Clarifies the value-laden meanings of "community" in community work discourse. Centers on the concepts of Gemeinschaft (community), Gesellschaft (association), and Bund (league or federation). Examines the insights of community studies and the practice of community work within the Judeo-Christian value system. (SK)

Considers whether two rural traditions of Irish community development--community councils and community cooperatives--conform to models of radical and pragmatic collective action. Shows that both have features of both models but gravitate more toward pragmatic, populist action rather than radical transformative change. (Contains 24 references.)…

The Exploratorium is home to XTech, a science education program which began in 2006 and was primarily funded by a three-year National Science Foundation grant (Award # 05-25217) through its ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) initiative. XTech provided project-based afterschool activities in science, engineering,…

In this essay, the authors argue that linking second language learners with communities that need their language skills can result in an empowering experience for students and for the communities with which they work. They describe a college-level service-learning project that was designed to help IMPACT Chicago, a women's self-defense…

Although women make up over half of the U.S. workforce, they continue to encounter difficulties, including male domination as well as inequities in pay, benefits, and other rewards (Bierema, 2001). Billett (2002) suggests opportunities to advance are "subject to workplace practices that reproduce inequities through contested workplace relations."…

This paper describes and analyzes an undergraduate course entitled Public Interest Research in which students learn research methods by conducting research on behalf of one or more community organizations. Students' work is conceived of as community action learning, a combination of participatory action research and service learning, emphasizing…

Freedom Schools, which operated during 1964 after the collaborative efforts of several Civil Rights organizations, provided an opportunity to understand how students can drive the curriculum to meet individual and collective needs within a community. The presence and use of poetry throughout the Freedom Schools was mysterious, given that it is…

There is an emerging body of literature advocating a "critical" approach to community service learning with an explicit social justice aim. A social change orientation, working to redistribute power, and developing authentic relationships are most often cited in the literature as points of departure from traditional service-learning. This…

The effectiveness of a multidimensional Canadian sex education programme was evaluated using 240 Grade Nine students. The intervention was offered by representatives from various community groups and involved instructional classes on anatomy/physiology of the reproductive system and sexually transmitted infections, a video and group discussion on…

This article reports the challenges of race and social class in an action research project to facilitate educational change through community collaboration with African American parents, community organizations, and public schools. This project was undertaken in Charlotte, North Carolina to enhance the participation of African American parents in…

"Vision for the Nineties...A Plan of Action" (1991) noted that, to achieve excellence in schools, school-based coordinated services needed to be enhanced by improving interdependent and interagency coordination. It was further noted that school jurisdictions needed assistance to improve the availability of a range of coordinated,…

Using a case study approach, the authors apply organizational development principles to change a public agency into a more effective organization. (EA)

Social change on behalf of the disadvantaged in a neighborhood or community can be achieved through various types of change agents, models, and approaches. One of the most effective models was developed by Saul Alinsky, a well-known American community organizer, and it was this model that provided the theoretical framework for the development of…

Reports a case study to determine what organizations are involved in the environmental quality movement. (SH)

Demands for increased participation of community organizations in educational decisionmaking give rise to questions regarding their representativeness. (Author)