In this article, I reflect on my lived experiences as a disabled graduate student navigating spaces of community literacy. This essay utilizes storytelling as an entry point for understanding the barriers graduate students oftentimes face while accessing community literacy projects. Extending Ada Hubrig's theorization of "disability justice…

The inclusion of stakeholders and knowledge systems is increasingly valued in research to address complex socio-ecological challenges around the world. Often these projects take place in cross-cultural setting where external researchers risk perpetuating historically extractive research models that not only harm local communities but damage the…

Inclusion of people's cultural background in education and training is crucial for development. This article considers involvement of learning institutions in communities as a way of sharing cultural values. There is need for culture in aspects of education and training. This can only be realized by integrating communities' culture in generating…

The concept of Big Society provides inspiration--working "bottom up" to promote "collective action, reciprocity and a new, more engaged relationship between local people and public services". With so much written about the theory of the Big Society, this seems like an ideal time to put a little more practical detail into the mix. The authors argue…

Social studies should prepare children to participate in society. Teachers can help children study their local neighborhoods and communities on foot, with maps and books, and on websites. Studying the community can reveal a wealth of issues and ideas that matter to students and their families, while students also learn important things about the…

Community is a key word in the current UK political vocabulary. As part of Big Society or as a sustainable means to develop social coherence, community has been an area of focus that has attained UK political party interest since 2003. In 1999, the Imagine method was first hinted at in the Earthscan book: "Sustainability Indicators: measuring…

The Community Organization Sense of Community Scale (COSOC) is a frequently used or cited measure of the construct in community psychology and other disciplines, despite a lack of confirmation of its underlying 4-factor framework. Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesized structure of the COSOC, the potential effects of method bias on…

Article explores the question of community involvement as "which" community. (GB)

Article discusses the importance of the democratic process of involving people in thinking and making decisions about and in planning and playing an active part in the development and operation of services that affect their daily lives; and the value for personal fulfillment of belonging in groups. (WL)

This model, developed and tested in Vermont, involved a two-day assembly using a technique concentrating on small-group dynamics to encourage productive community assessment and decision-making. Included are exhaustive documentation of an example assembly to consider options for integrating human and environmental requirements in Vermont as a…

The booklet, developed at Red School House for Indian communities, demonstrates visually in a cultural context the series of actions constitute a needs assessment. The illustrated text tells the story of a traditional community that is in need of food for the survival of its people. The question of how to cross the river to see if food is…

In this teacher's guide for grade 2, three common types of communities--farming, commuting, and urban--are presented for study. The curriculum's objectives, 11 key concepts taken up in grades 1-8, and a list of 20 behavioral objectives to be attained by the end of grade 2 are given. The year's program is organized into three units: (1) "Community…

The evolution of a run-down inner city elementary school into a flourishing community school is documented by its principal. By going out into the community and visiting in parents' homes, this principal built a base of support for innovations, such as individualized instruction and tutoring, as well as a lunch and breakfast program. Student…

This paper examines the development of the concept of the "public" and the "people" in U.S. society. Community problem-solving is an art, and like the art of dance or the game of soccer, the dispositions and skills of communal life are learned by doing and reflecting on what has been done. This essay discusses the "arts" of democracy, including:…

Advocates community unification as opposed to individualism and privatization. Addresses the need for inclusion of social dimensions of faith in both Catholic education and sacramental preparation. (YKH)