Examining the Dynamics of Field Philosophies and Epistemologies within Community Development Education

Abstract

The concept, community well-being, has been studied across several academic disciplines, each employing its unique perspective. In an effort to enhance the well-being of communities globally, many scholars have commenced multi-disciplinary initiatives to address complex problems. For decades, researchers have documented the challenges of such diverse collaborations. Results often highlight the benefits of multi-disciplinary expertise coming together to solve complex problems. While this is perceived as a primary strength, they also acknowledge complications with interpersonal communication among cross-disciplinary efforts. Each discipline having its own professional language with unique cultural norms and assumptions—creating a contemporary Tower of Babel. We posit that disciplinary language is not the only barrier in creating functional multi-disciplinary programs. We argue that in addition to disciplinary languages, each field ascribes to a set of paradigms that frame the way professionals are trained in the discipline view the outside world. We identify the various disciplines contributing to community development education (CDE), the university-based educational platform for individuals interested in the field of community development, and examines the diverse paradigms associated with each discipline. We then consider how the varied paradigms create further complexity with interpersonal communication in the context of CDE. Lastly, we propose methods to identify disciplinary paradigms using them to enhance rather than detract from cross disciplinary collaboration.