Consequently, the process of development should start by assisting communities to become critically aware and self-directed. Such a process and an awareness is dependent upon the existence of critical thinkers in the community and the ability of the community to critically analyze issues. Critically analyzing issues involves the identification of underlying values, rules, and beliefs that made the issue an issue. To analyze an issue is not to take it at face value but to understand its root cause and, consequently, to develop a long-term solution. In the process of identifying and analyzing issues, the community must be aware of the context in which they occur.
Critical thinkers are initiators of community change because they are innovators.
They see their future and the future of their community as open and changeable. Such individuals and communities recognize the importance of input from external sources and the possibility of sharing control externally. They recognize the value of interdependence, not independence, where learning and experience may be gained externally with a sense of responsibility to internal issues. A true critical awareness, in itself, is not sufficient to bring change in the form of positive community development. It is the responsibility of each individual, and thus the community, to make sense of the issues by integrating new ideas with previous knowledge and experience.