FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in NSTP 2 Module No.1

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___

UNIT 2- UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPTS AND

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY IMMERSION

MODULE OVERVIEW

People involved in community immersion must be knowledgeable on the basics of

community, its meaning, concepts, underpinning principles, and nature of problems and
issues arising there from.
In this unit, we will understand what community immersion is and how important it is
in nation building.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, the student should be able to:

 Explain the concepts and principles underpinning community and community
immersion;
 Realize the importance of understanding the dynamics of a community and
community immersion as a way to realize the objectives of NSTP; and
 Practice the standard operating procedures and establish protocols governing
community immersion.

LEARNING CONTENTS

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?

According to development specialist Arlien Johnson, the term ‘community’ refers to a

group of people gathered together in any geographic area, large or small, who have
common interests, actual or potentially recognized in the social welfare field.

To paraphrase the words of Johnson, a community is a collective of people with similar

interests and goals whether living in the same geographic locality or not.

The meaning of community may actually vary depending on the objectives of a

program to be conducted there at.

As per concept, a community may be categorized a geographical or functional:

a. The term geographical community is defined in the purview of group of persons
living in the same geographical location like in a certain village, town,
neighborhood, district, area, or territory.
b. Meanwhile, community is said to be functional nature if the aggregate of
people through not necessarily based on living in the same geographical location,
is bonded by a common end such as fighting for the same cause, having the
same interests and goals.

A certain type of community has recently emerged. Some refer to it as just social
movements but its definition points out that it surfaced out of the two other types of
community.

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It is called relevant community that defines a group of people having similar interests and
goals as a communities around them. These populations have common interests in
changing existing institutions to their advantage in order to achieve redistribution of
resource. It is geared towards organization of the poor.

ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNITY

As a trainee, one should be aware of elements of a community in order to understand the

dynamics thereof. The important elements of community are: demographics, history,
culture, economy, and structures.

- The demographics (characteristics of population) tell a lot about the movement

in the community that you will serve.
- History allows you to identify certain patterns of change and people’s way of
adapting these changes that can be useful in plotting your activities.
- Understanding the economy, culture, and community structures increase the
chances of the success of activities since anyone can provide culture-based and
more realistic solutions to community concerns.

IMMERSION AS AN IMPORTANT APPROACH IN GIVING COMMUNITY SERVICE

(NSTP 2)

 An adage says that “Experience is the best teacher”. Going through the
immersion process and conducting community service activities/projects will enable
the trainees to understand how the people feel, think, say, and behave as dictated
by their conditions and situations in life as a means to make feel and realize that
they are more fortunate than many others and that the students can do something to
improve the lives of the marginalized and underserved.

 As a Holy Scripture tells us “To whom much is given, much is required”. Since
students have been given the rare opportunity and the distinct privilege of being
schooled that they are supposed to better the living conditions of those whom were
not as auspicious as they are.

 As one of the objectives of this book expounds, trainees will be exposed in further
and other realities of life which they may or may not be used to.

 After having explained the significance of the community immersion requirement of

NSTP in the purview of the educational and religious perspectives, let us succumb to
the legal basis of such. The basic questions as:

- What is the relevance of community immersion as part of the NSTP program?

- Why would student-trainees of NSTP 2 need to study the behavior of the people
in and that which composed the community where they serve?

 Answers to these sort of questions are provided for in IRR of NSTP and the NSTP
Act and has served as the mandate and core of recognizing the role of the youth in

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nation building.

 Young people are vested with the obligation “to defend the security of the State and
in fulfilment thereof, the government may require each citizen to render personal
military or civil service” (Section 2, NSTP Act of 2001) whether in times of peace or
war.

 The next questions of the trainee is bound to ask is the first step of the process of
immersion is: “Are trainees, young as they are, capable of responding to the
stringent requirements of community building and meeting the skills and
knowledge criteria of transforming communities?”

 The answer for that question is definitely YES! The role of the youth in national/local
development cannot be overemphasized. To reinforce this are the very words of our
national hero, “The youth is the hope of the Fatherland.”

WHAT IS COMMUNITY IMMERSION?

COMMUNITY IMMERSION

- It is an essential strategy in community organizing work that entails understanding

of the different community concerns, process, dynamics and lifestyle through
exposure and engaging in different activities.
- It is different from the actual organizing work. Immersion is just one of the strategies
into community organization.
-
NATIONAL DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
(NDRRMP) 2011-2018

- It is a plan which serves as the national guide on how sustainable development can
be achieved through inclusive growth while building the adaptive capacities of
communities; increasing the resilience of vulnerable sectors; and optimizing
disaster mitigation opportunities with the end in view of promoting peoples’ welfare
and security towards gender-responsive and right-based sustainable development.

- It also outlines the activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of the national
government and the Local Government Units (LGUs) together with partner
stakeholders, to build the disaster resilience of communities and to institutionalize
arrangements and measures for reducing risks, including projected climate risks
and enhancing disaster preparedness and response capabilities at all levels.

- The plan highlights, among others, the importance of mainstream disaster risk
reduction and management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in
the development process.

- It also highlights the need for institutionalizing DRRM policies, structures,

coordination mechanism and programs with continuing budget appropriation on
DRR from national down to local levels.

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 Community immersion in NSTP is devised as a strategy in molding and

‘conscientizing’ students just so that they may be socially aware and responsible to
their communities.

 The nature of immersion efforts done is along the dimensions of, but not limited to,
education, health and wellness, safety and security education, sports and
recreation, environmental services, climate change issues, entrepreneurship,
morals and values formation of citizenry, and other social welfare concerns.

 In view of the fact that immersion is a major concern in development work, trainees
may find it significant to be guided by the following concepts:

1. Trainees should immerse in actual community life to get to know the social,
political, and economic situation of people
2. Trainees may also undergo certain changes like increase in knowledge about the
social realities, etc.
3. Trainees should identify the community people’s interest and aspirations
4. Trainees must recognize people’s resiliency and does not rob them of their right
to have community participation and determination of appropriate courses of
action.
5. Trainees should be aware of the gain-negotiated sanction.
6. Trainees must reflect on how their social analysis of the current situation is
concretized in community people’s lives.

 The following are the forms of integration in community immersion:

a. Home visits
b. Living with selected families preferably with key informants
c. Informal discussion with individuals or groups
d. Sharing in household and community activities
e. Attendance in social gatherings
f. Assistance in production work

Whom do you immerse within the community?

 When one goes to a community, he/she associates with the people who intends to
work with as partners.

 Community-based service projects must be premised on the principle of people

empowerment and not the ‘dole-out mentality’. The parents, youth, the differently-
abled constituents, professionals, members of people’s organizations, and other
formal and informal group, and others who can be a potential collaborator of your
projects or activities.

 We do not just work for and serve the people but rather we encourage their
participation. This practice of enjoining people’s support is adherent to the
Confucian’s philosophy of “give man a fish and he will live for a day; teach him
how to fish and he will live for a lifetime.”

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CONDITIONS IN COMMUNITY IMMERSION

 It is so desired that one fundamental pre-requisite qualification among those who

intend or are tasked to undergo community immersion is a full understanding of the
concepts and theories behind the dynamics of groups and community.
 In the same breath, knowing the very process of immersion is a primordial condition.
This is so because this endeavour requires a great deal of know-how and skills in
facilitating interventions, planning and managing community service projects, among
others.
 Training wise, community developers/organizers and social workers are most
qualified because it is assumed that they have more or less formal background on
carrying out these kinds of undertaking.
 As for NSTP, students enrolled in NSTP-CWTS/LTS 2 are mandated to undergo
community immersion for a period covering a minimum of 54 hours to a maximum of
90 hours as cited from CHED-prescribed Program of Instruction (POI), 2007 edition.

What Personal Gains from Community Immersion?

 The community immersion aspect of NSTP will be able to benefit not only the
communities served but more so the student-trainees who may be accorded with the
following advantages:

- Opportunity for the trainees to comprehend people’s lives

- Gain social acceptance from community relations
- Enhance experiences in conducting asset mapping
- Establish rapport and relationship with different people
- Develop their conscientization ability
- Acquire first-hand experiences
- Chance to learn life skills

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Written Activity:

1. Write a three paragraph reflection paper about “What is my ideal community?”

2. What do you think is the most important role of a NSTP-2 student-trainee in the
establishment of peaceful and orderly community?

3. How do you assist and relate each community member/participant in terms of the
attainment of the common vision of the people thereat?

4. What are the aspirations/interests do the community participants have?

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REFERENCES

 Labuguen, Florida C. et al., (2020) Understanding the National Service Training

Program

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