Abstract

Community development is the goal of an innovative adult educational programme being provided on an extra-mural basis by University College Galway throughout the West of Ireland. This predominantly rural region has experienced significant out-migration of mainly young people resulting in a residual dispirited aging population. The natural research base is poor and even more importantly there is a low level of awareness of development opportunities amongst the indigenous population. The overall aim of the educational program is to develop the capacity of individuals and local communities to undertake development initiatives.An attempt is made to encourage widespreadparticipation in community affairs, to replaceapathy and dependency with a spirit of self-help and to get people to embark on various community based initiatives such as the preparation of a comprehensive resource surveyor the establishment of a community enterprise. The program consists of two major elements, one consisting mainly of lectures and seminars on predetermined topics which are germane to community development and the other consisting of class centered projects which are designed to provide practical learning opportunities for course participants. A number of positive indicators provide evidence that the program is very well received and highly successful

How to Cite:

O Cinneide, M. S., (1987) “Adult Education and Community Development in the West of Ireland”, Journal of Research in Rural Education 4(3), 143–146.

Rights: Copyright