values and others could do likewise. I wished to involve participants in the development of the curriculum and encourage collaboration.

Past experience had led me to believe that participants were reluctant to engage with off-the-shelf programmes that were presented by a knower who delivered the knowledge to recipients. Encouraged by the work of Freire I wished to create a learning situation where the experience of the learner was valued. I wished to foster a learner-centred environment (Rogers, 1969) where participants were encouraged to critically reflect on their situation and take responsibility for their learning and their actions (Brookfield, 1987).

What did I do?

1. I invited Tutors and Participants to become co-researchers in action reflection cycles in order to develop a curriculum suited to their needs and the needs of the community.

2. Traditional teaching methods involved the teacher providing the student with a body of knowledge to be learned. I encourage adult learners to critically engage with their learning and value their life experiences through researching their local archaeology, history, folklore, and traditions, with a view to taking an active role in their community and taking responsibility for their own learning.

3. I encouraged participants to set their own goals.

4. I developed an integrated programme through project work (literacy, communication, personal development, computer skills, research skills, community analysis, capacity building, work preparation, enterprise development, leisure and recreation).

5. I encouraged active participation through role play and drama, e.g. business development through character roles.

6. Field work - visited local and regional sites of interest.

7. Small group work, paired/shared learning.

Why did I do it?

· To facilitate a generative transformational process of education through engaging in cycles of learning
· I believe that adult education must respect and value the contribution of adult learners to their own learning
· Strengths of programme lay in its rootedness in the community
· Created a sense of identity: pride of place
· Created a sense of equality through shared learning experiences: 'We are all in this together'
· Integrated personal and skills development and critical thinking
· Completed project work, e.g. art/crafts, local history and folklore collections, provided evidence of active learning to funders and potential funders for future programmes

Findings

1. Participants expressed satisfaction with the teaching methodology and enthusiastically engaged in the process

2. Some tutors felt threatened by the lack of structure and guidelines

3. Integrated curriculum facilitated the needs of the group as it provided participants with options and opportunities to share their knowledge

4. The strength of programmes lay in their rootedness in communities

5. Group/shared work encouraged the less able to participate and gain confidence

6. Local research encouraged interest in local development, social issues and critical debate

7. Project work (community analysis, research, arts/crafts) provided opportunities for building capacity to identify and address their own needs, issues, tasks and challenges; process of empowerment leading to participation in community development and bringing about change within communities

8. Potential community leaders were identified in three locations. They are now involved in community research and development and are collaborating in my current research

9. Participants identified a wide range of factors associated with social exclusion that contribute to the feeling of isolation and mental health issues, listed below

10. Created opportunities for further education and employment

11. Integrated programme incorporates technical knowledge, practical knowledge and critical reflection

12. Short-term stand-alone projects are not adequate and can have negative impact in communities

13. Need for in-service training and structured career prospects for tutors engaged in community education

14. Need for anti-racist and intercultural awareness training

15. My thinking changed as a result of engaging with the problematic of power and control and the need to balance personal freedom with the freedom of tutors and participants

Conclusions

I looked at four areas in order to summarise and clarify my findings. These were as follows:

· Personal Development
· Community Development
· Social Issues
· Political Issues

1. Personal development - group work encouraged the less able to participate and gain confidence. For example one woman stated the following: 'When I started I did not have the confidence to speak in public. Taking part in the project work has given me the confidence to try out new things. I didn't know I had the ability to do research.' I found self-study challenging as I confronted opposition from some tutors who were unhappy with my approach. I questioned my right to impose a methodology which would offer freedom to participants but not to tutors.

2. Community development - knowledge of their locality encouraged an interest in local development and social issues, for example two women's group have acquired and developed local premises which can be used by the community for education and social gatherings. Capacity building and leadership skills were identified as priorities if participants are to play an active role in their communities and address their own needs, issues, tasks and challenges. Two community groups have added education to their local development plan.

3. Social issues - participants identified a wide range of factors associated with social exclusion that contribute to the feeling of isolation and mental health issues, for example: financial problems; low income; geographic location; transport; low or now qualification; early school leaving; disability, etc. Networking became a priority in order to see how other communities were dealing with these problems. Knowledge of community affairs encouraged interest in local development, social issues and critical debate, leading to participation in community development and bringing about social change. For example, one women's group has formed sub-committees to research the needs of young children and the elderly. Subsequently, a play-school and a carers group have been developed.

4. Political development - There was an increased interest in and awareness of the importance of becoming politically active. Some communities of interest have come together to pursue political issues through developing networks locally, nationally and internationally. Women's groups are more actively involved in this area.

In attempting to create a model of Community Education that could influence policy and decision makers I found that there were broader issues to be considered. For example, lack of educational opportunities could not be isolated as the main contributor to lack of employment opportunities and full participation in society. There are a wide range of factors that are associated with social exclusion that contribute to the feeling of isolation and mental health issues. Some factors arise from the personal story of each individual and their life experiences. Other factors are not intrinsic to the individual but are located in the wider community and society. Such factors include:
Ø Financial problems
Ø Low income poverty trap
Ø Lack of mobility
Ø Poor housing
Ø Low or no qualifications
Ø Early school leaving
Ø Suspicion of the system
Ø Non-conforming behaviour
Ø Dependence
Ø Lack of practical opportunities
Ø Low self esteem
Ø Discrimination
Ø Family instability
Ø Disability
Ø Health
Ø Social attitudes
Ø Unemployment

From these observations I concluded that any educational model developed ought to include the rehabilitative model (McAnaney, 1999), which aims to assist the individual in becoming as effective as possible in exercising their economic, social and cultural rights. Key elements of effective rehabilitation include guidance and counselling, the provision of extra supports, flexible training opportunities, and new approaches to education, access to qualifications, job creation, integration, and personal skills development.

The rehabilitation model focuses on the individual rather than the group. Individual supports are a prerequisite to entry into the group. Before education can begin there is a need for confidence building through personal development type programmes that encourage individuals to become vocal members of their community. In the meantime, who will speak for those who are disadvantaged, who do not have a voice? The Department of Education (Government of Ireland, 2000) has responded to community activists and the community representative voluntary body, Aontas, by providing thirty-four Community Education Facilitators throughout the country who are charged with the role of enabling community groups and individuals to access further education. I have recently been appointed to one of these positions.

A second element of community education identified was the need for capacity building skills which would enable participants to engage effectively in developing their community. This would include social and political debate. This was seen as stage two of a three-stage programme, the third being an introduction to formal education through a local access-type programme where participants could sample tasters, somewhat similar to those subjects offered at third level colleges, at a level suited to the group.

Finally, I conclude that while there is an increase in the number of educational options available to individuals and groups in communities, without critical analysis it is likely that they will become more deeply embedded with the prevailing mores (Connolly, 2003).

Significance