UNDERSTANDING

THE
COMMUNITY
Prepared by: Bernard A. Ferrer
 What is a community?
Refers to a group of people gathered together in any geographic area large or
small, who have common interests, actual or potentially recognized in the social
welfare field.
-Arlien Johnson(Community Development Specialist)
• Collective people

• Similar interest - eg. KLD community, plantita community

• May be living in same geographical location eg. village, barangay, town

 What is a community?
■ A group of people having the same cultural
heritage:
– eg. language, beliefs and shared interest
■ Can be linked based on geographical location-
– eg territorial place where people perform their
work
 What is a community?
■ Connected with work
– eg. cultivation, contribution, allocation and
utilization of goods and services
■ A social system where system components and its
environment are interrelated
 A community may be categorized as:
■ Geographical – ■ Functional – bonded ■ Relevant Community
living in same by common interests
location and goals
 What is a relevant community?
Relevant community a recently emerged type of community
which is defined as group of people having same interests and
goals (as the communities around them ) but the focused is in
bringing about a change for the benefit of existing
institutions and is directed towards organization of the poor to
achieve redistribution of resources.
(Labuguen, et al 2019)
 Elements of a Community
■ Demographics ( population and density)
– Characteristics of the population such as movement –
immigration, emigration, natality, mortality
■ History ( events of the past which lead to the development of the
community)
– Certain patterns of change and how people adapt to these
changes
■ Culture ( ways of living)
– peculiar or inherent ways of living
 Elements of a Community
■ Economy ( income level, occupation of the people
– Sources of income , compensation, type of work or
industry
■ Structures ( physical political and social structures)
 ???
Questions
THE NATURE OF A
COMMUNITY
 Nature and Description
1. Community as a Sociological Construct
◦ Sociological construct in the community refers to
the interactions , and human behaviors that have
meaning and expectation between its members.
 Nature and Description
1. Community as a Sociological Construct
◦ Actions of the members of a community are
based on shared expectations, values, beliefs
and meaning between individuals.
Nature and Description
2. A community has fuzzy boundaries.
◦ Boundaries refers not only to area of the community or
distance from other villages but also the pattern of human
interactions that happen within the boundaries as well as to
other members of another community.
Nature and Description
2. A community has fuzzy boundaries.
◦ Example, residents who marry from another community
which leads to further interactions and relations going
beyond the boundaries creating a non-precise boundary.
Nature and Description
3. Communities can be within a community
◦ A larger community may have communities within it such as
districts, regions, ethnic groups, nations and other
boundaries.
◦ Marriages and other interactions on both sides form a link
between two communities.
Nature and Description
4. Communities may move.
◦ Technology is not locally based and lead to community
residents being mobile physically such as nomad herders,
mobile fishing groups who move from time to time or
hunters who move to follow the game (prey).
(Bartle, 2010)
Bartle (2010), stated that a community is a “Super
Organic Organism or System”. The community is
made up of people’s thoughts outlooks, conducts
with full divisions and conflicts brought about by
differences in religion, ethnicity, gender, access to
resources , class, educational level, income level,
ownership of properties, languages, personality,
opportunities and a lot more.
THE DIMENSIONS
OF COMMUNITY
 DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY
•Being a complex system a community
have different dimensions that may or
may not be present in all communities
but varies on terms of sizes, degree and
complexity per dimension.
 DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY
The dimensions identified by Bartle (2010) in his
work are:
• Technological
• Economic
• Political
• Institutional
• Aesthetic-value
• Beliefs-conceptual
 IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY
Technological
• Refers to the community capital
such as its tools, skills and ways of
dealing with the physical
environment
• Not the physical tools, but the
learned ideas and behaviors which
allow humans to invent, use and
teach others about the tools.
 IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY
Economic
• Refers to the various
ways and means of
production and
allocation of scarce and
useful goods and
services through barter,
market trade, state
allocation and others
IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY
Political
• Refers to various ways and
means of allocating power,
influence and decision-making
• Includes government and
management systems
• How informal groups make
decisions when they do not
have a recognized leader
IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY
Institutional/Social
• Composed of the ways people
act, interact between each
other, react and expect each
other to act and interact
• Institutions such as marriage
or friendships, roles, status or
class
 IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY.
Aesthetic –Values
• Refers to the structure of ideas that people have about good-bad,
beautiful – ugly and about right-wrong, which justifies and
explains the people’s actions.
• These are acquired through socializations and may change or be
unlearned or relearned
 IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY
Beliefs - Conceptual
• Refers to the structure of ideas
that people have about the
nature of universe, the world
around them, their roles in it
and nature of time, matter and
behavior
 ???
Questions
COMMUNITY
IMMERSION
An Overview
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
❑Gain insights on community immersion as a requirement of
NSTP
❑Explain the significance of the community immersion in the
purview of NSTP and national development
❑ Internalize the significance of community immersion as an
effective tool in addressing concerns of both the NSTP
trainees and the communities served
 WHAT IS COMMUNITY
IMMERSION?
An important requirement of the
NSTP prescribed to students, male
or female in public or private higher
education institution and technical
and vocational schools
 WHAT IS COMMUNITY
IMMERSION?
It is the practicum-based element of
NSTP where lessons acquired in NSTP 1
are applied in the enhancement of the
trainee’s capabilities, civic consciousness
and defense preparedness in the service
of the nation.
 WHAT IS COMMUNITY
IMMERSION?

Community immersion is not only

applicable to Civic Welfare Training and
Literacy Training, but also for Reserve
Officers Training Course.
AS A CONCEPT…
▪ Community immersion is a strategy in community

organizing that sought to imbibe a better

understanding and realization of different
community concerns through exposure on actual
life situations
AS A CONCEPT…
▪NSTP students through community

immersion will allow them to

experience integration with other
people.
AS A CONCEPT…
▪These experiences will facilitate changes

among students enabling them to be

civic-conscious and socially-responsible
citizens.
 AS A PROCESS…
▪Community immersion is aimed at developing
NSTP students their appreciation of rendering
community works which will provide them
opportunities to put themselves in real-life
situations in the communities they serve.
 AS A PROCESS…
▪Each trainee must have a genuine feel of

living with the people in order that may

understand and relate with community
concerns
 AS A PROCESS…
▪Trainees are expected to initiate
community–based interventions in the form
of projects and activities meant to address
the multi-faceted issues and concerns
supported by needs assessment/study that
maps out the problems
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

a. Define community immersion as an approach

and strategy of developing projects in serving
people and communities;
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

b. Enrich knowledge and competencies

on community immersion as a process
for development;
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

c. Apply the principles and concepts of

working in the community through
immersion projects and activities;
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

d. Expose NSTP trainees in depressed,

deprived and the underprivileged
communities and marginalized groups of
our society;
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

e. Appreciate the values of community

immersion as a means of developing themselves
as citizens and helping people improve their way
of life and in alleviating their living conditions
OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

f. Enhance civic consciousness and defense

preparedness; and

g. Develop ethics of service imbued with good

citizenship values
FOCUS OF COMMUNITY
IMMERSION
Concept of service and empowerment
as they reached out to depressed,
deprived and underprivileged
communities and the marginalized
segments of the society (DDUs)
 FOCUS OF COMMUNITY
IMMERSION
Immersion projects and activities designed to improve aspects
of human development like economic, social and spiritual
▪ Economic aspects - financial management
▪ Social aspects – people’s interaction and relationship building
▪ Spiritual aspect – religion and relationship with a Supreme
Being
 SUGGESTED PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES
Environmental awareness
▪ Tree-Planting
▪ Advocacies – zero waste management
▪ Recycling sessions
▪ Wildlife conservation and protection advocacy
SUGGESTED PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES
Health-related concerns
▪ Supplemental feeding among preschoolers

▪ Conduct of medical/dental mission

▪ Information dissemination on diseases SARS and AIDS

▪ Geriatric care/ assistance to physically challenged

▪ Family planning/reproductive health

▪ Drug abuse prevention and control

Entrepreneurship aspect
Conduct of skills/livelihood trainings like:
▪ Candle making
▪ Cooking
▪ Cosmetology
▪ Hair cutting
▪ Handicrafts
▪ Animal husbandry
Entrepreneurship aspect
Conduct of skills/livelihood trainings like:
▪ T-shirt printing
▪ Gardening
▪ Food processing
▪ Seaweeds farming
▪ Non-food processing
▪ Novelty craft production
SUGGESTED PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES
Recreation and wellness program
▪Conduct of sports/dance clinic
▪Promotion of indigenous sports/ laro ng lahi
▪Organization of sports/dance and singing
competition
▪Conduct of indoor and outdoor activities
 SUGGESTED PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES
Morals of Citizenry
• Values formation and education
• Human rights promotion
• Conduct of bible sessions/fellowships
• Organization of community based-ministries
• Promotion of good citizenship values
Other social services
Precepts of Community
Immersion
 Be guided by these precepts:
• Immersion in actual community life enables the trainees
to get to know the social, political and economic situation
of the people.
• Changes in levels of knowledge about the social realities
development of good values , empathy towards other
people, improvement of social skills are expected to
happen
• Identify the community people’s interests and aspirations
 Be guided by these precepts:
• Recognize people’s resiliency and do not rob them the
right to have community participation and determination
of appropriate courses of action,
• Be aware of the gain-negotiated sanction
• The acceptance derived from community relations with the
right to conduct immersion activities
• Reflection on their social analysis of the current situation
is concretized in the lives of the community people
• Should have impactful meaning to themselves as well
Forms of integration in the community:
OHome visits
OLiving with selected families (key informants)
OInformal discussions with individuals and groups
OSharing in household and community activities
OAttendance in social gatherings
OAssistance in production work (farming, selling)
 Why is community immersion important to
students?
Community immersion allows individuals who are
not familiar with the people and communities
where they will work immerse themselves in
these settings. This gives them the opportunity to
reflect on their assumptions, attitudes, and the
knowledge base of their profession and to gain
cultural competence.
 What benefits can a student get from
participating in community service?
Community service helps [students ]to
mature by developing social skills, doing
outreach or public relations tasks. …
“Students who volunteer can gain
important life experiences, meet new
people, and may be able to receive school
credit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjzqeCLll3w
 ???
Questions
 Activity 1. Community Matrix(30 minutes)
Think about your community and answer this by creating a matrix/ table.
1. Where is your community located?
2. Who are the people who live there?
( type of people eg . Farmers, Factory workers)
3. How many people live in it? ( estimates)
4. What is the land use for?
5. What are the services or establishment in your community?
6. What jobs or occupations do people have in the community?
7. How do they treat each other?
Activity 1. Community Matrix(30 minutes)
Activity 1. Community Matrix(30 minutes)