Learning for Change

This chapter looks at the educational role of the community development practitioner. In community development we think about education (and the learning that results from it) on the one hand, and organisation (and the action that results from it) on the other, as two halves of the one whole. And we see the interaction between them as the driver of empowerment and change. Learning for change involves supporting individuals and organisations to learn together, facilitating their understanding, confidence and skills, and enabling them to reflect upon what they may need to learn about or do to bring about change. Community development practitioners require expertise in the use of educative approaches for working with individuals and community groups and with partner agencies at all stages of the development approach, from how you engage with a community, to how to organize, how to build up leadership skills, how to promote diversity and inclusion, how to facilitate participatory planning approaches and how to evaluate programs and influence policy change.