ONE PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING A LEARNING COMMUNITY:



TEN STEPS OF A LEARNING-BASED DEVELOPMENT APPROACH:

A BASIS FOR AN ACTION PLAN

Ron Faris October, 2007

The following, based on experience in B.C. and international good practice, is a summary of some of the key inter-related steps taken in an asset, learning-based, learning community development process. Some tasks - such as creating awareness, developing partnerships, and budget building - are on-going, and cross-cut many of the other steps of this spiral process.

It is important to note that environmentally sustainable economic development and social inclusion are the twin objectives of most learning communities - and as such are constant criteria of success. Literacy for all is seen as a crucial part of the joined up solutions required to solve the joined up problems that challenge communities world-wide.

The concept of lifelong learning is used throughout as the organizing principle i.e. an analytical tool, and the basis of a conceptual framework that informs planning, implementation, and assessment. For example, existing learning opportunities are assessed in terms of the adequacy of their providing learning at all stages of the life-span (lifelong dimension) as well as the extent to which all settings of literacy and learning - family, community, educational, and workplace - enable both formal and non-formal learning (life-wide dimension). Similarly, the Aboriginal knowledge and value base, local knowledge, and the multi-cultural legacy of the community is valued and built upon.

Emphasis is also given to the 3 P’s that determine project success, namely learning how to:

• build Partnerships of all 5 sectors (civic {governance}, economic {private - social enterprise}, public {libraries, museums, social and health agencies etc.}, education {K-20}, and voluntary/community;

• foster Participation, especially of the excluded and disadvantaged; and

• assess Performance and progress.

In a learning community the use of learning technologies is driven by community purposes. Technology has proven to be a valuable tool for enabling literacy and learning, and networking within and among communities.

The developmental process includes many - if not all - of the following steps:

1. Create awareness of need for a learning community in a knowledge-based economy and society

2. Identify a community’s learning assets/needs: life-long and life-wide

3. Develop a shared data base (qualitative and quantitative) of socio-economic, and environmental conditions

4. Develop a vision of, and a commitment to, a relevant learning community

5. Build partnerships within and among all five sectors

6. Foster participation of all, included those previously excluded

7. Establish priorities: achievable objectives

8. Apply appropriate learning technologies

9. Build budget

10. Evaluate progress/performance - often in a participatory, formative way

The challenge for every community is who is going to undertake these tasks, and how and when are they to be accomplished? The answers to these questions can hopefully be answered through the process of developing a project action plan that encompasses many, if not all, of the above-mentioned steps.

It is important to remember that the learning community concept is a structural/process model. Throughout its development and maintenance the social learning process is at the heart of the initiative. Whatever organizational/governance structure emerges, it must serve as a model “learning organization” - in which strategies are informed by the organizing principle of lifelong learning, and leaders demonstrate continuous learning.

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