Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
THRT 3601
Descriptive
Community Development Concepts and Applications in Health and Social Services
Department
Therapeutic Recreation
Faculty
Applied Community Studies
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
Yes
Semester Length
Flexible delivery ranging over 2 to 15 weeks
Max Class Size
30
Course Designation
Certificate in Global Competency
Industry Designation
None
Contact Hours
60 hours
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities
- Lecture/discussion
- Involvement in community development group processes simulated in the classroom
- Community service learning
- Student debates
- Case studies
- Student presentations
Course Description
In this course we apply an ecological perspective to explore the nature and process of community systems and approaches to planning. Experientially we explore meanings of community, capacity building, social capital, inclusion and belonging, citizen power, and social change. Through active involvement in class discussions and engagement with community organizations, we examine various approaches to community development in health and social services settings by applying leisure, recreation and therapeutic recreation concepts and practices.
Course Content
Definitions and theories of community
Ecological Frameworks and System Theory
- Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
- Systems and subsystems, boundaries, energy, entropy
- Foundations of community development
- Examples of application
Fundamental Planning Approaches in Health and Social Services Settings
- Community development as a method, practice, process, movement
- Social marketing
- Social reform planning
- Policy analysis
- Social learning
- Social mobilization
- Advocacy, empowerment and social change
- Theoretical underpinnings, applications and examples of each approach
Assets Based Community Development (ABCD)
- Needs maps versus assets maps (John McKnight)
- Initiating ABCD – moving from discovering “care” to taking action
The role of the community developer
- Facilitation skills
- Managing conflict
- Consciousness raising and conscientization (Paulo Freire)
- Insider and outsider roles
- Dealing with power issues
Understanding worldviews
- Reflexivity
- Whiteness and intersectionality
- Stigma, prejudice and discrimination
- Advantage and disadvantage
Key concepts linked to community development
- Citizenship
- Inclusion and belonging
- Capacity building
- Citizen power
- Social capital
Community Development and Leisure, Recreation and Therapeutic Recreation
- Community development through leisure education
- Links between leisure education, serious leisure, civic participation and participatory citizenship
- Applying community development concepts and approaches to various client groups and contexts
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- identify a worldview and how it influences beliefs, understandings, assumptions, and decision-making;
- understand and apply the central concepts of system theory and ecological frameworks to community organizing;
- compare and contrast definitions of community and approaches to community building;
- understand the fundamental approaches to planning and be capable of identifying them in practice;
- compare and contrast models of community development;
- describe the links between community development and health promotion, recreation and therapeutic recreation; and
- engage actively and appropriately with community organizations to better understand the realities of community development in various contexts.
Means of Assessment
This course will conform to Douglas College policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Typical means of evaluation would include a combination of:
- Tests
- Written assignments
- Presentations
- Service-learning project
This is a letter graded course.
Textbook Materials
T.B.A.
Corequisites
Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:
- No corequisite courses
Equivalencies
Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:
- No equivalency courses