Developing Community Expectations: The Critical Role of Adult Educators.

The quality of life in a community is directly tied to the capital available to its citizenry. The idea of capital refers to the resources related to the population--the wealth, the open-minded nature of individuals, the potential for jobs and putting skills and talents to use to earn a living. There have been a wide range of studies and efforts to understand how capital affects individuals, ranging from educational choice (Rowan-Kenyon, Bell, & Perna, 2008) to how individuals interact socially (Putnam, 2000). The result has been an accepted understanding that the social interactions and the nature of developing these interactions among individuals, both formally and informally, greatly aid in the formation of an individual's identity and ultimately influence life choices (Deggs & Miller, 2009, 2011). The implication of this understanding is that community organizations, including adult education providers and their agents alike, must understand and learn to appreciate the unintended consequences of their actions which affect the development and expansion of social capital among citizens within communities. Almost any given community agency has the ability to influence directly and indirectly the formation of social capital and value citizens place on education. Organizations that value education and employ an educated workforce, for example, can increase the informal interaction between the educated and uneducated, and help individuals begin to identify value in learning, diversity, and employment. For example, a study by Miller and Tuttle (2006) highlighted a rural community college setting where the college served as a melting of community members. By bringing citizens to campus to watch a sporting event, participate in a summer cheerleading camp, or watch a local band competition, the college conveyed a value for the culture of education to the public. Further, by employing individuals with high levels of education, those who might not attend postsecondary education interacted informally with these teachers and college administrators as fellow church going members. The result is not a direct and easily visible correlation between exposure to an educated workforce and attending college, but rather, that there is a long term consequence to community agencies slowly influencing community members. Challenges for the Adult Educator The role of the adult educator can become more uncertain when attempting to address individual needs that are fundamentally representative of the complex issues within communities. The scarcity of resources in communities further contributes to the challenges that adult educators face in attempting to meet individual and community needs. Therefore, one cannot help but question the degree to which adult education programs can be successful given the forces within communities that negate educational attainment through obstructing the formation of social capital. Using Communities to Leverage Social Capital The term community is well established in the social sciences literature and perhaps has been most appropriately characterized as a "group of people (a) [who] have something in common with each other, which (b) distinguishes them in a significant way from the members of other putative groups" (Cohen, 1985, p. 12). Communities are social systems encompassing complex issues that have a profound effect on individuals. The need to focus on common issues and problems in communities was identified by Fordham as early as 1956. Studying communities and the interactions within is further complicated due to their complex structure. Levy (1966) identified four components of communities including role differentiation, common organizations, common relationship aspects, and common problems. These four components contribute to the complexity associated with performing community development work as well as studying communities and the interactions within. …