Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

DEVELOPMENT IS LIKE A TREE
...
0
...
It
starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and
experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to achieve the
communities' desired goals
...

Community development for empowerment might be understood as a continuum beginning in
the personal sphere, but extending to the small group, community group and social sphere (Freire
1970, Labonte 1993)
...
So as to ensure
sustainability, such a holistic development should mainly be based on people’s own effort and on
sustainable and efficient utilization of community’s own resources
...

In this discussion, development will be viewed with an analogy of a tree
...
It can live for many years
...
Its parts include; the roots, the trunk,
the branches, and the leaves

Page 1 of 8

The roots of a tree are generally down in earth, providing anchorage for the parts above ground,
and taking in water and nutrients from the soil
...
The trunk
is covered with bark which protects it from damage
...
It also
functions as a protective barrier
...
The
leaves of a tree are green most of the time, but they can come in many colours, shapes and sizes
...

d) It must also draw its sustenance locally; it cannot live on distant feeding and nurturing
...
0
...
The system is more than the sum of its component parts, including the
relations that connect them
...
However, change that begins with one sector may take a long time to affect the entire
system (p
...
For change to occur in the system as a total whole, the desired change must
become a part of each of the parts, including the political and economic spheres
...
Development in the community is principally concerned with building the economic
or physical infrastructure of a community
...
As such, it affects the structure of the
community
...
1
...
The strategy aims to promote collective action to challenge existing socio-political
and economic structures and processes, to explore and explain the power realities of people's
situations and, through this twin pronged approach; develop both critical perspectives of the
status quo and alternative bases of power and action
...

c) Social Planning is concerned with the assessment of community needs and problems and the
systematic planning of strategies for meeting them
...

d) Community Organization involves the collaboration of separate community or welfare
agencies with or without the additional participation of statutory authorities, in the promotion
of joint initiatives
...
This includes extending services into the
community, giving these services and the staff who are responsible for them a physical
presence in a neighborhood
...
As Thomas argues:
The correct relationship is that community work is a contribution to each of these approaches
and, perhaps more importantly, we need to be aware of the range of other contributions that are

Page 3 of 8

possible and desirable, and whose value may have been obscured by the attention given to
community work
...
2
...
If this is not well taken care of, it
could lead to resistance as the stakeholders in the community need to participate in all stages of
project cycle
...
Participation
means empowering development beneficiaries in terms of resource and needs identification,
planning on the use of resources and the actual implementation of development initiatives
(Chambers, 1997; Chitere, 1994)
...
Indeed, one of the central principles
behind it is participation; the involvement of people in decision-making regarding their welfare
...


Local leadership and initiative; Community stakeholders have varying influence on different
development projects in a community
...
This will help determine the level of influence of each stakeholder and hence know
when and how to engage them
...

Network-based; Community development should be executed by a network of like-minded
individuals who have particular interest in the community
...

(Putnam 1993)
...
Networking as a way of improving knowledge and
skills and co-coordinating work with others
...
Networking is also a way for communities themselves to gather information and develop
working relationships with other communities, voluntary groups and statutory bodies
...
They all
should be stratified and involved in decision making to avoid resistance
Focuses on strengths and capacities; Community development focuses on what the community
already us and exploits it
...


The maps below represent images and associations of the mind
...
Labels, "loaded" with one meaning, prevent the labeled (person or community)
from seeing other aspects of their identity
...

Resource intensive; this would mean optimally exploiting the community resources available
locally while considering replenishing them for the future use/
Sustainable; whatever kind of interventions made in the community, sustainability must always
be in the mind
...


2
...
Evaluating the steps of tree growth vs
...
Determine some of the ways you can learn about the
community, on your own, before embarking on a community development initiative
Page 5 of 8

b) Listen to community members
...

c) Bring people together to develop a shared vision
...

d) Assess community assets and resources, needs and issues
...

Many issues and needs were raised at the community visioning session, along with several
suggestions of possible sources of financial and in-kind resources
...
In addition to
community residents, consider organizations you think should be recruited to join the
coalition and form the governing principles you think the coalition should adopt
...
This is a framework indicating the objective, period, resources, who
will be responsible of implementing and where that particular action will be implemented
...
It is likely that funds will be required to implement the action plan
...


i) Evaluate results of actions
...
Determine how will you evaluate whether your project has
been successful
...
Identify the activities to exit while evaluating whether there were
unintended outcomes of the project

Page 6 of 8

2
...
Challenges and obstacles facing community development
The challenges and obstacles facing community development can be divided into four main
areas:
1
...
e
...
The resourcing of the occupation, in terms of funding and organizational position
3
...
The need for strategic co-ordination across localities, and links at regional and national
levels

Page 7 of 8

3
...
REFERENCES
McKnight, J
...
(1993) Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path
Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets
...
(1970, 1993) Pedagogy of the Oppressed
...

Barnsley, J
...
(1992) Research for change
...
Vancouver, BC: Women’s Research Centre
...
(1969) A Ladder of Citizen Participation
...

Batten, T
...
and Batten M
...


Page 8 of 8



---