A New Typology for Community-Based Settings
Priscilla Little, Senior Consultant
This blog is the second in a series aimed at introducing community-based practitioners and K-12 educators to some of the key concepts described in Design Principles for Community-Based Settings: Putting the Science of Learning and Development into Action. It tackles the question: What do we mean by community-based learning and development settings?
While K-12 education has long been the main setting held accountable for learning, science findings tell us that learning and development can happen anywhere. Throughout our communities there are relationship-rich environments that offer a sense of safety and belonging, challenging content, intentional development of skills and mindsets, and the recognition that each and every young person has their own unique pathway toward thriving.
A robust learning ecosystem is comprised of the many learning and development spaces (e.g., classrooms, cafeterias, homes, gyms, playgrounds, clubs, maker spaces, workplaces) throughout a broad range of community places (e.g., schools, non-profit community organizations, faith and civic organizations, libraries, recreation centers, businesses). Moving throughout those spaces and places are diverse groups of children and youth and adults representing different perspectives and programs that provide a variety of opportunities for young people.
The notion that learning happens everywhere broadens the definition of the places, spaces, and people that contribute to thriving and shines a spotlight on the role that community-based settings can and do play in supporting the whole child.
But what do we mean by community-based settings?
Community-based learning and development settings is a phrase that describes the myriad of community partners that work independently, with each other, and with schools to support learning and development in diverse places and spaces throughout the community. To help the full range of community partners “see” themselves in the science of learning and development, we created a new, expansive, and inclusive way to categorize and describe these settings.
Our definition expands on the 2002 National Research Council’s focus on community programs to consider a broader definition of where and when learning happens beyond the “usual suspects” of large, national youth serving organizations to include the many informal and nonformal settings where there is an opportunity for a young person to practice critical social, emotional, academic, and cognitive skills and competencies.
The typology we have developed organizes the diversity of community-based settings along two dimensions: do they serve primarily youth or a broader population; and is their goal primarily learning and development or do they work toward goals that include other important outcomes that contribute to thriving — health, wellness, and safety. This results in four “types” of community-based settings as depicted in the graphic below.
While not inclusive of every community-based setting, this graphic is meant to depict the complexity and variation across a community. We’ll dig in a bit more to each type that emerged:
1.Primarily provide opportunities for youth; focus on learning and development goals
Most community-based settings focus on youth and have a primary goal of learning and development. The same could be said about K-12 education. A main difference, however, is the entry point used to implement science-informed practices. While K-12 teachers create relationship-rich environments filled with safety and belonging that connect children and youth to supports as needed, their entry or starting point to their connection to young people is through rich instructional experiences and the development of critical skills, knowledge, mindsets, and habits.
In contrast, many community-based settings are not wired to lead with content. The voluntary nature of participation means that these programs need to ensure that whatever their goals for young people are, they focus on youth engagement as a strategy for attracting and retaining participants.
2. Provide opportunities for a broad population (e.g., children, youth, and families); Focus on learning and development goals
Some community-based learning and development settings are hosted by institutions whose missions expand beyond serving youth. Libraries, museums, and parks and recreation are institutions that exist in most communities and offer some youth programming alongside early childhood programming, programming for young adults, families, and the elderly. Knowing the guiding principles for whole child design is no less relevant to these settings than to other opportunities across the learning and development ecosystem.
3. Provide opportunities for youth; Focus on broader goals
Many community-based programs have a focus on helping young people who have been marginalized or traumatized — by public systems and by their society. Many of these community-based supports are aimed at “disconnected” youth or “opportunity” youth — young people who are out of school or out of the workforce and often times facing numerous life challenges. While learning and development goals are usually part of the mix, these programs start with the basics — housing, basic health, positive alternatives to negative influences, and pathways to stability.
4. Provide opportunities for a broad population; Focus on broader goals
Throughout the community are organizations and institutions focused on the spiritual, cultural, and civic life of community members. These often reflect communities of identity and experience within a larger geographic community. Although the majority of these institutions are family-oriented and aimed at improving the well-being of all ages, they often have age-specific programming — whether that is a youth program at a faith institution or a youth leadership program in a local civic or civil rights organization.
How You Can Use This Typology
If you’re a parent or a school leader, understanding the full typology of community-based learning and development settings can help you leverage the talents and resources of their community partners to support thriving youth in and out of school.
If you’re a community-based provider, it can help you ensure that youth development opportunities available in communities meet the shifting demands and interests of youth and their families.
And no matter your role in the community, it can help you acknowledge and provide supports to the diverse set of adult practitioners who work across settings as they work to be more intentional about creating the conditions that science tells us are essential for optimized learning and development.
In our next blog we’ll explore the characteristics of these community-based settings.
