Examines how the poor and minorities can create structural changes in local communities to better serve their collective interest, in the context of a rural county in California in which organizers actually designed and implemented political strategies which resulted in a new set of local power relationships. (Author/JM)

Argues that economics-oriented poverty programs are designed to preserve the social status quo and that programs designed to alleviate poverty and end discrimination against black and female workers must attack the political basis of these problems. (JM)

A variety of educational and economic changes can be seen as part of a tendency toward deschooling or modification of the curriculum. One ironic factor is that the skills needed to maintain capitalism have so changed, that in producing them the capacity to critically evaluate its merits is created. (JN)

In this report, community control is examined at it relates to social and human service organizations. Community is defined at the agency which is the target of control. Community control is a major issue for non-white Americans who are increasingly concerned with owning and controlling those institutions that exist within the boundaries of their…

The four games in this booklet are designed to stimulate critical thinking about the effects of structural and cultural issues on society and on the process of social change. The first and original game, "The Growth Game," gives participants a hands-on experience with the basic theoretical constructs of a Marxian critique of the mainstream tenets…

THIS NATIONAL TRAINING LABORATORIES (NTL) CONFERENCE, DEPARTING SOMEWHAT FROM ITS USUAL EXPERIENCE-BASED LEARNING PROGRAMS, FOCUSED LABORATORY TRAINING METHODS ON THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN URBAN COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING. THE CONFERENCE PRESENTED THEORY, INFORMATION, AND OPINION ON THE NATURE OF CITIES AND THEIR DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES.…

This paper describes the concept, training, and experiences of community facilitators as change agents in a nonformal education project in rural Ecuador. Presently, the social, economic, and political context of the rural Ecuadorian consists of poverty, racial prejudice, economic exploitation, and psychological dependency. The project attempted to…

This paper describes a simulation game, "Hacienda," designed to replicate the economic and social realities of the peasants' situation in rural Ecuador. The game involves three to 15 players (and often more), one of whom, by a roll of the dice, takes the role of "hacendado," or hacienda owner, who gains title to all the…

This paper examines the relationship between Paulo Friere's philosophy and methodology in "Pedagogy of the Opressed" and the use of simulation games for consciousness raising. Friere suggests that the supposed insurmountable barriers facing oppressed peoples are as much a product of their perceptions as they are of the oppressor. The…