Community Learning Development Resource: 601 – 08
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORKER TASKS,
SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE.
SUMMARY
This resource summarises a community development work description, with a strong capacity building component, which identifies the potential areas for development and training. This prescribes skills and understandings for workers seeking to take on a community learning role within priority communities and neighbourhoods, working with people experiencing exclusion and multiple disadvantage.
1. What the worker needs to be able to do:
- identify and build an understanding of the nature of the priority neighbourhood or community, which will enable the development of appropriate capacity building work with local people
- identify and assess the needs of individuals and groups within priority communities and neighbourhoods
- contribute to individual, collective and community capacity building, neighbourhood renewal and regeneration
- make direct contact with local individuals and with community groups and to assist them to identify their wants and needs
- plan appropriate experiential learning opportunities, which respond to the identified wants and needs, with a concern to build capacity and empower people
- ensure that local people’s voices are heard in developing services and opportunities so that local people feel ownership.
- make available relevant information, guidance and support
- develop links with other workers and agencies so that effective responses can be locally delivered which address needs and wants
- monitor and evaluate the progress of the work and to develop ways of recording the changes, success and progress of individuals and groups.
2. What underpins and informs the worker role:
Practical understandings of:
- developmental work in communities e.g. community outreach work,
- widening participation
- development of community based organisations
- organisation of community activities
- relationship building with excluded people
- monitoring and evaluating work initiatives and projects
- needs identification and assessment
- community capacity building
- the work of voluntary and community sector organisations
- issues of social exclusion and barriers to learning
- how adults can be supported to learn from experience
- the national and local context for neighbourhood regeneration and community development.
3. Required skills and abilities:
- Effective communication
- High quality interpersonal skills
- Commitment to reflective practice
- Ability to work independently and as a team member
- Good personal and work organisation
- Research skills
- Training skills
- IT literate.
4. Beliefs and feelings
- A value set with Equality as the core value.
- Strong commitment to equality and inclusion and to addressing the needs and aspirations of disadvantaged and oppressed people.
- Willingness to value and work with people as individuals and groups in their communities and to encourage and enable them to choose to participate in capacity building.
- Commitment to action-research approaches to improving and developing practice and the achievement of successful work outcomes.