NSTP 2: Fundamentals of Community Organizing

I. Introduction

Community Organization suggests that the community is central in the use of this method usually
linked to social work. It was first used by American Social Workers in the late 1800‘s to refer to the
specific work they were involved in with settlement houses for new immigrants and the poor. It was
used to describe their efforts to coordinate services for these groups.

II. Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

a. describe community organizing;

b. describe the community setting in the Philippines;
c. discuss the guiding principles of community organizing;

III. Pretest
How will you describe your community?
Give group of people or organization within a community and discuss their shared interest.

IV. Discussion

Other definitions have evolved all throughout the years and one is:

Community Organizing is a systematic, planned and liberating change process of transforming a

complacent, deprived and malfunctioning community into an organized, conscious, empowered and
self- reliant, just and humane entity and institution.‖ [-Philippine Business for Social Progress
(PBSP)]

Community Organizing (CO) is a continuous process of:

Educating the people to understand their critical consciousness of their existing conditions;
Organizing people to work collectively and efficiently on their problems;
Mobilizing people to develop their capability and readiness to respond and take action on their immediate
needs towards solving their long term problems. [-UP College of Social Work and Community Development]

Collectively, the above-mentioned definitions s

uggest that Community Organizing (CO) is both a process and a method. CO is a process in the sense that it
is perceived as a progressive and forward movement from one condition to another. It is also considered as a
method because it consists of a dynamically conscious and deliberate undertaking to bring about social
change.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZA TION IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING

Through the Philippine Ecumenical Council for Community Organization (PECCO), Community Organizing
was introduced in the Philippines during the First Quarter Storm of the seventies. The group organized
communities in the Tondo area where the program, Zone One Tondo (ZOTO) was born. The program was
replicated in other parts of the Philippines, including the rural areas and was usually introduced through
church structures.

Organizing efforts continued even when the Martial Law was declared. During this time, Community Workers
began pushing for people‘s participation and community organizing became the tool for achieving this.
International Development Groups and government both began to support and fund Community Organizing
Programs. Community Organizing began to proliferate

GOALS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Community Organizing transforms a complacent community to become self-propelling and self - nourishing.

Community organizing is important because through this, people work together in an organized manner and
become more effective when social change takes place. But what, basically is community organizing for?
Read on to learn the different goals/ purpose why this method is still being widely used in the different parts of
our country, and the whole world.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

“Go to the People, Live Among the People”

One cannot help the community towards its development if the organizers stay and work within the comforts of
an office/ school and do not integrate with the people.

“Learn, Plan and Work with the People”

The people know better than any other outsider what their needs and problems are. The community members,
with the assistance of the community organizer, must be the one to determine the program appropriate to
answer their needs/ problems.

“Start With and Build on What the People Know”

Community organizers must begin with the indigenous resources, technologies and structures that the
community has. Improve on their strengths!

“Teach By Showing, Learn by Doing”

For the community to learn effectively, the worker must demonstrate different procedures or techniques and
not merely give instructions.

“Not Piecemeal but an Integrated Approach”

Community organizing is an inter-relationship of various elements and factors.

“Not Relief, But Release”

Community organizing is a process that liberates a community from its identified problems.

V. Posttest
The students will abstract the lesson on guiding principles of community organizing by assessing their
own community’s activities, system and/or organization.