In England, and many other countries, 'community education' has
tended to be wrapped up with the idea of
community schooling and
especially the pioneering work of Henry Morris around
village colleges. More recently, however, there has been a
growth of interest in the related idea of
full-service schooling and of 'new
community schools'. With this has come a deepening of
community education theory and practice.
However, we can think about the theory and practice of community education as 'education for community within community'. In other words, something called 'community' is not just the 'place' in which education occurs, fostering community is also a central concern.
The process of becoming part of an existing social network in order to encourage learning is sometimes labelled as informal education in UK discussions or as community education or community learning in Scottish debates about theory and practice. For example, CeVe (Scotland) have defined community education as:
..a process designed to enrich the lives of individuals and groups by engaging with people living within a geographical area, or sharing a common interest, to develop voluntarily a range of learning, action and reflection opportunities, determined by their personal, social, economic and political needs. (CeVe 1990: 2)
However, this particular definition of community education does not put 'education for community' at the centre of the work. It is perhaps closer to the idea of education or learning in the community.
Community education in its stronger sense has parallels in the tradition of community organization in the USA, sozial pädagogik in Germany, animation in France and socio-cultural work in Belgium. Furthermore, this approach to community education links up with the theory and practice of those who have worked for community-based, and democratic schooling.
In many Southern countries, what is called 'community education' in Scotland might well be described as non-formal education or community participation. It could be seen as close to the Latin American tradition of popular education or the French tradition of la vie associative with its emphasis on association.
See, also, following arenas for more on community education theory and practice:
community development and education
lifelong learning and adult education
