In light of the self reflection and strategic planning that the National Community Education Association (NCEA) is undergoing, it is fitting to suggest some of the responsibilities of Community Educators to foster change in our communities, society (and globally.) The recent dialogue with futurist Gary Marx and others from various national organizations concerning the coming trends for education and communities suggests a number of considerations as to the role of NCEA.

The following may or may not be controversial, but I believe these issues should be addressed by those concerned about the welfare of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.

The field of Community Education should:

·         Be part of the development of strong and sustained communities;

·         Include in its set of values the need to respond to the economic and social needs of individuals and their communities;

·         Acknowledge that “informal learning” is occurring through cultural and family traditions and that it is a crucial part of the educational process;

·         Recognize that education and learning are major tools and strategies for transformation;

·         Design systemic structures and processes that nurture relationships with others involved in community education locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, and with those resources with similar missions;

·         Establish structures to learn from one another through various forms of sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences, not only within the United States, but to connect to community educators in other countries;

·         Engage and support those population groups currently beyond the focus of what our field is currently doing, to those who remain disenfranchised within their communities;

·         Fully develop the lifelong learning aspects of community education; connecting learning to workforce development and other intersections whereby through an educational process, people are able to succeed in their communities;

·         Understand and act on the reality that most schools cannot respond to the complexities of community life and address the multiple needs of their students;

·         Provide leadership to alter the cultures of schools and other educational institutions wherever possible to adopt the principles of community education;

·         Promote the understanding that for “education” to truly succeed, the socio-emotional and other “non-academic” needs of students and those who impact their lives must be addressed;

·         Work with and establish new centers of community life and learning beyond the schools;

·         Reflect on the history of the field and explore opportunities for greater cooperation and growth; and

·         Recognize that if our communities are truly to survive and thrive, we must create a mobilization of people and resources across this country and internationally, and identify common goals and processes of collaboration.

 
We are in the Information Age, the Age of Knowledge, shifting beyond Industrialization.  Education must also move beyond its purpose of preparing people to work in disappearing workplaces, and to be dependent on institutions.  Education must be about strengthening communities, and focusing on the humane, economic and social development of society at all levels.  It must provide the knowledge and skills for people to not only be self-sufficient and independent, but to create and utilize the interdependencies that must also exist in civil society. Community Education is about creating a participatory learning culture that incorporates principles and practices of respect, mutual aid, inclusiveness, lifelong learning, skill building, self appreciation, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.  It means joining with others outside the field and those that historically have been associated with Community Education, but who have lost their affiliation (or did not know they ever had it).  We need to recreate these linkages and build connections between the myriad incarnations of Community Education and to the broader mission of sustaining communities through education and learning.

In partnership with all institutions, (education, government, business, service organizations, neighborhoods, families, philanthropy and civic associations), community educators can be instrumental in guiding the process of collaboration, and leading the efforts in the transformation of communities.  This is what Community Education is all about. It advocates for the creation of multiple educational and learning services and programs to support community members and strengthen their communities.  It is through the development and implementation of a comprehensive and wide range of innovative strategies that use knowledge, community building and sustainability as central drivers, that we can create true linkages and avenues of change.

As part of this process, we must accept that schools alone are not responsible for, nor able to educate the public, and in fact many will never accept this role.  Too many schools remain distant from their communities and unwilling to adopt a partnership with Community Education.  The hopes of community educators to have all schools as the centers of communities will never be realized, and so other settings where people gather, and where they feel accepted and comfortable will need to be recognized and supported.  In addition to those schools that are community-centered, other settings are collectively providing the array of academic, recreational, health, spiritual, social service, and work preparation practices – preparing people of all ages for community life.

Community Education represents the many fibers of a community’s learning fabric.  We should embrace this, and not retreat from it.  This may intimidate some people who are comfortable in their current roles and philosophies and not able to work systemically.  I don’t mean to say that each of us or each of our programs needs to do everything for everybody.  Collectively, however, this is what the field of Community Education should accept.  Yes, there will always be after school programs and adult learning centers working with their specific populations, but we need to formulate a unified purpose for what we do, and create the linkages across communities so that we ultimately are working together for common goals.  

We are all strands of that learning fabric.  We are the adult basic education counselors and teachers, some of whom work in prisons, some in museums, and others in family resource centers and other community-based agencies.  We are the youth workers and the youth leaders.  We are the preschool and out-of-school time instructors and supporters who work with children and their parents.  We provide GED and career preparation services.  We are those who train in workplaces, continuing education programs and senior centers.  We are those who inform the public about the risks to the environment and its beauties, and what we need to do to sustain healthy lifestyles.  We are the muralists and local media producers that educate and engage people about local issues.  Community Educators are change agents adept at working with community members to identify needs and resources, and then to meet those needs through educational services. We facilitate cooperation and collaboration among those involved in the participation and delivery of multiple resources.  We provide training in leadership and curriculum development that tie formal to informal learning.  We offer help in strategic planning, communication development, public relations, and program evaluation, among other transformational activities.  We need to see the value of what we do, help others learn what we are all about, and join together to work towards common goals.

I recommend the following specific steps for those involved in assessing NCEA’s direction and looking at the future of Community Education:

·      Look at the trends that Gary Marx and other futurists present to guide us as to identifying who we should be supporting and where to focus our energies.

·      Determine ways to collaborate internationally, nationally, regionally and locally with other organizations with similar goals and mechanisms.

·      Tap into and share the knowledge and expertise of various community education memberships by establishing a clearinghouse and distribution process so that we are benefiting collectively what we individually have experienced.

·      Create new services and products to enhance the work of community educators at the local level.

·      Reach out to population groups not currently being supported by formal education institutions.

·      Reach out to those informal “cultural” learning systems that could inform community educators about their traditions and knowledge that shape people’s lives and values.

·      Identify potential new structures that expand the reach and advocacy of NCEA, and bring people back to the field while introducing new people to the concepts and practices of Community Education.

·      Establish the means to educate communities about the field and incorporate the principles that we follow within the K-12 and higher education structures.

·      Constantly review and adapt to the political, economic, societal, technological, environmental, and demographic shifts occurring in our communities, nationally and internationally.

·      Provide assistance for people at the local level as to how to engage their communities in creating a better future for education and the community.

·      Connect to and work with the global Community Education systems.

·      Ask and answer these and other questions to help guide us:

Issues of Clarity:  What is community education?  Who’s doing it?  Where?  How?  How can community education be understood as both distinct from, and in relation to, community development and community organizing?

Measurement Issues:  What is it that community education is trying to do?  What are the best ways of learning/knowing whether and/or how well it is getting done?

Partnership and Accountability Issues:  How can and/or should we refashion the relationship between communities and funding sources, and others in related fields in order to make it a true partnership of shared goals, joint responsibilities and mutual accountability for the results?

Sustainability Issues:  What are the critical questions that relate to the long-term viability of community education as an approach to education, social and community change? How can we create new funding sources and alternative currencies so that we are not reliant on the same sources of support and can become self sufficient?

Research and Policy Issues:  What are the research and policy issues that are most critical to the future of community education?

Finally:
How can we celebrate our history, who and where we are today, and where we are going?

Perhaps I am preaching to the community education choir.  I think it is critical that we continually monitor and question ourselves, not only as to who we are working with, but to check on whether our mission is clear and that we are adjusting to the changing needs of our communities.  It is also essential to wonder whether the field has become fractured to the extent that people, including those doing the work, no longer recognize community education as a multi-faceted process for community change across a wide spectrum of learning services.

NCEA is currently undertaking an exciting process of self-reflection to establish itself as the national voice of community education.  The organization is looking at what transformations are required to adjust to shifting trends, needs and demographics.  Clearly, the world of 2007 is significantly different from when NCEA was first established, but events are occurring now that we need to respond to, to shape who we are and what we do. The time is ripe for community educators to do same self-evaluation, and decide whether we want to make positive and sustained impacts on communities. 

The meeting in Washington D.C. was an inspiring beginning of the dialogue now occurring in the regions across the country. I encourage you to contribute to this discussion.  Who are we?  Whom do we serve?  How are we relevant? Who should we be collaborating with?  What do we want our legacy to be?  I encourage us to challenge ourselves to imagine how we might improve the world that we are living in and to take action, to make this happen.    

Community Education advocates for the creation of multiple educational services and programs to support community members.  An essential part of the process is involving people at the local level; residents, workers and students act as partners addressing educational and community needs.  A school or other community setting is used beyond the school day and throughout the year for the purpose of providing an array of academic, recreation, health, social service, and other programs to prepare people of all ages for active and healthy community life.

No two communities are exactly alike. Definitions of community vary and are not necessarily related to geography. There are communities based on cultural identity, traditions, affiliation with institutions and occupations, age, gender, economics, etc.  A community is typically small enough for people to feel they are connected to others, and yet large enough for them to be a part of larger social structures.  People have a sense of membership in something that is relatively stable, and participate at various levels in the social and decision-making processes.  Institutions have been established with the intention of providing the basic needs of its members in purposeful ways, while addressing other needs as best as possible.   

Principles of Community Education

·          Lifelong Learning

·          Community Involvement

·          Efficient Use of Resources

·          Self-Determination

·          Self-Help

·          Leadership Development

·          Institutional Responsiveness

·          Integrated Delivery of Services

·          Decentralization

National Community Education Association

Founded in 1966, the National Community Education Association (NCEA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) membership organization that provides training, publications, leadership, networking opportunities, legislation, and advocacy for community education. NCEA is expanding its benefits to members and energizing the field of Community Education.