This paper reflects on Freire's discourse on liberating education and adult educators' educational roles with community groups in transforming communities. Mineral-rich communities in Ghana are in danger of losing water bodies, rich arable lands, and forest vegetation cover through "galamsey," which refers to the gathering of rich…

Political leaders like to put forward guiding ideas or themes which pull their individual decisions into a broader narrative. For John Major it was Back to Basics, for Tony Blair it was the Third Way and for David Cameron it is the Big Society. While Mr. Blair relied on Lord Giddens to add intellectual weight to his idea, Mr. Cameron's legacy idea…

Community educators need to provide grassroots leadership training, as can be seen by an examination of five points. First, a positive relationship exists between the quality of participation and the quality of leadership. Leadership should aim for team-directed action that meets member interests and concerns in the team's environment. Shared…

Rural and economic development efforts are inadequate responses to changing rural conditions. They fail because they are often top-down driven and few influential people are involved. Minnesota's Project Future is designed to help distressed communities take charge of their own direction. Developed on the principle of collective empowerment, this…

A non-government program trains local action-researchers from villages of Java, Indonesia, to work for grass-roots social change within their communities. Begun in 1977, the program trains local men and women to work with their neighbors to revitalize existing institutions and to gain control over the development programs and social services…