APPROACHES TO

COMMUNITY WORK

06 MARCH
2015

OUTLINE FOR DISCUSSION

People-centred community practice
Contributors to people-centred community
practice
Principles in community practice
Ethics in community practice
Characteristics of a people-centred community
change process

PEOPLE-CENTRED COMMUNITY
PRACTICE
WHAT IS PEOPLE-CENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE?
It is the facilitation of intentional change in
conjunction with and in the context of the
community
Provides a way of thinking about and valuing
people as well as developing a sensitivity for
understanding people in their context
Communities have identities which are formed by
the interactions with their context

CONTRIBUTORS TO PEOPLECENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Paulo Freire - A critical and refl ective
approach
Culture of silence is typical of oppressed
people
People can critically explore and
understand the world they live in
People can be believed in and trusted to
take control and fi nd their own solutions

CONTRIBUTORS TO PEOPLECENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Change is radical transformation
Collective action is essential for change
Change must be relevant
Change is a process of dialogue

CONTRIBUTORS TO PEOPLECENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Robert Chambers - participatory approach
People are knowledgeable and skillful and
have strong value systems
People and communities are complex,
diverse and risk-prone
People and realities are constantly
changing

CONTRIBUTORS TO PEOPLECENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Change happens within a relationship
Change is a learning process
Change is participatory

CONTRIBUTORS TO PEOPLECENTRED COMMUNITY PRACTICE

David Korten - focus on people instead of
things and change is a bottom-up and not a
top-down process
Change is a learning process
Learning has to be eff ective, effi cient and
expand
Focus is on capacity building in communities

PRINCIPLES OF PEOPLE-CENTRED
COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Peoplecentredness
Participation
Empowerment
Ownership

Self-reliance
Sustainability
Learning process

AFRO-CENTRIC PERSPECTIVE:
PRINCIPLES OF HEALTHY COMMUNITY
LIVING
Unity
Selfdetermination
Collective work
and responsibility
Co-operative
economics

Creativity
Purpose
Faith

ETHICS OF PEOPLE-CENTRED
PRACTICE
Whose frame of reference is guiding
the process?
Do my actions show respect,
confi dentiality, empathy and selfdetermination?
Is the process guided by the peoplecentred principles?

ETHICS OF PEOPLE-CENTRED
PRACTICE
Who benefi ts from the process or
action?
Is the fi nancial management
transparent and sound?
Will the process result in the
destruction of natural and social
resources?
Does the process build community?

ETHICS OF PEOPLE-CENTRED
PRACTICE
Does the process promote equity and
social justice?
Are there proper records of decisions
and actions?
Is technology applied ethically?

CHARACTERISTICS OF A PEOPLE
CENTRED COMMUNITY PROCESS

ActionReflection
-planning
cycles

Dialogical
and
responsive

Belongs to
the
community

Strengths
and
Potential
based

Facilitative

Evolving
process

Collective
action

PREPARATION FOR TEST ON 13

MARCH 2015
This is the SECOND of EIGHT tests. Every test will contribute
to your year mark for community work.
Tests will be written the first 20 minutes of the weekly class
period
If you are not present on the day and time of the test, you will
be granted permission to rewrite the test only if you can
provide a valid reason supported by written proof for your
absence.
The test will be about the content of todays lecture.
Knowledge as well as application questions will be asked. This
implies that I will ask for facts and examples.
There will be one week turn around time on the marking of
the test- you will know every Friday what your mark is for the
previous weeks test.