The Community Education Concept
The major educational institution in any community is the school. Since the formation of schools in America, these institutions have been used by all ages for numerous social functions, meetings, and educational purposes. Recent decades have shown a trend towards isolation of the schools in the community. Schools have been used solely to educate children with little involvement with the community. And today, only 20% to 25% of the households have children in the schools, meaning that residents in 75% to 80% of the households do not have a direct connection with the schools.

The traditional school, operating between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., five days a week, forty weeks a year, does not respond to the needs of all members of the community. The community education concept is a belief that the school is most effective when the citizens of the community it serves play an important role in the development, evaluation, and implementation of programs and activities that meet their needs and wants. This approach means that the school buildings will be open for use by all community members.

Community education is a philosophical concept, which recognizes that all aspects of community life are important, and strives to produce a better quality of life for all community members. It is a concept based on cooperation, collaboration, and planning.
The community education concept is a tool for providing opportunities to community residents. Community education is flexible, allowing for meeting the needs of different community members, while coordinating resources to meet those needs.
Community education is an approach to community improvement that involves citizens in determining needs, planning and action. It is an approach that promotes the application of the community’s resources towards community improvement.
Jack Minzey and Clyde LeTarte, community education historians and authors, in their book Reforming Public Schools Through Community Education, characterize community education as a “philosophical concept that serves the entire community by providing for all the educational needs of all of its community members. It uses the local school to serve as the catalyst for bringing community resources to bear on community problems in an effort to develop a positive sense of community, improve community living, and develop the community process toward the end of self-actualization.” (1972).

There are six basic components defined by Minzey and LeTarte (1994) in a complete community education model. These include the following:
•An educational program for school-age children – the traditional K-12 program
•Use of community facilities – schools should become community centers, utilized to meet the needs of all community members
•Additional programs for school age and youth – providing enrichment, remedial, and supplement educational and recreational opportunities, i.e. summer school
•Programs for adults – learning and leisure opportunities for adults, i.e. Adult Basic Education
•Delivery of community services – assisting in the coordination of services from community agencies and organizations
•Community Involvement – providing a forum for citizens to identify community needs, and matching local resources to meet the needs

Each community education model develops its own unique characteristics to fit its community and school. The key to developing a community education model is the participation of the citizenry.

Development Of the Community Education Concept
Each community is different and unique in its own way. When planning to implement the community education concept, these differences must be taken into account. Simply starting a model based on another community’s program may be unsuccessful. It is essential that excellent planning be the basis for establishing a community education model.

Due to the importance of planning, the following steps should be considered when exploring the community education concept.
1. Find a champion for community education, someone, be it a school or community representative who feels that community education can benefit the community and present the idea to others.
2. Appoint a committee consisting of community members and school personnel to gather information for the planning and implementation of programs and activities to meet community needs.
3. Do not re-invent the wheel. Each community has readily available information that can be utilized by the committee. Agency records, schools records, and municipal records are available. Be certain that the information is up to date. All aspects of community life should be considered. Such as religious institutions, businesses, social agencies, city government and schools.
4. Compile the information into a report that shows areas in which community life can be improved. Available community resources should be highlighted, as well as possible funding sources to meet these needs. Other areas to be considered are personnel and program management.

The community-school relationship is one that needs nurturing. But with good planning, the community and school can become better integrated to provide assistance to community members.