Curriculum Development and the Community Approach

In the search to provide a curriculum that is more directly relevant to the lives of most people in an urban society, a number of educationalists have recently proposed a radical reorientation towards education based in and on individual communities ( Raynor and Harden, 1973 ). Only through community based education, they usually argue, can the majority acquire the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills to comprehend or improve their environment. One difficulty with the community approach for the less committed educationalist is that the concept of community can be interpreted in a variety of ways. This ambiguity has been adequately discussed at an academic level (Hillery, 1955), but little is known of its consequences in educational practice. This chapter reports a modest effort in the community approach to curriculum development in one secondary modern school. From the research point of view, it is little more than a pilot study. However, the findings are useful in suggesting some of the difficulties that may occur in introducing community education in schools.