Rosemont Hills Montessori College

www.rosemonthills.com

Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship

Lesson 1: Community
“Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW:

 Explain the importance of studying community dynamics and community

action in relation to applied social sciences and the learners’ future career options.
 Define using various perspectives, e.g., social sciences, institutions, civil society, and
local/grassroots level.

Community

The word “community” was derived from the Latin word communis, which means “common” or
“shared.” Thus, the general understanding of the word community is that it is a social unit compose of people
who have something in common.

Communities may be formed in two ways…

1. Geographical. The members of a community share the same geographic vicinity, such as a village, province, and
our neighbourhood.
2. Non-Geographical. These communities are formed based on needs, ideas, interest, identity, practices, and rules
and social institutions such as at home, at work, and government, society, or the community at large.

Communities may also be divided into two levels:

1. Micro Level – At the micro level, a group is formed based on personal social ties. This may include groups
formed for pursuing common interest or goals, like forming a small organization to hold a fundraising activity
such as concert.
2. Macro Level – At the macro level, a large group affiliations are formed such as national communities,
international communities, and virtual communities. Companies and corporations may develop various programs
that would include the different members across the country. They will work on meeting certain objectives and
expand on the aspect of the community involvement.

What is Community Dynamics?

Community dynamics refer to the change and development involved in a community that includes all
forms of living organisms. It gives valuable insight into how people feel about the place they live in and can
shape decisions about which services are offered in particular neighborhood.
 What is Community Action?
A community action is any activity that aims to increase the understanding, engagement, and
empowerment of communities for the intention of giving services to people. It is also described as a social
action or community engagement. Activities are aligned with the objectives based on the roles that the
community plays. In community action, local citizens engage in planning, design, and delivery of local services.

It is also putting communities as the center of the services development and services delivery. This
initiative aims to cater the primary needs of the communities before implementing it. In such way, community
action will help the community dynamics or the degree of the improvement at the community.

Why is it important to understand Community Dynamics and Community Action?

It is important to understand these two because these will propel the success and
stability of the communities. They go hand in hand and are proportionally related.

Community in Different Perspectives

Community means different things when seen from different perspectives.

1. SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE

Views community as composed of people interacting with
one another, sensitive to each other’s emotions, as well as
interest and subjective points of view.

Social Science is an umbrella term for various field of study

which examine social relations and human society.

In Social Science perspective, a community is described as

a group of people in a particular area interacting together. Social science has several fields, including
Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.

ANTHROPOLOGY
 This field examine the various aspects of humans, such as their biology, behaviour, culture and social
interactions.
 It also studies how people adapt their ways of living to different environment.
 Example is determining ways to help a community solve health related concerns. This can be
addressed by understanding the situation through interacting with the people in the community,
connecting its history with is present conditions, and eventually solving the community’s concerns.

ECONOMICS
 This field studies the production, allocation and consumption of goods and services. In any
community, one finds various forms of wealth distribution.

The ultimate goal of economics is to improve the lives of people such as that their needs are satisfied.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
 This field encompasses the various ways and means of allocating power, influence, and decision
making.
 This includes the types of governments and management systems, and how people in a small bands or
informal groups make decisions when they do not have recognized leader.

All communities have some form of political system. The members of a community should understand
how its political system works, how power and influence are distributed and what change occur.

PSYCHOLOGY
 This discipline studies the human mind, brain, and social behaviour. This extends to interactions
between people and interpersonal relationships. Psychology in general is most often associated with
the study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses.

SOCIOLOGY
 This field is the study of society, social order, social interactions, and social behaviour. It introduces
the concepts of social capital and communitarianism.
 Social capital is defined as the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a
particular society for the effective functioning of the community.
 The concept of communitarianism’s explains the connection between the individual and the
community. Every person has a special role in one’s society, and it is part of human nature to relate
with other people in various conditions or situations.

2. INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
 The institutional perspective views the concept of community in three different dimensions.

First, it is an existing establishment or physical space where members of the community go for a
certain purpose. Examples of this are the companies, hospitals, or educational institutions.

Second is the institutional community as social model.

This is defined by networks and institutions where community groups are formed in certain areas
such as schools, churches or companies, and members gather to meet their needs.
People join clubs and associations to hone their skills, join religious organizations to deepen their
faith, participate in media activities to improve their communication skills, and meet with friends and
family at restaurants to satisfy their hunger. Some of the religious organizations based in the
Philippines are the Catholic Church, the Agama Islam Society, Couples for Christ, and Simbahang
Lingkod ng Bayan.

The third dimension is that community is composed of the ways people act, interact with each other,
react, and expect each other to act and interact.
 Examples include institutions such as marriage of friendship, roles such as mother or police officer,
status or class, and other patterns of human behaviour. This dimension presents how people act in
relation to each other. It includes their expectations, assumptions, judgments, predictions, responses,
and reactions.

It perceives patterns of relationships sometimes identified as roles and status, and the formation of
groups and institutions that derived from those patterns. For example, a “father” is both a role and an
institution. This explains that in a community, its social organization is the sum total of all those and
relationships and patterns.

3. CIVIL SOCIETY PERSPECTIVE

 The civil society perspective stresses the idea of forming a group, foundation or an organization in
service to society. This perspective views society as community of citizens linked by common
interest and collective activity. Examples include people’s organization, civic organizations, and
social movements.
 This is considered effective model of community since a sense of belonging is achieved due to the
collaboration of shared interests and identities in serving the humanity.

Example:
Groups of people come together regardless of location and organize plans to render support and
assistance to society. Some examples of civic organizations in the Philippines are ABS-CBN
foundation, Ayala Red Cross Foundation, Boy and Girl Scouts of the Philippines and Caritas Manila.
The human rights movement, on the other hand is an example of a social movement.

4. LOCAL AND GRASSROOTS PERSPECTIVE

 This perspective highlights volunteerism. Members of different communities may involve themselves
in various programs or activities. Definitely uses self-organization and encourages the local
contribute to the community by taking responsibilities and actions.
 Leaders and other members identify the sources of concerns in a local setting and determine ways to
address these problems. Volunteers are mobilized in cooperation with government decision makers
who will be accountable for their actions. The community also formulate programs for others, and
employees actions according to the needs of the community.

Example:
Doctors and dentist in different communities come together to organize medical and dental missions,
especially for families affected by calamities. When typhoon Haiyan hit the country in 2013, children
and elderly became weak and sick, and a medical mission was implemented to improve their health
condition.