Community Education

1. Self Determination – local people are in the best possible position to determine what they need and want and should be empowered to make decisions that affect them, their families & communities.
2. Localization – services, programs, events and other community involvement opportunities that are brought closest to where people live have the greatest potential for high levels of public participation. To the degree possible, such activities should be decentralized to locations of easy public access.
3. Self Help – people are best served when they have the capacity to serve themselves. People should be encouraged to assume ever-increasing responsibility for their own well-being, thereby building independence and interdependence rather than dependence.
4. Integrated Service Delivery – organizations and agencies that operate for the public good can better utilize their limited resources, meet their own goals and better serve the public through the proactive involvement of their respective constituencies as well as through active, cooperative and collaborative relationships with those other organizations and agencies with related purposes.
5. Maximum Use of Resources – the physical, financial and human resources of every community must be interconnected and utilized to the fullest if the diverse needs and interests of communities are to be met.
6. Inclusiveness – the segregation of people by virtue of age, income, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or other factors inhibits the full development of the community. Thus, community programs, activities and services should involve the broadest possible cross section of community residents.
7. Institutional Responsiveness – public institutions have been created to serve people and they have a responsibility to develop their respective programs and services around the continually changing needs and interests of the people they serve as defined in consultation and collaboration with those they serve.
8. Lifelong Learning – people learn from birth to death and both formal and informal learning opportunities should be provided for people throughout their lives in a wide variety of community settings.
9. Leadership Development – the identification, development and utilization of the leadership capacities of local citizens is a prerequisite to the full development and empowerment of any community. Thus, all community education efforts should incorporate a leadership development strategy.

* Horyma, Larry for CACE/93