Learning and Mobilising for Community Development

Book excerpt: Learning and Mobilising for Community Development introduces the reader to different ways of thinking about, and organising community-based education and training within different settings. Stories from the global south and north illustrate approaches to collective learning and collective action. The book provides not only an insight into the how-to of community-based education and training, but through a range of applications, demonstrates the often unspoken shadow side of the developmental work we undertake. The first section of the book outlines the key elements that underpin effective community-based education and training. It then locates community-based education and training within a broader pedagogical project, by tracing the tradition of transformative learning and education. The second half of the book focuses on stories and practice, distilling the application of theory and frameworks. The practitioners within this book emerge from unique and challenging contexts. From civil resistance in West Papua and youth empowerment in South Africa to financial freedom in Australia, these diverse experiences speak to a common quest for social change and justice.