Defining community education
The White Paper on Adult Education proposes two views on Community education. The first of which defines it "as an extension of the service provided by second and third-level education institutions into the wider community". This view could be seen to incorporate almost all adult learning opportunities provided by the formal education sector at community level-it is education in the community but not of the community (DES, 2000 p110).
The second view sees community education in a more ideological sense "as a process of communal education towards empowerment, both at an individual and a collective level...it is as an interactive, challenging process, not only in terms of its content but also in terms of its methodologies and decision making processes" (DES 2000 p110.)
In its policy document on community Education 2004 AONTAS describes community education as a process of empowerment, social justice, change, challenge, respect and collective consciousness. It is within and of the community, reflecting the needs of the individuals of that community.
This definition reflects the capacity of community education to support participants in their struggle to understand the multiplicity of issues that they as individuals and as members of communities face. The document describes community Education as having a two- fold, interconnected aim for participants
- the personal acquisition of skills, knowledge and development of potential
- Social and community empowerment and advancement
