The Process Model of Experiential Learning, expanded from Dean (1993), is based on stages adapted from Pfeiffer and Jones (1983) and assumes a group of learners working together under the guidance of a group leader or facilitator. The model consists of seven stages, each composed of four different functions: leader's role regarding the content of…

Early childhood education and care (educare) combined with community development presents a unique opportunity to stimulate the disadvantaged and oppressed sectors of the population towards improved economic status, increased self-confidence and self-esteem, and human development. The three main elements of this approach are the community,…

Communications is critical to community development, especially rural communities that are poor, immobile and at a distance from a major metropolitan area. The isolation of these communities comes out of a need for cohesiveness within a system that functions for them. There is some mutual support between their economic, political, and social…

Rural community development is undergoing changing visions, activities, and methodologies. Factors impacting this change include decentralization, budget reduction in the public sector, and globalization and downsizing in the private sector. Community "building" (community-generated change and emphasis on capacities rather than…

When the new government of the Australian state of Victoria was elected in 1992, it began the most radical change to an education system in the history of the country, introducing the Schools of the Future initiative. The underlying rationale, which has its roots in 20 years of experience in Victoria, is that quality outcomes of schooling can only…

This paper identifies three different historical perspectives about citizens with developmental disabilities and their relationships to their fellow citizens and to state and federal governments. These perspectives are compared and contrasted as a basis for thinking about the future. A chart illustrates the perspectives of a distant past, a more…

This paper describes the use of the Nominal Group Technique as a tool to assist community leaders in 23 Georgia counties, most of them rural, in identifying and prioritizing community issues. The counties and individuals involved were participants in the Georgia County Perspective, a 12-week leadership program designed to give local leaders skills…

Data for a study of learning within farmers' cooperatives were collected by interviewing members of 25 such cooperatives in Imo State of Nigeria. Information was also gathered from a literature review and interviews with Nigerian government officials who worked closely with cooperatives. Three types of cooperative associations were identified:…

Offering a contribution to additional clarity in the debate about the viability of "rural development" as an explanatory concept and program of action, the paper presents details of a causal model which underlies the approach to rural development taken by a W. K. Kellogg Foundation supported program in eastern Washington called "The…

Selected concepts and theoretical orientations were identified and applied to the Guelph Rural Development Outreach Project, formed in 1976 to give leadership in the evolvement of a more comprehensive and integrated approach to rural development in Ontario. Huron County (a traditional rural agricultural area), Halton Region (an area characterized…

Education has long been a development priority in Africa. The failure and limitations of formal education have led to the emergence of nonformal alternatives of various types. They include extension education, training programs, multipurpose educational programs (for middle-level professionals), cooperative self-help programs (community…

Rural school and human service administrators' professional development needs can be categorized as technical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal in nature. Vermont surveys have indicated that the technical skills most needed are in the areas of public relations, career education, teacher effectiveness training, community involvement, administrative…