Transforming Community Schools into Open Learning Communities:

Rethinking Community Schools
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Conceptualizing Open Learning Communities

Discussion Brief

(November 8, 1996)

I. Summary

Rather, we seek to stimulate local and global processes of conceptualizing and building a new system of diverse and inter-connected open learning communities which attempts to go beyond the artificial boundaries of formal, non-formal and informal education and institutionalized notions of the 'expert' teacher transmitting discrete pieces of knowledge to the 'empty' learner. Within this framework, learning is conceived of as a holistic process of reflecting, feeling, interpreting, thinking, analyzing, creating, sharing, acting, growing, which does not take place only at the beginning of one's life but rather is seen as a continual lifelong process. Communities are viewed as complex and culturally diverse entities (not necessarily limited to geographical space) which are critical to providing both the relevant contexts as well as the motivational and support systems necessary for meaningful learning experiences to take place. Open learning communities are conceived of as being integrally linked to development goals and processes (both at an individual and institutional level): each human being's need and right to self-expression, self-definition, self-realization; their ability to adapt to and generate change; their capacity to reflect on their own conditions and the situation of others; their social connection with other people and their environment; and their participation in various aspects of society.

In our on-going efforts to develop greater conceptual clarity around the concept and applications of open learning communities we have identified community schools as one interesting starting point to build upon. Community schools have increasingly been set up in different parts of the world, particularly in areas which have been educationally neglected by governments. Within the context of Education for All they have been promoted as an alternative means to increase access to schooling. With the involvement of NGOs, community schools have mobilized their communities to contribute to the construction, maintenance, management and financing of the schools. In many cases, the teachers have also been recruited from within the communities. There have also been some attempts to introduce more relevant materials, teaching methods and activities. These schools represent a sincere attempt to bridge the gap between formal and non-formal learning opportunities, thus addressing a major aspect of open learning communities. Furthermore, there are enough experiences that have been underway to merit 'taking a deep breath' to reflect on these experiences and to think seriously about future directions that they might take.

Together with interested organizations and individuals, we are exploring how community schools can better put into practice ideas related to open learning communities e.g., community participation, lifelong learning, cultural pluralism, innovative use of technologies, and people-centered development. We believe that the experiences and thinking around community schools can provide valuable insights not only for the improvement of the formal system of education but also for the development of learning systems for the future. In our research, we hope to refocus the discussions from simply trying to use the community as a tool for developing the school and, instead, explore how the community school can itself become an open learning community and, at the same time, become a focal point for enabling, supporting and connecting other learning communities within a larger learning system. In particular, we seek to discover whether it is possible to shift the school away from being a center of knowledge transmission to a center of knowledge creation and a center of learning, with the focus of its activities on building/evolving indigenous knowledge systems, local social institutions, relationships and processes.

Below you will find questions which are currently guiding our thinking. We want to stimulate critical discussion and reflection with those involved in community school projects (conceptualizers/designers, implementers, and researchers) around the issues raised below in order to ultimately develop a joint project proposal which will reflect a shared vision on Transforming Community Schools into Open Learning Communities. We would like to invite you to give your input on the issues and questions raised, based on your personal experiences with community schools and related activities.

II. Problematizing Community Schools

Community schools are taking shape in many parts of the world. Some of the more high profile examples are in Egypt, Mali, Malawi, Burkina Faso, India and Bangladesh. There are several efforts underway to evaluate community schools, however, these tend to focus primarily on the managerial and financial aspects and on issues such as access rates and learning achievements (often typically narrowly defined in terms of math and language tests). Our key points of differentiation in reflecting on these experiences focus on the ideological, pedagogical and socio-cultural dimensions of community schools. We are also concerned with the dimensions of time and change particularly as they relate to conceiving of activities as on-going processes rather than as one-time events. The following questions serve to highlight some of these aspects:

• How do the community schools define and/or reflect the development priorities of the various sub-communities, the NGOs, the government, other groups? How does the community school link to and contribute to the development of local institutions, relationships, processes, culture, and knowledge systems? How are the local institutions, relationships, processes, culture, and knowledge systems reflected in the content, learning interactions and management of the community school?
• How does the community perceive the school e.g., their own, the NGOs, the government's, someone else's? What value do they attach to the education that their children receive from these schools? What is the ultimate goal of the community school e.g., to mainstream learners into the formal system, to develop an alternative parallel delivery system, or to achieve something else?
• Is there a single community school model that is applied throughout a country or a program? How do community schools vary in meeting the needs and circumstances of different environments (i.e., religious and cultural environments, rural/urban environments, heterogeneous environments)?
• How does the community school encourage the community to reflect on its own learning needs and practices and translate this reflection into social change? How does the community school identify and address the existing and emerging community learning needs? Which sub-communities does it support? Which sub-communities is it not able to support and why?
• How does the community school model incorporate new ideas that are emerging around learning e.g., lifelong and lifewide learning, multiple intelligences, multi channel and flexible learning, collaborative learning? How can these be better incorporated into the framework of community schools?
• What happens to the learners after they leave (either through graduation or drop-out) the community school? How does the community school encourage or support the learning of adults or out-of-school youth in the community?
• What is the specific nature of participation in the community schools i.e., management, planning, financing, teaching/learning, curriculum design, etc.? Who participates in the decision making processes and in what ways? Who facilitates the community participation process? Is the development of individuals' and community's participation in society the focus of the school or is the development of the school the focus of the community participation?
• Is the community school itself a learning organization - in its ability to adapt to and generate change? What additional innovations have been developed at the local levels? How are these innovations shared with other community schools and with other learning institutions?
• How does the community school utilize the technological potential available in its environment? How can various technologies be integrated into the community school model to enhance learning opportunities, flexibility, community participation, access to resources, communication, etc.?

III. Planned Activities

• Conduct a Literature Review on key ideas and experiences related to community schools, community learning, community education and community participation.
• Identify and gather documentation on related ongoing projects from different parts of the world.
• Identify and contact interested institutions and individuals to participate in a Working Group. Engage in the process of building strong working relationships with those involved in conceptualizing/designing, researching, and implementing the community schools and related projects.
• Produce a background Issues Paper which highlights the experiences, challenges, opportunities and potential future directions, to serve as a starting point for stimulating discussion. This will be shared with the Working Group and with a larger audience via various channels including the World Wide Web.
• Hold a series of meetings with the Working Group to discuss and develop ideas for relevant and necessary project activities
• Prepare Project Proposal which would include activities both for those involved in running community school projects and for specific community schools and communities.

IV. About Learning Without Frontiers and the NGO Programme on Literacy and Education for All

Learning Without Frontiers

The NGO Programme on Literacy and Education for All

Most of UNESCO's NGO programme activities are carried out through the Collective Consultation of NGOs on Literacy and Education (CC). About 150 national and international NGOs are registered as members of the Collective Consultation. The Collective Consultation is involved in lifelong learning opportunities for all and tries to increase the impact of NGO activity in this field. To meet its objectives it holds decentralized annual meetings which focus on collectively chosen themes and provide a forum for sharing information, their know-how and experiences, developing joint action oriented research projects and adopting joint policy statements and recommendations.