IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Subject "Nonformal Education"

Browsing by Subject "Nonformal Education"

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Adult Education In The Urban Context: Serving Low Income Urban
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Martin, Larry G.
A review of the literature on “urban education” reveals that the urban context is considered an important determinant of practice for K-12 teachers and administrators located in urban schools. Several professional journals, such as, the Journal of Urban History, the Urban Education Review, Urban Education, and others routinely publish articles that address research, theory, policy, and practice concerns of K-12 urban professionals. Yet there is a dearth of literature that addresses the issues and concerns faced by adult education professionals in urban communities.
THE BALANCING ACT:RESEARCHER ROLES IN FAMILY AND COMMUNITY HISTORY PROJECTS
(2005-11-21T18:43:38Z) Donoho, Bette; Pfeiffer, Beth
The purpose of this paper is to explore research methods and practices that foreground the authentic needs, experiences, and contributions of adult learners. We will discuss balancing our roles as researchers with those of community members seeking to connect with their family and /or local histories. Two research projects will be highlighted as case examples of these issues. We will address the interwoven learning themes around personal issues of nonformal learning,identity, transformation, as well as social issues of co-learning, structure, and balance of power.
Creating Social Capital Though The Deliberative Discussion: A Case Study Of Community Dialogue.
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Stein, David; Imel, Susan; Henderson, Thyrone
When citizens come together to inquire about issues that matter to the community, learning may occur in these temporary learning communities. Active engagement with issues of social and political importance may increase the adult’s sense of commitment to action and further the development of a community’s social capital. Using a social capital development framework, this case describes one community’s attempt to promote and encourage citizens to engage in deliberative discussion. The case also highlights one citizen’s struggle to link discourse with community action.
From Homeless To Empowered: A Participatory Methods Response To Multiple Oppressions
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Curry, LaMetra
This paper describes a participatory research/evaluation (PR/PE) project that has been underway for two years with a group of women placed in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) system. Prior to the mandate for welfare recipients to align with TANF, fifteen women (the subjects of this project) were homeless in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. Chicago has been a center for African American Community organizers and adult educators to embark on the co-learning experience that helped community members “read their own world” Curry, 2002, p.71). The participants became acquainted with one another through the TANF designated housing arrangements; they formed a support group initially, and this has evolved into a self and community development action agenda enabled through participatory methods. This particular agenda is centered on individuals taking responsibility for accommodating issues that plague everyday citizens; issues such as childcare, transportation, mandated employment, and training programs that emerge in the midst of the severe dislocation of federal and state welfare reforms and the bureaucracy that accompanies them.
Interrogating The “Natives”: Learning, Community And The Diasporic Native
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Nyanungo, Hleziphi Naomie
This study examines the interactive nature of learning between a community in a small Caribbean island and an African researcher. Relying on the works of such reflexive anthropologists, the study addresses the interactive nature of learning and reframes the subject/object division with the anthropological notion of “Diasporic native.” The questions under girding this autoethnographic study are: In what ways does the cultural familiarity between researcher and the researched enhance or hinder researcher learning from this experience and how are these lessons perceived to influence the work of a researcher and community educator? Preliminary findings from this study are: 1) for a Diasporic native researcher, history is embedded in the present; 2) the researcher is constantly negotiating his/her identity as he/she is claimed as an insider; 3) participating in the life of the community initiatives involves both giving and receiving and 4) observations made in the field make sense in the context of everyday interactions. The study concludes with implications for community researchers and educators.
LEARNING LEADERSHIP IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
(2005-09-27T17:28:50Z) Strittmatter Tempesta, Martha
The experiences of learning and leadership development within central city communities to support the activities of a social justice movement are the central focus of this phenomenological research investigation. Informants, identified with nominations from the membership represented the diversity of religious ideology, ethnicity, gender and educational achievement of the coalition. In a three-stage interview process, data collected revealed the leaders’ history, activities and meaning perspectives. Learning processes and implementation, the essential inquiry of the investigation, occur within the community of leaders. In the community-based context, learning modalities included active engagement, problem solving, modeling, mentoring, and critical reflection. Opportunities characterized as multicultural and ecumenical engaged the most significant learning. Relationships that endorsed, empowered, and agitated were crucial in the activity of learning. Within the community of learners, action was the prevailing source of new thinking. Most importantly, the meaning leaders attributed to their leadership centered on faith values. Emitting from passionate self-interest, the meaning making ranged among values of faith, social justice, and citizenship. Underpinning the work are faith values for social justice. Among the roots of adult education are social movements and action in the public arena. Evident at the turn of the 20th century were activism and social movements alongside clubs, radio forums, and kitchen meetings. As we enter the 21st century, social responsibility is revisiting the North American sector of the global landscape. Growing numbers of citizens worldwide are participating in nongovernmental and nonpartisan political activity (Wildemersch, Finger, Jansen, 2000). Contemporary studies reveal that citizens are questioning authority, government, and global capitalism (Inglehart, 1999). Increasingly, they are acting on concerns for democracy outside the traditional public spaces available to them. “Social action, community organizing, and new social movements are characteristic of citizen activity in a reclaiming of civil space” (Scott, 2001, p. 1). Undeniably, community organizing is on the rise. The value of social action in urban communities is dependent upon effective leadership that represents the local community and is organizationally sufficient (McGaughey, 1992). A significant source of prospective leaders is faith-based organizations, one of the more stable constituents of the urban context (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993). Within faith-based communities exists the potential to inspire, develop, and sustain leadership capacity (Lincoln and Mamiya, 1990). Adult learning strategies supporting the capacity building energize the renewal of local communities and affect positive change to counter the dramatic and continual shifts of the urban landscape. Leadership learning in central city communities is simultaneously a process and an outcome.
Linkage Between Learning Style And Experiential Learning In Nonformal Education
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Conceição, Simone
Taking into consideration travel as an experiential learning activity that can lead to adult’s improved psychological well-being and increased life satisfaction; this paper describes a study of the relationship between learning styles and experiential learning in nonformal education. During a nonformal education trip, participants traveled to five locations in Brazil where they interacted with local people, observed the regions’ ecosystem, and experienced local activities. Data results show that individuals scored high on the type of activities that were in agreement with their preferred learning style, based on Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning style model. When analyzing the relationship between the learning style inventory and learning activities, one might speculate that doers and feelers are more likely to participate in learning experiences through travel due to their interest in concrete experience and active experimentation. The results of this study can have practical implications in improving adults’ quality of life and enhancing learning through travel by designing programs that provide a variety of activities that appeal to all learning styles.
Mechanics’ Institutes: Glorious Failures Or Modest Successes?
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Morris, Roger K.
Mechanics Institutes or, as they are more commonly known in the State of New South Wales, Schools of Arts are often portrayed as having been glorious failures in that they did not achieve their founding purpose. They did not educate the artisan in science and technology. This paper partially disputes that point of view. It argues that, in Australia, the so-called second wave of Schools were really quite successful in achieving their much more modest goals. They adapted the overstated idealism of the early Schools to meet the real needs of their local communities. These later Schools provided a local home for reading, learning, culture, civil society, and recreation in the then developing suburbs and towns of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. Schools of Arts, as multipurpose centres of adult learning and activity, eventually declined as their communities grew and diversified. Their earlier comprehensive functions were taken over by a range of more specialised providers and facilities.
Mentoring And Social Capital: Learning And Perceived Networking Opportunities For Women In Central Pennsylvania Rotary Clubs
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Rutter, J. Paul III
This paper explores learning in Rotary clubs that have newly allowed women as members. The main focus of the paper is women’s perception of learning within the confines of these clubs with respect to mentoring and social capital’s existence. The study explores gaps in power within a middle-class Pennsylvania society. This study used phenomenology and grounded theory to investigate the lived experiences of women that are members of Rotary clubs in central Pennsylvania.
The Role Of Community Wide Input In Defining Economic Development Strategies And Plans: A Case Study Of An Agrarian Community
(Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Bricker, Jimmy T.; Cordes, Sam M.
This case study describes the process by which a county-based Extension Educator used a survey process to help focus and facilitate local stakeholders who were concerned about economic development challenges. A small committee's involvement in the survey design created a forum and focus for the committee to think carefully and thoughtfully about potential options and strategies, rather than simply making the global statement that economic development is a priority. Although the survey design did not meet the highest standards of scientific scrutiny, it is argued that the results (a) were intuitively on target (b) provide more information than would have otherwise been the case (c) stimulate discussions and community dialogues that will lead to a greater chance for consensus and buy-in and (d) generate a community decision making process that is ultimately better informed, more transparent and thoughtful.

Browsing by Subject "Nonformal Education"

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