1st Edition

Learning and Mobilising for Community Development A Radical Tradition of Community-Based Education and Training

By Lynda Shevellar, Peter Westoby Copyright 2012
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    Learning and Mobilising for Community Development introduces the reader to different ways of thinking about, and organising community-based education and training within different settings. Stories from the global south and north illustrate approaches to collective learning and collective action. The book provides not only an insight into the how-to of community-based education and training, but through a range of applications, demonstrates the often unspoken shadow side of the developmental work we undertake. The first section of the book outlines the key elements that underpin effective community-based education and training. It then locates community-based education and training within a broader pedagogical project, by tracing the tradition of transformative learning and education. The second half of the book focuses on stories and practice, distilling the application of theory and frameworks. The practitioners within this book emerge from unique and challenging contexts. From civil resistance in West Papua and youth empowerment in South Africa to financial freedom in Australia, these diverse experiences speak to a common quest for social change and justice.

    Biography

    Edited by Laurence Horn; Author- Shevellar, Lynda

    ’A rich and wide-ranging book, containing much practice wisdom within a strong theoretical framework, which will enrich the practice of community development workers, educators, and activists. It provides stimulating challenges both for students and for experienced practitioners. This book represents a major contribution to the field, and an important corrective to uncritical, unreflective and top-down practice.’ Jim Ife, Emeritus Professor, Curtin University, Australia 'Learning and Mobilising for Community Development is a timely book. ... This book is an important reminder, after what feels like years of absence from much of the literature on adult and community education, that there is continuing and developing theory and practice in the radical traditions of learning. And surely, in the current global political and economic climate, the editors’ early plea is a timely and urgent message for community workers and educators alike: hope is not enough, community development needs to build collective organizational strength.' Community Development Journal