Community Development

Publication Date

1997

Abstract

Leaders can be effective educators to their peers inside and outside their community. As practitioners, they are in a position to draw on existing cultural knowledge and to discover new knowledge in developing innovative practices and techniques. But they learn best when they themselves are active learners and educators. Participation in community projects, formal training, and the exchange of resources and ideas will help them hone their skills as educators. The repeated cycles of reflection and practical experience characteristic of this action learning makes leaders well qualified to become trainers.

This module is designed to help community leaders and community development practitioners share bilingual/bicultural experiences, become familiar with issues and terminology, and reach an understanding of the complex worlds of bilingual and bicultural communities. It starts by exploring the meaning of primary, dominant, and bicultural identities. Then tensions and conflicts arising out of the intersection of these cultures are addressed. In context of issues of power, dominance, and resistance, a theoretical framework describing different cultural responses is described. Finally, the differing cultural attitudes of the primary and Americanized cultures are discussed.

Pages

29

Book Series Title

The Learning CART (Communities Acting and Reflecting Together) Series Two: Leaders as Educators

Included in

Education Commons

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