Community-Based Education; A Catalyst for Community Development

"Community development" has become a common strategy in the search for solutions to problems in our society. It has acquired many meanings, depending on the proponent. Government-supported community development programs have typically focused on economic development by offering grants to stimulate the establishment of businesses, jobs and infrastructure. A common problem with this approach is that as soon as the government funding ceases, the program collapses. Research cited by McKnight and Kretzmann shows that top-down community development programs do not present the solutions that people want and do not have residual benefits to community members.⁵

Progressive community-development proponents are now saying that we need to stop designing programs around community deficiencies, and to begin mobilizing community strengths to determine strategies for development. Successful programs are those that utilize the myriad of assets present in all communities and allow all citizens to contribute to the articulation of the community vision for development. The realization of this vision requires the participation of citizens, organizations, businesses, educational institutions and governments in association, directing development and building communities from the bottom-up and the inside-out.⁶

Seeking Better Solutions

In the interests of students and communities better solutions are needed. The New Learning Project proposes that each Maritime community has the potential to determine the form of education that best meets the needs of its students.

Despite their diversity, Maritime communities share the goal of offering their students the best possible education. For many people this means community-based schools, and many communities are willing to fight to keep their schools. Education is one of the few issues capable of uniting communities, and no other issue arouses such emotion and commitment as our concern about the future of our children.

A partnership between community and school is essential in realizing the concept of "New Learning." The existence of a vital school is dependent on and contributes to the vitality of its community. As this mutually supporting dynamic becomes ingrained in the culture of the community, learning and teaching transcend the classroom and become catalysts for on-going community development.

For the past ten years the Margaree community has been actively resisting the government's approach to education restructuring and has been developing its own strategies for community-based education. This decade-long struggle has included successes and failures, merits and mistakes; all are opportunities for learning. For illustration purposes, the story of Margaree's fight to save its school is presented below. This story reveals many tactics for education advocacy which will be further explained in following sections.