QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
BAA QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
School District Name: Okanagan Skaha
School District Number: 67
Developed by: Sandra Richardson
Date Developed: August/Sepetember 2011
School Name: Princess Margaret Secondary
Principal’s Name: Terry Grady
Board/Authority Approval Date: December 12, 2011
Board/Authority Signature: “D. MacIntyre”, Director of Instruction
Course Name: Quest for Community 12
Grade level of Course: Grade12
Number of Course Credits: 4
Number of Hours of Instruction: 120
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 4
Course Synopsis:
This course will provide the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for the establishment of vibrant, caring, and sustainable communities. The student will engage in independent study, small and large group work and will travel locally and internationally in the quest to find what makes a community strong, sustainable, and resilient. By the end of this course, students will have developed the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to:
• build and maintain vibrant, affirming, sustainable communities, and
• become self-directed, life-long learners.
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Rationale:
As a result of the eras of colonization and the industrial revolution, Western Civilization has steadily moved away from the human social unit generally referred to as “community.” Global inequities caused by the colonization and economic imperialism have simultaneously destroyed potential for the establishment for a global community on a political scale, and created the possibility of a communal sense of humanity which may emerge in the future on a societal scale. Quest for Community is dedicated to exploring this possibility by generating a value in our youth for the creation of a truly global human community.
In addition to this global loss of community on a political scale, society has also lost awareness of the innate meaning of community. The uninhibited spirit of rugged individualism, the mechanization of labour, and the resulting rural to urban movement, has created unsustainable cities with massive populations of agonizingly disconnected human beings. As a society we speak frequently of our “communities,” but have forgot the multifaceted meaning of the word. Quest for Community is dedicated to investigating the deeper meaning of “community,” and determining practical methods for establishing and maintaining healthy, resilient, and sustainable communities.
Dr. M. Scott Peck, renowned psychiatrist and author, has defined community as, “a group of two or more people who, regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds, have been able to accept and transcend their differences, enabling them to communicate openly and effectively, and to work together towards common goals, while having a sense of unusual safety with one another.” According to this definition, Western Civilization has clearly ceased to experience community on familial, local, national, and international levels. We do not “communicate openly and effectively,” we do not “work together towards common goals,” and we certainly do not have “a sense of unusual safety with one another.” Quest for Community will generate in students a deep understanding of the needs of a healthy community, and help them to develop community building skills they can take with them into their futures, and into the future of this world.
Organizational Structure:
Unit/Topic / Title / TimeUnit 1 / Sense of Community / 15%
Unit 2 / Community Practice / 20%
Unit 3 / Community Economic Development / 20%
Unit 4 / Urban and Rural Sociology / 10%
Unit 5 / Community Engagement / 35%
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Unit 1: Sense of Community
Students will explore the various aspects of the experience of community, such as the clarification of communal values, the importance of artistic expression in establishing communal identity, the importance of inclusiveness, the interplay between communal and individual values, the development of tolerance and sensitivity while ensuring the well-being of the community, the interplay between autonomy and accountability, and the need to encourage and support diversity
as part of the sense of community, and will develop practical strategies to address challenges in this area in a holistic and participatory way.
Learning Outcomes: It is expected that the students will…
· Define community and apply that definition on a local, regional, national, and international scale.
· Explain the importance of inclusiveness within the concept of community.
· Describe potential tensions between communal values and individual rights.
· Evaluate the role that protecting individual rights plays within the context of establishing and enforcing a communally accepted set of values (e.g., the importance of the concept of inclusiveness in creating a communal identity, the potential of developing a value for diversity within a community as a means of protecting individual rights).
· Clarify and explain their own values and roles in contributing to a sense of community.
· Identify and address an area of need to improve the sense of community locally (e.g., within their school, local, or regional communities).
· Explore the role that artistic expression plays in establishing and maintaining a sense of communal identity.
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Unit 2: Community Practice
Students will explore the social dynamics of communities, such as community organization, social planning, mediation and conflict resolution mechanisms, approaches to mentorship and education, providing services for the vulnerable elements of society (young, elderly, and people with special needs), methods of addressing health and wellness, the design of community spaces, and communal governance. They will develop practical strategies to address challenges in this area in a holistic and participatory way.
Learning Outcomes: It is expected that the students will…
· Explain the role that spatial planning plays in establishing a thriving, sustainable community.
· Evaluate a variety of methods of organizing the governing body of a community.
· Evaluate a variety of methods of conflict resolution within a community (e.g., mediation, arbitration, sentencing circles, restorative justice).
· Evaluate a variety of methods of providing services for the vulnerable elements of a community (e.g., the young, the elderly, the people with special needs).
· Evaluate a variety of approaches to maintaining the health and wellbeing of the members of a community.
· Clarify and explain their own values and roles in creating positive social communal practices.
· Identify and address an area of need to improve the social practices of a community.
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Unit 3: Community Economic Development
Students will explore the economic aspects of community, such as production of food, environmental degradation, sustainability, infrastructure, the production and exchange of goods and services, unemployment and poverty, and community maintenance, and will develop practical strategies to address challenges in this area in a holistic and participatory way.
Learning Outcomes: It is expected that the students will…
· Identify and describe the current threats facing the global community (e.g., environmental degradation, resource depletion, unsustainable agricultural practices, and abusive labour practices).
· Evaluate a variety of approaches to economic management and labour practices within the framework of environmental impact, social justice, and sustainability.
· Explain the importance of permaculture practices in creating vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities.
· Develop necessary skills to contribute to local, small-scale, sustainable food production.
· Clarify and explain their own values and roles in creating economically strong and sustainable communities.
· Identify and address an area of need to improve the economic practices of a community.
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Unit 4: Urban and Rural Sociology
Students will explore the challenges facing urban and rural communities through statistical analysis, observation, social theory, interviews, and other methods of study. They will investigate a wide range of topics, including migration, demographic trends, poverty, race relations, and economic trends within local, regional, national, and international communities, and will develop practical strategies to address challenges in this area in a holistic and participatory way.
Learning Outcomes: It is expected that the students will…
· Understand how societal/structure factors influence individual behaviour.
· Understand how social interaction and the development of the “self” influence society and social structures.
· Define, give examples, describe and analyze the inter-relatedness of the following concepts:
o cultures,
o socialization,
o stratification,
o social structure,
o institutions,
o social change,
o globalization, and
o differentiation by: race/ethnicity; sex/gender; social class; age; region.
· Describe the effects of socio-cultural change on individuals and social structures.
· Describe strategies for functioning in a pluralistic society and diverse world cultures.
Unit 5: Community Engagement
Students will explore the process by which organizations and individuals build ongoing, permanent relationships for the purpose of applying a collective vision for the benefit of a community, and will develop practical strategies to address challenges in this area in a holistic and participatory way.
Learning Outcomes: It is expected that the students will…
· Describe and critique organizations whose mandate is to benefit communities.
· Determine a need in the community and develop a course of action that will address this need.
· Perform at least fifteen hours of community service.
· Compare and contrast governmental and non-governmental organizations as they pertain to the betterment of community.
QUEST FOR COMMUNITY 12
Instructional Component:
• Direct Instruction
• Indirect Instruction
• Peer and Partner Instruction
• Interactive Instruction
• Experiential Learning
• Modeling
• Brainstorming
• Discussion
• Group Work
• Independent Study
• Guest Lecturers
• Field Trips
• Work, study and mentorship opportunities
Assessment Component:
Assessment will revolve around the practical application of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes developed through the course. Students will be required to participate in community-building activities within local, regional, national, and international contexts. Students will also engage in consistent self-reflection, which they will be accountable for demonstrating through the creation of a course portfolio.
Formative assessment will involve ongoing descriptive feedback and guided self-reflection on both the knowledge being built and the practical application of that knowledge within the community.
Summative assessment will occur within the context of the student-built portfolio. The portfolio will include an initial learning plan established cooperatively between the student and course facilitators, and evidence of the learning journey that occurred throughout the duration of the program.
Learning Resources:
• Book, audio and video resources
• Greenhouse and garden space
• Community members and mentors
• Journals and magazines
• Governmental agency and non-Governmental agencies publications
• Leadership Resources