From Information to Application: How Communities Learn

This review summarizes selected literature sources on the subject of community learning and identifies key themes considered in these sources. The findings of this work will be applied to the subsequent stages of the Understanding the Early Years project being undertaken by the Department of Human Resources Development Canada. The sources from widely diverse fields come to a similar conclusion: Learning takes place most effectively through an interactive process in which potential users of information are involved in exploring a given challenge. Ideally, they should engage with the information in some meaningful way, preferably through a mediating process that entails interpersonal interaction. The literature points to the importance of social capital in facilitating learning. Finally, the paper discusses key lessons in community learning from several projects in which the Caledon Institute has been involved.

ISBN – 1-894598-93-8