Adult Education || Procedures and Methods for Community and Resource Development

Procedures and Methods for Community and Resource DevelopmentAuthor(s): Joseph L. Matthews and Linnea B. HollandSource: Review of Educational Research, Vol. 35, No. 3, Adult Education (Jun., 1965), pp. 224-230Published by: American Educational Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1169829 .

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CHAPTER VIII

Procedures and Methods for Community and Resource Development

JOSEPH L. MATTHEWS and LINNEA B. HOLLAND

If the aim of education is to bring about a change in the behavior of the learner, then adult education is one method of changing behavior in line with the objectives of the community development effort. It fol- lows also that the total of community development is more than adult education and it functions in the context of social, economic, and physi- cal forces that prevent its being conducted or evaluated in isolation from the milieu. In an attempt to decide whether community development is or is not education, Miller (1964) wrote that it is often difficult to see any educational process in much of the activity called community development. However, educational method is involved to the extent that the worker in the field tries to help the people of the community learn problem-solving processes.

The limited amount of research on the community development process is probably a result of the complexity of the research problem, the paucity of resources for this kind of research, and the prevalence of adult educators who do not feel they need to develop a theoretical base for their programs. Although the quality of research varies widely, only a limited amount meets standards for social science research. According to Bealer and Fliegel (1964), most of the research on planned change in the community development setting has been done by American rural sociologists whose innovation and adoption research was related to processes by which cul- tural change spreads in a society. Sanders (1964), in analyzing community development in a sociological perspective, concluded that large-scale community development requires a theoretical knowledge of group action processes on the part of leaders and planners.

The term community development is used to mean one or more of several different concepts. According to Sanders (1964), it is used in the sense of (a) process, with emphasis on what happens to people and their social life; (b) method or means to improve agriculture or raise health standards; (c) formalized program, such as a national community development plan; and (d) a movement to which people are emotionally committed or a cause to which they are dedicated.

Leadership and Training

Several studies attempted to identify top influential community members and to isolate characteristics that distinguished leaders from others.

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Brown (1963) found that women leaders were well educated, knowl- edgeable about adult education, and willing to help increase educational opportunities for women in their communities. Studying influential Negroes and Negro organizations, Barth and Abu-Laban (1959) found that the Negro subcommunity lacked large-scale business and industrial organizations and that Negro leaders were primarily concerned with issues of an interracial nature. Auerbach (1961) and Mulford (1962) noted that the "power elite" formed a cohesive social group and interacted more with fellow leaders than with other community members. Danzig (1959) identified 11 motivations which were acknowledged as conscious desires for the assumption of leadership positions.

While training of community leaders would seem to be rather crucial, there was little genuine research in this area. Franklin (1959), working with 14 university consultants, compared three training methods and found three major obstacles to better training: (a) lack of interest in or need for training expressed by the leaders; (b) tendency to study things and projects rather than people and processes; and (c) antidemocratic values and rigid perceptions held by the trainees. Devereaux (1960) noted a relationship between community leadership, socioeconomic status, and certain other correlates of education, occupation, prestige, values, and attitudes. Vested interests and a proliferation of roots locally increased leadership involvement.

Group Behavior

An understanding of the changing group structure of both rural and urban communities is a necessity for the adult educator engaged in

community development. Lindstrom (1961) studied interest groups in which farm people participated and found that most had sociocultural linkages. He stressed the need for intergroup cooperation on the community level. Alpert and others (1960) attempted to determine causes behind the apparent lack of community group participation in federal high-rise housing projects, and Young and Mayo (1959) studied mani- fest and latent participants in a rural community action program. Alpert found that residents with low income and recipients of public assistance tended to participate less than did persons from other income groups. Although willing to get together to solve existing problems, they were not willing to participate in the one existing community action group because it had no recognition or authority from the project management.

While Young and Mayo also found socioeconomic status closely related to level of participation, they felt that inactivity in community programs did not necessarily reflect unfavorable attitudes or even apathy, but demonstrated a lack of understanding or knowledge of the organization. A similar finding was expressed by Folk (1962), who studied

organized community groups and their impact on the schools. Although

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groups were interested in bringing about improvements in the educational program, they depended on the school to furnish leadership. Davis (1960) found that citizens did not have the information they needed to make rational decisions about educational matters for which they were responsible and that positive relationships were found between public knowledge and attitudes.

Professional Aspects

What is the function of the professional in community development? What type of education or training does he need? Much has been written on the professional community leader, but most of it has been in the form of conjecture or opinion; very little has been based on research. Several studies were made by cooperative extension personnel. Kalangi (1963) concluded that (a) urban extension agents required more training in sociology than their rural counterparts and (b) both groups needed considerable training in community development, public speaking, and written communication. Ferver (1961) concluded that those extension directors who were well rated by administration on the basis of their agricultural programs could be equally successful in a broadened community development role if trained and given time to make the role transition.

In a study of the community development approach as a vehicle for adult education in cooperative extension, Dickson (1959) found that professionals aided citizen groups in (a) studying community resources and outside resources available to it, (b) identifying and evaluating community problems, (c) making decisions about community goals and objectives, (d) developing plans of action to achieve goals and objectives, (e) organizing citizens to expedite action on plans, and (f) evaluating progress and accomplishments.

Social Action and Change

Major problems in community-related research are the instigation and measurement of social change. A helpful study by Andrews, Bauder, and Rogers (1960) established benchmarks for rural industrialization and developed hypotheses to be tested later. Johnson and Wilkening (1961) and Hardee (1963) reported on separate five-year studies in which sub- stantial changes occurred as a result of educational programs. The per- sonalized approach was found to be most effective in influencing part-time farmers.

The successful use of a community development contest as a catalytic agent for social action was described by Holik and Lane (1961). This method allowed discussion of various subgroup interests without emotional

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involvement. The introduction of the program from the outside eliminated the suspicion that someone was trying to gain a vested interest, and the award became the primary group action goal.

One of the better studies of social action was done by Sanders (1961), who made a case analysis of community controversy on the issue of fluoridation and described a series of stages which led to community decision. The stages included (a) initiation, (b) preproposal, (c) pro- posal, (d) community action, (e) decision, and (f) aftermath. Sanders found that the professional initiators (e.g., dentists, public health officers) were usually unprepared for the political leadership required in the community action stage.

Attitudes, Views, and Beliefs

The desire to improve or to develop resources depends to some extent on the attitudes, views, and beliefs prevalent within the community. Folkman (1962) noted that chronic low income was more closely related to the system of attitudes and values than to limited employment capa- bilities, while Burman (1959) found interest in intellectual development virtually nonexistent among adults on lower socioeconomic levels, although interest in vocational training was evident. Press and Hein (1962) found that the need for orderly development in a rural Michigan township adjacent to a metropolitan center was considered to be the least urgent by the key group (commercial farmers) that had the power and organization to initiate action. Porter and Lyon (1963) studied attitudes, opinions, and levels of understanding of cooperative extension staffs regarding development of rural areas. The staffs considered (a) the creation of public awareness and understanding of the program and (b) the development of local leadership as the two most serious obstacles.

Procedures

Some attention has been given to the problem of useful procedures. Beers (1959) presented 13 propositions in a theory of motivation for community organization.

Community development clubs have been initiated in several locations. Those in Alcorn County, Mississippi, were studied rather thoroughly by Baird and Bailey (1960) and again by Cole and Kaufman (1961). Two distinct stages in the growth of community clubs were identified by Baird and Bailey; variables affecting their success were isolated by Cole and Kaufman, who found that the presence or absence of such groups within a community seemed to depend more on a relatively high socioeconomic level than on numbers of families. A long history of interaction within a neighborhood was closely related to subsequent growth and success of community development clubs.

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Community Resources and Needs

How can needs be determined? How do communities perceive their own needs? What resources are available for meeting needs? Several researchers attempted to find answers to these questions. Aiken (1963) designed a model for assessment or critical analysis of community situations. Gambill (1961), using seven different survey techniques, successfully designed and tested a method for determining needed community services in Georgia. Public affairs interests were studied by Brown (1961) and by Hazlitt, Boone, and Matthews (1960). Concern was expressed in regard to industrial development, employment opportunities, and school facilities in the survey made by Brown; while Hazlitt, Boone, and Matthews found about three-fourths of the respondents interested mainly in public affairs and other liberal subjects and in more opportunities for this kind of adult education. Community facilities and resources were also studied by Williamson (1958), McKinney and others (1961), and Douglas and others (1963). While the focus varied from study to study, it was generally found that many small communities lacked both financial resources and demands for nonvocational adult education and that local government was perceived as being inefficient or too small or both.

Evaluation

Does involvement in a community study or project have any lasting effect on the participants? Three separate studies indicate that it does. Duncan (1961) found that active student participation in organized college activities was directly related to subsequent involvement in community organizations. Both Mitchell (1960) and Hollenbeck (1959) found increased interest in education and greater citizen participation following earlier involvements in community survey or study programs. Caldwell (1961), on the other hand, in assessing the effect of a university- sponsored development study, found that many people were not well acquainted with the public school program. Because of only partial success in the action phase, the most important recommendations of the study group were not implemented, while some of the less important ones were accomplished.

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Adult Education || Procedures and Methods for Community and Resource Development