Product and Process Dialectic: Developing an Indigenous Approach to Community Development Training

Abstract

Summary An appreciation of constructivist theory guides the authors' understanding of the circular nature of community development training and learning, particularly in a society in transition from division to unification. The writers examine the process of indigenisation of a community development curriculum, emphasizing the consequential empowerment of both self and community as the students become involved in creating an environment for social and economic change in the new South Africa. The teaching innovations examined include: Learning beyond the classroom and peer-mediated video learning. Students were from black, Indian, white and colored, middle-income African families and carried out their community development task in a selected low-income black community. The authors discuss the teaching/learning innovations in light of Gokarn's three competencies: development of self-awareness, knowledge about the learner, and the use of small group technology of education.