Voluntary Organisations and Community Groups
Learning for the 21st Century - Part 4: Section 11 - Point 5
11.21 Voluntary organisations and community groups have a vital
role to play in the development of education for active citizenship;
providing opportunities for people to help to shape the society
in which they participate, and helping to construct a key underpinning
for a stable, secure and prosperous society. Nevertheless they
can only work effectively where their distinctive contribution
is fully valued by the statutory partners that often control budgets.
11.22 Successful community education starts with the aspirations
of learners. It is founded on good listening, in which educational
services work with people in articulating learning goals, and
then in helping them achieve them. It is backed by better data
than we can currently rely on across the country. It is fired
by the vision of a society, which values the voices of the many
not, the few. Of course, it also needs stable and secure funding.
11.23 The case for learning in the community was made with lyrical
force by R. H. Tawney and his colleagues in an earlier Government
report on lifelong learning in 1919:
In a modern community voluntary organisations must always
occupy a prominent place. The free association of individuals
is a normal process in civilised society, and one which arises
from the inevitable inadequacy of State and municipal organisation.
It is not primarily a result of defective public organisation;
it grows out of the existence of human needs which the state and
municipality cannot satisfy. Voluntary organisations, whatever
their purpose, are fundamentally similar in their nature, in that
they write for a definite point of view, a common outlook, and
a common purpose which gives it a corporate spirit of its own.
The corporate spirit is, perhaps, the most valuable basis for
group study. It is to be found in trade unions, adult schools,
co-operative societies and other bodies. Voluntary organisations,
consequently, form the best nucleus for adult classes.
11.24 The diverse contributions of voluntary organisations and
community groups in the provision of learning and in the development
of a culture of lifelong learning for all should also be recognised
in local strategic plans, funding arrangements and partnerships.
In particular, such organisations should be able to access resources
allocated for the purposes of widening participation in learning
of under-represented groups.