Abstract
This chapter explores the meaning of community in contemporary times. Specifically, the focus is on how some Canadian youth think about belonging in middle school and whether their idea of community includes the acceptance of individual difference. Student’s perspectives on community relationships were drawn from essays and poster submissions received from multiple school sites across Southern Ontario, a region with one of the most diverse populations in Canada. Themes pulled from the youth’s work described five attributes of a positive community: Support for Others, Respect and Care, Dialogue, Healthy Conflict, and Safety. The students’ ideas also indicated an overarching ontology ‘Being-in-Relation’ where community and individuality are dependent. These themes are explored against a backdrop of community theory and the relational ontology of Martin Buber. This chapter offers a perspective quite different from historical constructions of community where belonging has often required assimilation, and provides significant implications for theory, practice, and research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The organization where I was employed engaged in various initiatives to promote building character and community in school classes. One yearly project was a “Community in the Classroom” essay and poster contest for students. I accessed the essays and posters after student names had been removed as suggested for ethics clearance. For this reason, neither student names nor pseudonyms were used to identify quotes in the research. Some of the teachers who submitted their classes’ work were also included in the larger study, but their perspectives are beyond the intent of this chapter.
- 2.
I was also not able to re-present the posters in the same way that I was able to share excerpts from the student essays.
- 3.
It would have been helpful to be able to further discuss findings with the students involved in the study; however this was not possible due to the nature of the data coming from contest entries.
- 4.
To read more about my personal interest and beliefs about community see Cassidy (2013).
- 5.
This research took place in Southern Ontario, Canada, where the population is very diverse, so these findings may not necessarily translate to other geographical locations. This study looked at community relationships within a school setting, so findings may also not translate to other community contexts.
- 6.
My use of essays and posters in this research was therefore both an asset and a limitation.
References
Abowitz, K. K. (1999). Reclaiming community. Educational Theory, 49(2), 143–159.
Bateman, H. V. (2002). Sense of community in the school: Listening to students’ voices. In A. T. Fisher, C. C. Sonn, & B. J. Bishop (Eds.), Psychological sense of community: Research, applications, and implications (pp. 161–179). New York: Plenum.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529.
Bess, K., Fisher, A., Sonn, C., & Bishop, B. (2002). Psychological sense of community: Theory, research, and application. In A. Fisher, C. Sonn, & B. Bishop (Eds.), Psychological sense of community: Research, applications, and implications (pp. 3–22). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Bettez, S. C. (2011). Critical community building: Beyond belonging. Educational Foundations, 25(3–4), 3–19.
Buber, M. (1965). Between man and man (R. G. Smith, Trans.). London: Collins.
Buber, M. (1967). The knowledge of man (M. Friedman & R. G. Smith, Trans.). London: George Allen & Unwin.
Buber, M. (1970). I and thou (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). New York: Charles Scribner & Sons.
Cassidy, K. J. (2013). The essence of feeling a sense of community: A hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry with middle school students and teachers. St. Catharines, Canada: Brock University Digital Repository.
Chavis, D. M., & Newbrough, J. R. (1986). The meaning of “community” in community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(4), 335–340.
Dunham, H. W. (1986). The community today: Place or process. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(4), 399–404.
Fendler, L. (2006). Others and the problem of community. Curriculum Inquiry, 33(3), 303–326.
Furman, G. C. (1998). Postmodernism and community in schools: Unraveling the paradox. Educational Administration Quarterly, 34(3), 298–328.
Furman, G. C. (2002). School as community: From promise to practice. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Furman-Brown, G. (1999). Editor’s foreword. Educational Administration Quarterly, 35(1), 6–12.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1982). Truth and method (G. Barden & J. Cumming, Eds., & Trans.). New York: Crossroad. (Original work published in 1965).
Gardner, J. W. (1991). Building community. Washington, DC: Independent Sector.
Giddens, A. (1994). Beyond left and right: The future of radical politics. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Greene, M. (1993). The passions of pluralism: Multiculturalism and the expanding community. Educational Researcher, 22(1), 13–18.
Hill, J. L. (1996). Psychological sense of community: Suggestions for future research. Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 431–438.
Hillier, J. (2002). Presumptive planning. From urban design to community creation in one move? In A. T. Fisher, C. C. Sonn, & B. J. Bishop (Eds.), Psychological sense of community: Research, applications and implications (pp. 43–67). New York: Kluwer Academic.
McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. American Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6–23.
Noddings, N. (1986). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at home: Caring and social policy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. (2017). People & Culture. Retrieved September 11, 2017, from http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/about/OI_ABOUT_PEOPLE.html
Peck, M. S. (1990). The different drum: Community making and peace. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Pooley, J. A., Pike, L. T., Drew, N. M., & Breen, L. (2002). Inferring Australian children’s sense of community: A critical exploration. Community Work and Family, 5(1), 5–22.
Sarason, S. B. (1974). The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Selznick, P. (1992). The moral commonwealth: Social theory and the promise of community. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Shields, C. M. (2000). Learning from difference: Considerations for schools as communities. Curriculum Inquiry, 30(3), 275–294.
Shields, C. M. (2002). Cross-cultural leadership and communities of difference: Thinking about leadership in diverse schools. Springer International Handbook of Education, 8(2), 209–244.
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London, ON: Althouse.
van Manen, M. (2007). Phenomenology of practice. Phenomenology & Practice, 1(1), 11–30.
Weisenfeld, E. (1996). The concept of “we”: A community social psychology myth? Journal of Community Psychology, 24(4), 337–346.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cassidy, K.J. (2019). Exploring the Potential for Community Where Diverse Individuals Belong. In: Habib, S., Ward, M.R.M. (eds) Identities, Youth and Belonging. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96113-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96113-2_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96112-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96113-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)