Post by Stefan Pasti on May 26, 2012 16:28:23 GMT -5
From Section 3) About “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” in “A Multi-Angle View of the Debt Crises” (p. 238-240)
(at www.ipcri.net/A_Multi-Angle_View_of_the_Debt_Crises.pdf )
About “Community Teaching and Learning Centers”
a) A Special Form of Community Education
The concept of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (CTLCs) was created by the organization “Teachers Without Borders” (see http://www.teacherswithoutborders.org).
“Teachers Without Borders” defines CTLCs as follows:
“Community Teaching and Learning Centers (CTLCs) are local, practical education centers designed to be embraced by and emerge from the community itself. CTLCs use existing facilities and are often outfitted with libraries (such as dictionaries, references, educational material of general interest) and computers, face-to-face classrooms, and break-out spaces, used primarily to serve several essential functions for community sustainability.”
[From a “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” section of the “Teachers Without Borders” website before it was revised to the current website content (At current TWB website, see www.teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/community-teaching-and-learning-centers )]
One of the primary goals of the “Teachers Without Borders” organization is to develop “teacher-leaders”. “Teachers Without Borders” helps create “teacher-leaders” in two ways:
“We help to grow teachers…. We identify talent and find a way of attracting, retaining, and supporting cohorts of teachers from all sectors of local communities. We find mentors for teachers to ensure subject-matter mastery and teaching technique, and then provide opportunities at our community teaching and learning centers for emerging teachers to practice. Our plan is to start from the ground up - incorporating local mentorship, distance learning, and community college offerings, then assist local talent in completion, at a high level, of course work at four-year schools. Most importantly, we provide a means of steady communication and feedback amongst cohorts of teaching talent.”
[From a “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” section of the “Teachers Without Borders” website before it was revised to the current website content (At current TWB website, see www.teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/who-we-are )]
In the “1000Communities2” proposal (in section “About Community Visioning Initiatives”), the concept of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” created by the “Teachers Without Borders” organization is expanded so that such local community points of entry function as
i) information centers, resource centers, and clearinghouses (on how residents can deliberately channel their time, energy, and money into the creation of “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to resolving high priority challenges)
ii) locations for workshops on topics suggested by the “Preliminary Survey” (for more about “Preliminary Surveys” see Section __, and Section 9 in the “1000Communities2” proposal), and as determined by the “Community Teaching and Learning Center” Coordinator
iii) practice sites for the development of “teacher-leaders”
iv) community centers for meetings, both planned and informal
v) locations for “Community Journals” (which are collections of formal and informal input which may be contributed to or accessed at all times)
vi) locations for “Final Version” Document submission (“voting”) as part of Steps 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the 15 Step Community Visioning Initiative (for details on the 15 Steps, see Appendix G)
vii) locations for “Summary of Community Visioning Initiative Process to Date” Notebooks (for latecomers, and as an information resource for media)
viii) central locations for listings of employment opportunities
ix) as a special form of community education, which can respond quickly (by changing the emphasis of workshop content) to new urgencies as they arise
b) On Establishing a Sufficient Number of CTLC’s for a successful Community Visioning Initiative
Establishing a sufficient number of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (CTLCs) is a critical prerequisite to going forward with Community Visioning Initiatives of the nature described in this proposal.
Identifying and securing somewhere near 20 public access buildings (per community area with a population of 50,000) which can function as described in the beginning of this section—and which can (thus) accommodate as many as 300 people per day (for more discussion of logistics, see Section 10, Part B.“Concerns relating to actual logistics” in the “1000Communities2” proposal, at ipcri.net/images/1000Communities2.pdf ) coming in and out at different times for an extended period of time (possibly a year, or more) (with associated parking considerations) (and with, hopefully, no rent associated with it)—narrows the possibilities to a point that probable requires a sense of shared urgency among many members of the community.
Unfortunately/fortunately, such a sense of shared urgency may be approaching. In the time period preceding such urgency, word may get around about Community Visioning Initiative approaches (such as the one described in this proposal) through the efforts of people who believe that we can overcome the challenges ahead, and are ready to go forward with “visioning” based “constellation of initiatives” approaches. Such people may, by their efforts in advance, prepare the way for a sufficient number of CTLCs to be established on short notice.
The importance of CTLCs is so critical that without a sufficient number of assurances relating to CTLCs as a prerequisite, there will be no advantage to initiating the 15 step Community Visioning Initiative process described in Appendix G.
c) The key role which can be played by philanthropy
Here it will be most appropriate to provide some inspiration relating to the key role which can be played by philanthropy, in both creating education systems, and in the “just transition” to more solution-oriented employment: (Note: Specifically, this writer believes that if there was anything resembling the kind of philanthropy described below directed to the support of Community Visioning Initiatives, there could be much momentum generated towards resolving the challenges of our times.) Specifically, the work of Booker T. Washington (and of the philanthropists who recognized the value of the work he was doing) is most inspirational: (from the Wikipedia page for Booker T. Washington)
“Washington's philosophy and tireless work on education issues helped him enlist both the moral and substantial financial support of many major white philanthropists. He became friends with such self-made men as Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers; Sears, Roebuck and Company President Julius Rosenwald; and George Eastman, inventor and founder of Kodak. These individuals and many other wealthy men and women funded his causes, such as supporting Hampton and Tuskegee institutes. Each school was originally founded to produce teachers. However, graduates had often gone back to their local communities only to find precious few schools and educational resources to work with in the largely impoverished South.
“In 1912, Rosenwald provided funds for a pilot program involving six new small schools in rural Alabama, which were designed, constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914 and overseen by Tuskegee; the model proved successful. Rosenwald (then) established The Rosenwald Fund. The school building program was one of its largest programs. Using state-of-the-art architectural plans initially drawn by professors at Tuskegee Institute, the Rosenwald Fund spent over four million dollars to help build 4,977 schools, 217 teachers' homes, and 163 shop buildings in 883 counties in 15 states, from Maryland to Texas. The Rosenwald Fund used a system of matching grants, and black communities raised more than $4.7 million to aid the construction. These schools became known as Rosenwald Schools. The local schools were a source of much community pride and were of priceless value to African-American families when poverty and segregation limited their children's chances. By 1932, the facilities could accommodate one third of all African American children in Southern U.S. schools.”
d) Accessibility and Affordability
This writer does understand that—initially—many of the “teacher-leaders” which are created by this approach will not be experts in the emerging knowledge areas and skill sets needed to respond to the challenges of our times. However, what they will be is very important: they will be links to expert resources, and will function as facilitators for integrating just such knowledge into the local community as quickly, and in as affordable a process, as possible.
As an illustration of the points “integrating knowledge quickly” and “affordable”, consider the following example. It is possible to imagine workshops being offered at a rate of $100 for a 2 hour workshop (Note: This example is scaled for readers in the United States—cost and currency would vary according to the country participating), with the number of teachers and participants varying. An important part of cost accessibility is that as the number of participants goes up (towards a reasonable limit) the cost per participant would go down. Thus, if there were two teachers and 25 participants for a two hour workshop, the participants would only pay $4 each, and the teachers would earn $50 each. (And even the $4 cost to the participants could be paid in “local currency”, if there was a process by which residents could earn “local currency” by making “solution-appropriate” investments of time, energy, and money in their local community.) (For more discussion of this “local currency” idea, see the section “Increasing Transformation Employment”).
(at www.ipcri.net/A_Multi-Angle_View_of_the_Debt_Crises.pdf )
About “Community Teaching and Learning Centers”
a) A Special Form of Community Education
The concept of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (CTLCs) was created by the organization “Teachers Without Borders” (see http://www.teacherswithoutborders.org).
“Teachers Without Borders” defines CTLCs as follows:
“Community Teaching and Learning Centers (CTLCs) are local, practical education centers designed to be embraced by and emerge from the community itself. CTLCs use existing facilities and are often outfitted with libraries (such as dictionaries, references, educational material of general interest) and computers, face-to-face classrooms, and break-out spaces, used primarily to serve several essential functions for community sustainability.”
[From a “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” section of the “Teachers Without Borders” website before it was revised to the current website content (At current TWB website, see www.teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/community-teaching-and-learning-centers )]
One of the primary goals of the “Teachers Without Borders” organization is to develop “teacher-leaders”. “Teachers Without Borders” helps create “teacher-leaders” in two ways:
“We help to grow teachers…. We identify talent and find a way of attracting, retaining, and supporting cohorts of teachers from all sectors of local communities. We find mentors for teachers to ensure subject-matter mastery and teaching technique, and then provide opportunities at our community teaching and learning centers for emerging teachers to practice. Our plan is to start from the ground up - incorporating local mentorship, distance learning, and community college offerings, then assist local talent in completion, at a high level, of course work at four-year schools. Most importantly, we provide a means of steady communication and feedback amongst cohorts of teaching talent.”
[From a “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” section of the “Teachers Without Borders” website before it was revised to the current website content (At current TWB website, see www.teacherswithoutborders.org/pages/who-we-are )]
In the “1000Communities2” proposal (in section “About Community Visioning Initiatives”), the concept of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” created by the “Teachers Without Borders” organization is expanded so that such local community points of entry function as
i) information centers, resource centers, and clearinghouses (on how residents can deliberately channel their time, energy, and money into the creation of “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to resolving high priority challenges)
ii) locations for workshops on topics suggested by the “Preliminary Survey” (for more about “Preliminary Surveys” see Section __, and Section 9 in the “1000Communities2” proposal), and as determined by the “Community Teaching and Learning Center” Coordinator
iii) practice sites for the development of “teacher-leaders”
iv) community centers for meetings, both planned and informal
v) locations for “Community Journals” (which are collections of formal and informal input which may be contributed to or accessed at all times)
vi) locations for “Final Version” Document submission (“voting”) as part of Steps 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the 15 Step Community Visioning Initiative (for details on the 15 Steps, see Appendix G)
vii) locations for “Summary of Community Visioning Initiative Process to Date” Notebooks (for latecomers, and as an information resource for media)
viii) central locations for listings of employment opportunities
ix) as a special form of community education, which can respond quickly (by changing the emphasis of workshop content) to new urgencies as they arise
b) On Establishing a Sufficient Number of CTLC’s for a successful Community Visioning Initiative
Establishing a sufficient number of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (CTLCs) is a critical prerequisite to going forward with Community Visioning Initiatives of the nature described in this proposal.
Identifying and securing somewhere near 20 public access buildings (per community area with a population of 50,000) which can function as described in the beginning of this section—and which can (thus) accommodate as many as 300 people per day (for more discussion of logistics, see Section 10, Part B.“Concerns relating to actual logistics” in the “1000Communities2” proposal, at ipcri.net/images/1000Communities2.pdf ) coming in and out at different times for an extended period of time (possibly a year, or more) (with associated parking considerations) (and with, hopefully, no rent associated with it)—narrows the possibilities to a point that probable requires a sense of shared urgency among many members of the community.
Unfortunately/fortunately, such a sense of shared urgency may be approaching. In the time period preceding such urgency, word may get around about Community Visioning Initiative approaches (such as the one described in this proposal) through the efforts of people who believe that we can overcome the challenges ahead, and are ready to go forward with “visioning” based “constellation of initiatives” approaches. Such people may, by their efforts in advance, prepare the way for a sufficient number of CTLCs to be established on short notice.
The importance of CTLCs is so critical that without a sufficient number of assurances relating to CTLCs as a prerequisite, there will be no advantage to initiating the 15 step Community Visioning Initiative process described in Appendix G.
c) The key role which can be played by philanthropy
Here it will be most appropriate to provide some inspiration relating to the key role which can be played by philanthropy, in both creating education systems, and in the “just transition” to more solution-oriented employment: (Note: Specifically, this writer believes that if there was anything resembling the kind of philanthropy described below directed to the support of Community Visioning Initiatives, there could be much momentum generated towards resolving the challenges of our times.) Specifically, the work of Booker T. Washington (and of the philanthropists who recognized the value of the work he was doing) is most inspirational: (from the Wikipedia page for Booker T. Washington)
“Washington's philosophy and tireless work on education issues helped him enlist both the moral and substantial financial support of many major white philanthropists. He became friends with such self-made men as Standard Oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers; Sears, Roebuck and Company President Julius Rosenwald; and George Eastman, inventor and founder of Kodak. These individuals and many other wealthy men and women funded his causes, such as supporting Hampton and Tuskegee institutes. Each school was originally founded to produce teachers. However, graduates had often gone back to their local communities only to find precious few schools and educational resources to work with in the largely impoverished South.
“In 1912, Rosenwald provided funds for a pilot program involving six new small schools in rural Alabama, which were designed, constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914 and overseen by Tuskegee; the model proved successful. Rosenwald (then) established The Rosenwald Fund. The school building program was one of its largest programs. Using state-of-the-art architectural plans initially drawn by professors at Tuskegee Institute, the Rosenwald Fund spent over four million dollars to help build 4,977 schools, 217 teachers' homes, and 163 shop buildings in 883 counties in 15 states, from Maryland to Texas. The Rosenwald Fund used a system of matching grants, and black communities raised more than $4.7 million to aid the construction. These schools became known as Rosenwald Schools. The local schools were a source of much community pride and were of priceless value to African-American families when poverty and segregation limited their children's chances. By 1932, the facilities could accommodate one third of all African American children in Southern U.S. schools.”
d) Accessibility and Affordability
This writer does understand that—initially—many of the “teacher-leaders” which are created by this approach will not be experts in the emerging knowledge areas and skill sets needed to respond to the challenges of our times. However, what they will be is very important: they will be links to expert resources, and will function as facilitators for integrating just such knowledge into the local community as quickly, and in as affordable a process, as possible.
As an illustration of the points “integrating knowledge quickly” and “affordable”, consider the following example. It is possible to imagine workshops being offered at a rate of $100 for a 2 hour workshop (Note: This example is scaled for readers in the United States—cost and currency would vary according to the country participating), with the number of teachers and participants varying. An important part of cost accessibility is that as the number of participants goes up (towards a reasonable limit) the cost per participant would go down. Thus, if there were two teachers and 25 participants for a two hour workshop, the participants would only pay $4 each, and the teachers would earn $50 each. (And even the $4 cost to the participants could be paid in “local currency”, if there was a process by which residents could earn “local currency” by making “solution-appropriate” investments of time, energy, and money in their local community.) (For more discussion of this “local currency” idea, see the section “Increasing Transformation Employment”).