COMMUNITY

NSTP II - CWTS
COMMUNITY Learning
As Nationalians, it is our utmost responsibility to give back to the
community where we belong. We are committed to helping
Outcomes:
improve the lives of the members of our community. But before we
act, it is necessary to understand first the concept of community.
At the end of the lesson,

students should be able to:

define the important

aspects of community,

distinguish the aesthetic

and moral values of a

community, and

expound the community

immersion process.

This chapter first explores the definition and aspects of the

community. Then, identifies and explains the community's
aesthetic and moral values. Lastly, the chapter details the process
of community immersion. Learning materials:

Guide Questions:
What is a community? Pen and Paper
What are the aesthetic and moral values of a community?
Module
What is the process of community immersion?
Laptop / Mobile device
Try this!
Read the passage:

Communities are not built of friends, groups with similar styles

and tastes, or even people who like and understand each other.
They are built of people who feel they are part of something
bigger than themselves: a shared goal or enterprise, like
righting a wrong, building a road, or raising children, or living
honorably, or worshipping a god. To build a community
requires only the ability to see value in others to look at them
and see a potential partner in one's enterprise. You may come from a village,
- Suzanne Goldsmith, "A City Year" town, or city. Within each of
these communities, you belong
to smaller communities. The

Break down the passage into smaller sections to make five sub- most obvious is your family.

definitions:
1. ___________________________________________________________________ The family is the most
2. ___________________________________________________________________ important unit in the
3. ___________________________________________________________________ community. It is where
4. ___________________________________________________________________ education begins. It is where
5. ___________________________________________________________________ we learn the values and
acceptable behaviors and rules
Evaluate each definition—indicate whether you agree or disagree of society.
with each definition and explain why.
We can be members of various
communities. Each one of
them has different
requirements and
responsibilities for its
members.
Community
The word "community" comes from the Latin word "communitas,"
which means "common." It is important to understand that a
community is not just a place, a building, or an organization.
Community is both a feeling and a set of relationships among
people. People form and maintain communities to meet common
needs.

Members of a community have a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and

caring for each other. They have an individual and a collective sense that
can influence their environments and each other.

The treasured feeling of community comes from shared experiences and

a sense of not necessarily the experience of shared history.
Neighborhoods, companies, schools, and places of faith are contexts and
environments for these communities, but they are not communities
themselves.
Virtual Multiple communities
Community Most people identify and participate in several communities, often
based on neighborhood, nation, faith, politics, race, age, gender,
hobby, or sexual orientation.

The neighborhood remains important for single parents, families

living in poverty, and the elderly because their sense of community
and relationships with people living near them are the basis for the
support they need.

Try this!
Write a list of communities that exist within the univesity. Pick two
of these communities and explain their members' commonalities.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________
With the technology we
__________________________________________________________________________________
have today, we now have
the so-called "social media __________________________________________________________________________________
community" or the "internet
community," which was
unimaginable a few decades
ago. They enabled us to
create communities within
the cyber/virtual space.
A sense of belongingness Formal and
The sense of belonging is important in communities. The feeling of Informal
belonging in a community is helped by several things, such as:
Institutions
knowing what we expect of others and what they expect of us,
knowing who our community leaders are and how we can have Communities form
some say in choosing them, and institutions- what we usually
knowing how the community is organized so that we feel safe
think of as large organizations
and secure at all times.
and systems, such as schools,
government, religion, law
All these experiences help us to develop a feeling of belonging to
our communities. enforcement, or the nonprofit
sector.

Equally important are

communities' informal
institutions, such as the social
or cultural networks of helpers

and leaders.

Remember!
A community is not just the people who are in it and its physical
location. It is a set of interactions and human behaviors that have
meaning and expectations between its members.
Aesthetic and Moral Values Learned, not
given
The aesthetic and moral values of a community serve as standards
for what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, and right and wrong.
Community members appeal to these values as justifications for Our judgments between right
their behaviors and actions. and wrong, good and bad, and
beautiful and ugly are usually
Communities have different sets of aesthetic and moral values.
based on community values.
That explains why a community's beauty and moral standards
differ from others. For example, the Filipino's standard for a These values are not acquired
beautiful face is different from the American's and Korean's. Same through genes but through
case when it comes to explaining the difference between Filipinos' socialization. They can be
and other communities' notion of good.
relearned and changed.

Values tend to change as the

community becomes more
industrialized. Changes in
values tend to result from
changes in technology and
social organization.

A community's aesthetic and moral dimensions are dependent on

its norms—socially accepted attitudes and behaviors. How a
person should present him/herself, behave, and act are commonly
determined by these norms. Those who depart from usual or
accepted standards are called "deviant persons or individuals."
Try this!

Make a list of Filipino aesthetic and moral values (5 each). Collect

digital photos that depict each value. This activity weighs 20 points
(10 points for the list, 10 points for the photos).

Examples:

Moral value
1. Respect our elders.

Aesthetic value
1. Natural beauty is better.

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________
Forms of Community Immersion
Integration It is an essential strategy in any community development project that
entails understanding the community concerns, processes, dynamics, and
1. Home visits lifestyles through exposure and engaging in various community activities.

2. Living with selected

Also, it allows individuals who are not familiar with the people and
families (preferably with
communities where they will work to immerse themselves in these
key informants)
settings.
3. Informal discussions with
individuals and groups
4. Sharing in household and
community activities
5. Attendance in social
gatherings
6. Assistance in production
work

Community
partners

1. Parents Not only the community will benefit from the immersion, but also those
who facilitated the activity will gain something in return:
2. Youth
3. Professionals
Opportunity to comprehend others' lives
4. Differently-abled
Gain social acceptance from different communities
constituents
Enhance knowledge in conducting surveys and researches
5. Members of people's Establish relationships with people from different backgrounds
organizations. Acquire first-hand experiences in dealing with community projects
Chance to learn life skills
Community immersion:
Do's and Don'ts
Before:
1. Familiarize yourself with the basic information and theories
regarding community life, immersion, and development.
2. Secure a waiver from your NSTP instructor.
3. Always inform your NSTP instructor about your location and
plan of action.
4. Gather essential information about the area of immersion.
5. Pay a courtesy call to community leaders/heads.
6. Secure documents pertinent to your stay in the community.

During:
1. Be courteous.
2. Act properly and discreetly.
3. Wear proper attire and identification cards.
4. Keep your belongings and valuables secured.
5. Document your visit.
6. Don't forget to ask permission from concerned people when
you have to take photos.

After:
1. Submit final documentation outputs for records purposes.
Assessment Resources:
Choose a community you are part of.
https://www.scribd.com/d
Give a short description of your chosen community (three to
ocument/331381310/CWTS
five sentences). Each weighs 5 points (5 points for the content,
-2-Community-Immersion
2 points for the grammar).
Enumerate and discuss three existing problems in the
community. The discussion should be in three to eight http://www.education.gov.

sentences for each problem. This item weighs 10 points. pg/TISER/documents/past

ep/cd-icd-1-1-
understanding-
community-development-
lecturer.pdf

http://www.peernetbc.co
m/what-is-community-
development
__________________________________________________________________________________
https://www.facinghistory.
__________________________________________________________________________________ org/resource-
library/identity-and-
__________________________________________________________________________________ community/what-
community
__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________ For further readings:

__________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.scdc.org.uk/
who/what-is-community-

__________________________________________________________________________________ development

__________________________________________________________________________________ https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/p
ublications/what-
community-development