School and community: A community development experience

Abstract

The article presents the experience that is being developed in the outlying neighborhoods with the participation of four educational centers: two Pre-school and Elementary Education centers (CEIP) and two Secondary Education Institutes (IES). Based on the culture as social manifestation, the authors reflect on the school culture and its relationship with school failure, and they analyze the possibilities of community development as a way to approach it. In this experience, the community development process is in its initial stage, and there has been a consolidation of the coordination of the different public and private services and resources that affect the zone. The prevention and promotion job that is going on in the streets, thanks to the “El Patio” process, is complimented by the participation of the educational centers, as well as community use of their installations. They are currently carrying out a community diagnosis in which objective data and statistics are gathered, and the audition process for the subjective part takes place. With the synthesis of these data, a discussion process will be initiated with the entire population towards a community search for alternatives.