origin, development, and issues of the community education movement in the United States, 1935-1995

The purpose of this historical study was to discover (a) if the absence of a common, understandable definition of community education was a primary reason for the field's apparent lack of recognition in the public education arena and (b) if the definition problem was also associated with the concerns of community educators about the future viability of the field. The study was open to the discovery of another or other feasible reasons for the problems confronting the field. Its purpose was achieved through an examination of the media of the community education field and other pertinent media. The researcher surveyed the educational origins of the community education movement in the United States in order to explore the historical context of the movement that has its roots in Flint, Michigan, and to discern its possible relationship to earlier educational movements. Additionally, the researcher (a) examined the development of community education in Flint, from its beginning as a recreational program to its growth into a community school program and its maturation into a community education process, and (b) surveyed several definitions published during the maturation period. The evolution of the movement on a national level was also explored, as were several continuing issues that dealt with the implementation of the community education process on a field-wide basis. Discovered in the strategies offered to resolve the issues was the consensus that the field needed to become committed to its process components, especially community involvement. The community involvement component was considered to be the factor that made community education different from public education. The study revealed that the absence of a common, understandable definition of community education was not a primary reason for the problems confronting the field of community education. The researcher discovered a more tenable reason for the problems: Community educators had not fully implemented the process components of community education on a field-wide basis, especially the community involvement component. Throughout the development of community education, the field's leaders had maintained that community education would not succeed without this implementation. Other conclusions and recommendations for further study were offered.