Introduction to Community

 The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

1. Economic justice, appreciation of diversity, encouragement and respect for self determination, the ethical use of power, and the absence of violence combine to form a strong and healthy community.
2. Exploring and reflecting on one’s own experience as a member of a community is fundamental to determining how a person will work with others because acknowledging and sharing one’s experiences leads to claiming personal power and precedes the empowerment of others.
3. Communities have many resources.  Through collaborative work, communities have power, the capacity to effect change, and the ability to take care of their own members.  Before one can engage in collaborative relationships, however, s/he must have moved from dependence, through independence, and into interdependence.
4. Analytical thinking (i.e., making comparisons, analyzing information, making and reflecting on choices, and drawing conclusions) and clear, effective articulation of ideas in a variety of formats and settings are essential to effective practice and community involvement.
5. In addition to knowing the standards of the field or the expectations of one’s employers, it is critical that practitioners reflect on the life, educational experiences, values, and beliefs of themselves and others to develop a personalized set of values they can apply to their practice.
6. Professional practice requires an understanding of ethical principles and their application to decisions and actions taken.  Ethical decision making requires continual reflection, self-examination and ongoing values clarification.
7. By making a commitment to become active, ethical change agents within the political, educational and social service systems, practitioners can contribute to the development of a healthy community.
8. The knowledge of how systems function facilitates the building of stronger communities since practitioners work and live within systems.
9. The systems within which practitioners work are imperfect and frustrating.  Practitioners need to actively keep abreast with, reflect on, and apply trends in their fields of practice, develop a personalized model of professional practice, and maintain balance in their lives in order to sustain and renew themselves in their work.
10. It is critical that practitioners understand recognized lines of authority, their personal and professional limitations, as well as their abilities and responsibilities.  They must effectively use a myriad of community resources and appropriately refer clients and colleagues.
11. Knowing the history of the human service field and service delivery is necessary to understand what has been what is, and what is to come.