Community development education: the integration of individual and collective consciousness for community well-being within a social development paradigm in South Africa
- Authors: Maistry, Savathrie
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa , Social planning -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Development Studies)
- Identifier: vital:11754 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/182 , Community development -- South Africa , Social planning -- South Africa , Public welfare -- South Africa
- Description: This study focused on community development education and practice for the democratic and transformative South context. Social and community development are relatively new approaches to social welfare and community development is emerging as a discipline and profession to contribute to the goal of developmental social welfare. Community work, albeit to a minimal extent and not community development was viewed as a method of social work during apartheid. With community development being prioritized as an intervention strategy for poverty reduction by the national government, the gap in community development education needs to be addressed. The goal of the study was to develop an undergraduate curriculum framework for community development education that would produce a new generation of ethical community development professionals to contribute to the goal of developmental social welfare. The study focused on the integrated approach to community development education and practice; with education of the student as a whole human being as critical for community development in a transformative South Africa. To achieve its goal, the study identified three themes that were critical to the research: a conceptual framework, clarifying key terms; a curriculum framework for community development education; and qualities and ethics for a new generation of development practitioners. The qualitative study was based in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa and because of the lack of a referential framework for community development education, the researcher looked towards learning from India which has over fifty years of experience in social and community development education and practice. The state of Kerala established a social development approach in 1957 and was chosen as a learning experience. The state’s Kudumbashree Mission which aims at poverty alleviation through the empowerment of women was chosen as a case study. The integral and values based education system of Sri Sathya Sai University in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the community development education and practice of Loyola College in the state of Kerala were examined. The research design was exploratory, conceptual, descriptive and developmental in nature. The qualitative methodology best suited the nature of this study and a combination of methods to obtain data from a variety of sources across national boundaries was employed. The participants interviewed in both countries were purposively selected for their involvement in social and community development directly as target groups, practitioners, managers and policy makers. The research produced a philosophical and theoretical framework that is unitary and integral and aligned with the current social development policy to guide community development education and practice. The unitary and integral framework encompasses the individual within the family and community context and locates the various dimensions of development such as the social, physical, cultural, psychological, spiritual, political and economical dimensions within a unitary platform. The framework is dominated by the holistic and humanistic philosophies without negating the rational and pragmatic perspectives. In conclusion, the study conceptualizes community development as a natural process; the integration of individual and collective consciousness and an intervention. The outcome of the study is a recommended curriculum framework for community development education that would be of relevance to the Eastern Cape Province in particular and for the South African context generally.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Decentralised cooperative governance in the South African metropolitan municipalities
- Authors: Zimba, Anthony Andile
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa , Local government -- South Africa , Intergovernmental cooperation -- South Africa , Public administration -- South Africa , Human services -- South Africa , Municipal government -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Social Science Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11427 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/536 , Community development -- South Africa , Local government -- South Africa , Intergovernmental cooperation -- South Africa , Public administration -- South Africa , Human services -- South Africa , Municipal government -- South Africa
- Description: The study emanates from the constitutional imperatives with regard to the role of local government in community development. The notion of cooperative governance is envisaged in the South African Constitution which stipulates that all spheres of government must adhere to the principles of cooperative government and must conduct their activities within the parameters prescribed by the Constitution. The purpose is to support and strengthen the capacity of the local governments to manage their own affairs and to perform their functions. The basic values and principles governing public administration entail that: it must be broadly representative of the people of South Africa in order to redress the imbalances. The existing gaps in the legislation on decision making power at the local level of the municipality, be it in a ward committee or sub council, have not been adequately addressed in the post 1994 democratic dispensation. It is in this context that this study seeks to address these gaps and obstacles, and contribute to the design and development of a decentralized cooperative governance model, specifically to the six metropolitan municipalities and also provide a basis for further research. The findings of the research could be adapted as a national policy in the empowering of municipalities through the dispersal of democratic power which is an essential ingredient of inclusive governance. Based on a case study of six metropolitan municipalities, the research is intended to contribute to the development of empirically grounded; praxis and practical guideline in decentralized cooperative governance which can be adopted and institutionalized in public administration. It is believed that a study of decentralized cooperative governance adds value in that it seeks to link decentralized power and local development. Rather than civil society organisations being seen as adversarial, a creative partnership with the state in local development is crucial. This political assimilation is critical in the construction of democracy through fusing the substantive values of a political culture with the procedural requisites of democratic accountability. This serves to fragment and disperse political power and maintain a system of checks and balances with regard to the exercise of governmental power. The capacity for innovation, flexibility and change can be enhanced at the local level, and it is a cliché that local decision making is viewed as more democratic in contrast to central, top-down decision-making processes. A syncretistic model for local government based on the political adaptation of political and inclusive decentralisation is outlined.
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- Date Issued: 2012