Essays on Community Building

Lifelong Learning in the United States and Japan

Lifelong learning is a concept that emerged in the 1960s after intellectual radical student movements demanded new modes of education that encourage pluralism, diversity, and individual freedom (Young & Rosenberg, 2006). According to the Commission of the European Community, the concept embodies formal learning, informal learning, and non-formal learning. Formal learning is carried out in recognized educational and training settings and results in the acquisition of legally recognized academic qualifications. Nonformal learning takes place where one works or within the activities of civil societies or organizations and one does not get legally recognized qualifications. Informal learning occurs as a consequence ...

Democracy is measured by measuring the level of citizen participation. Citizen participation is what makes democracy different from other forms of governance. The citizens are involved in the decision-making processes and before the implementation of new guidelines or processes in the government. The purpose of citizen participation is to ensure that all decisions regarding them are approved by the people to prevent oppression by the leaders. The citizens have introduced participation programs that help in empowering the citizens and civic groups to establish strong civic cultures as well as to achieve a balance of power between the government and ...

This study frames Melman’s leadership style/behavior within five dimensions, such as Vision, Organization, Communication, Trust, and Creativity, where those dimensions evolved with time and create an impression that his leadership journey began with Participative leadership style, before embracing Servant leadership style. Accordingly the study reviews Melman’s actions and words, before substantiating its position.

Vision

Melman opened Eccentric in 1989, partnering with Oprah Winfrey, but soon he found that business is not catching up as per his expectations due to the fact that they were “trying to do too much with “steaks, fish, American, French, Southern.” Accordingly he launched ...

Introduction

Community development can be a complex issue, and understanding the needs and the difficulties of different communities is fundamental to community success. There are many different schools of thought, and each suggests something different: some suggest that gentrification is the answer for difficult neighborhoods, while others suggest that social programs can bring about the appropriate change. However, what many different thinkers agree is that the children are the foundational basis for changing a community as a whole; there is potential in the children of a community, regardless of how difficult or poor the conditions are (Foster-Fishman et al., 2001). ...

Introduction

Civic engagement entails the various ways that the residents of a place are involved in so as to better the living or welfare conditions of others. This is aimed at shaping as well as determining the future of that particular community. Traditionally, civic engagement has been viewed and limited to the youth but successful community development projects have reflected the importance of involving every stakeholder. Precisely, civic engagement is the making of a difference by combining the efforts and skills of the community members then allocating them the necessary resources to make that difference. This is in an effort to promote ...

Force Field Analysis

For every change planned there forces for and against the proposed change. There are forces impacting the change and weighing the pros and cons of the idea of holding a large-scale, community-building meet. The meet is based under the community development. The forces for change include community, connections, collective action, control, coordination, collaboration and cooperation. The first force that will make the meeting successful is community which has key elements (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009). Community grows and maintain themselves by meeting the needs of their members, share values and influence and share emotional connection to enhance membership. Connection enhances ...

Abstract

Statistics have had it that one out of every five children lives in a poor condition in the United States. This factor is now costing up to 4% of U.S domestic product per year thus consequently affecting the economy of the United States (Harlem Children’s Zone, 2009). Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) has come up with strategies towards handling this condition. However it can be argued that as much as HCZ programs appear to be effective, they bear some weaknesses, face some threats and also have some loop holes. HCZ programs has done well in promoting community building, creating ...

The need and desire to strengthen democracy and justice has led to the expansion of civic engagement. This is after along period of loosely defined civic movements that were promoted, to some extent, by leading figures such as Karl Marx, Derek Douglas, Sir Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Che Guevara and Mahatma Gandhi. The civic engagement processes are driven by the principles of engaging the whole society in deliberative dialogues with the main aim of community building. It is through deliberative dialogues that activities promoting peaceful coexistence in the society can be nurtured based on the foundation of conscious ...

Arguably, the world today has become an avenue of criminal activities. The society has become very volatile, and in most extreme situations, gangs have taken full control of the streets. As a matter of fact, criminal activities affect various sectors of every nation, which include social, economic, as well as political. Therefore, there are many strategies, models and styles that have been established to control crime. In Illinois land area, one of strategies to control crime is community policing. There is a tremendous consensus within the police departments that community policing is among the best strategy for controlling and fighting crime ...