Community

Dynamics

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 What is Community Dynamics?
• Community – a group of People

• Dynamics - Self-Motivated Person, Active

Person, Energetic Person, known as
“Dynamics for Development of the
Community”

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 So!!!!!!!!
• Community Dynamics is the process of
change and development within
communities .
• Community Dynamics which strive to
bring about positive social change
through community-based programming
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Community Dynamics
-----also refers to the changes
that occur in the
community power structures
and community population
composition over time.
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 Significance

• Community Dynamics is here to work with

community to think creatively and act strategically
so that community can achieve their goals.
• At Community Dynamics, believes that, creative
and sustainable programming that works to raise
the quality of living for those most vulnerable to
poverty and exploitation.  

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 Factors
Resulting to
Community
Dynamics
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As it is generally accepted that
change is ever constant, we
could likewise expect power
structures and population
composition in a community to
change- either in a slow or
rapid manner- over time.
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Factors affecting changes in
community power structures are
authority and influence (Powers
1975; USDA 2005), while the
factors affecting changes in
community population composition
are fertility, morality, and migration
(Brujin 2006; Davis 1949).
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 Factors Affecting
Changes In Community
Power Structures
• AUTHORITY
• INFLUENCE
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 AUTHORITY

Is a kind of power that one has over

another by virtue of an elected
position or an office appointment
that is based on codified laws and
regulations. This is often referred to
as a formal power structure.
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 INFLUENCE

Is a kind of power that a person

possesses over another by virtue of
other people’s positive perception of
the former’s competence and ability.
This is often referred to as an
informal power structure.
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Shively (1994a) summarizes the
bases in to four themes or what he
call (ROUTES) to informal power,
thus:

 STATUS

WEALTH
EXPERTISE
CHARISMA 12
Factors Affecting
Changes in the
Composition Of
People In The
Community
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•FERTILITY
•MORTALITY
•MIGRATION
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Know Your Community
and
Community Power
Structures

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Know your community

• Know the formal leaders in the community

• Know the informal leaders in the community
• Know what is important to the community
• Know the friends and enemies of the school
• Know your intended audience

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 First Step
• Collect information about the make-up of the
community
– Power structure and how decisions are made
– Identify the media, reporters and how to get to know
them
– Get to know your school ‘neighbors – go
door to door to say hello
– Ask neighbors to conduct a Tea

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 First Step … continued
– Expectations of the “responsible parties”
– History of the district – do not repeat errors and you avoid
pitfalls
– Identify friendly and hostile groups
– Learn where there are opportunities to build relationships
– Gap analysis of the level of understanding of the schools,
programs and policies.
– Identify how public opinion develops in this community.
– Changes that are going on in the community
– Identify the leaders and who influences those leaders
– List of all organizations and social agencies.

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Studying the community by collecting
and analyzing data in three categories

Sociological Characteristics
The Power Structure
Opinions and Attitudes towards education in
your community.

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 Sociological Inventory
• Customs and traditions
• Population Characteristics
• Communication Channels
• Community Groups
• Leadership
• Economic Conditions
• Political Structure
• Social Tensions
• Previous Community Efforts
• Sources of information

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 Power Structure

• Why should you go through all the

trouble of identifying the power
structure of the community?
– Building public support for schools
– Involving all responsible parties in the process
– Improving student achievement
– Developing two-way communication

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Whether a school system is excellent or
mediocre depends on how all people
(regardless of their power position) work
together –how they communicate, relate,
are involved, participate and share. A
public/community relations program is
aimed at focusing on the relationships of
all those people with an overall goal of
improving student achievement. 22
POWER STRUCTURES Defined

• Bagin and Gallager (2001) define power structures as “an

interrelationship among individuals with a vested interests
who have the ability or authority to control other people, to
obtain their conformity, or to command their services.”

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 Types of Power Structures
or Models of Power
Structures:
Types of Power Structures or Models
of Power Structures:
•1. Pluralist
•2.   Power Elite/Elitist
•3.    Factional
•4.    Amorphous or Inert

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 Pluralist Model
• The pluralist model of power structures is one
that is followed by political scientist. Political
scientists believe that there is no central
power elite. They believe that power in a
community is diffused. This model claims
that there are multiple centers of power.
• various members of a community occupy
positions of power that are related to specific
issues
• These groups are often silent until an issue
that effects them arises
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In this type of community power
structure, power becomes an
attribute of an individual and it is
widely distributed within the
members of the community,
hence making every member
roughly equal in influence.

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 Elite
ElitePower
Power Model
Model

Small elite group or

Power Elite
individuals that represents
industrial, financial, and
commercial interests in a
community. Highest concentration of
power

The Community
The elitist’s decisions
flow downward
through a community.

Lowest concentration of
power
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 ELITIST
In this type of community power structure,
power generally conforms to the system of
hierarchical stratification and is associated with
those who possess corporate wealth and/or
prestige due to traditional or religious activity.
2 further subtypes of elitism:
Class-based theory of power
The Growth Machine
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 Power Elite
• The elitist model views power and control as being held by a
very small, very influential group(s) or individual(s).
• They control or have power over the financial, industrial, and
commercial interest of a community
• People with considerable influence and power.
• They usually have control over political, social, and economic
decisions.
• Their power often comes from their position in the community
or from personal or corporate wealth.
• They dominate a community through the power of their
position
• The clergy, a politician, a leader of a racial group, or others
who hold power position
are often long established members of the community,
perhaps spanning many generations
• They have a vested interest in the community

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FACTIONAL
Power resides in numerous
interest groups that hold
relatively equal power, but
they are struggling to control
or dominate influence in
community affairs. 30
 AMORPHOUS
This refers to a seeming absence
of an identifiable power structure
in some communities. In
amorphous communities, people
do not see the necessity for change
and they lack initiative and
direction.
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 Amorphous or Inert Model
• the absence of an identifiable power structure in
some communities
• Power is either absent, or even worse, it is latent
• are not actively involved in school or political
issues. They will support and maintain the
status quo
• is very little movement toward educational
reform activities or the introduction of
experimental programs
• look to the superintendent to make decisions for
them.
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 Three stages of power – the
maturity of the community
• Young, New, Growing community – may
be more pluralistic since the elite have not
established themselves.
• Second Stage: Specialized power which
relates to specific issues.
• Third Stage: older, stable community –
power groups are fused into a single unit
or person

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 Important for an
administrator to know who
has power and influence in
a community

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A proactive administrator will build relationships
with those who hold power in the community and
involve them early-on in the decision making
process.
Ignoring the power structures can result in the
undermining of school improvement
The goal is to create dynamic partnerships with
representatives from the community power
structure.
Administrators need to be aware that there can be
rapid and unexpected shifts in power among these
groups.

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 Understanding Power
Structures
• 4 research studies of the elitist and
pluralist models:
– Kanawha County, West Virginia (Pluralist
Power Study).
– Middletown (Muncie), Indiana – Power Elite
Study
– Yankee City and Regional City. (Power
Elite Studies)
– New Haven (Pluralist Power Study)
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 What was learn from these
studies ?
• Identify all power structure groups in your
community.
• Conduct a needs and values assessment to know
what is important to members of your community.
• Involve representatives from all responsible
groups in the decision making process.
• Learn how to involve your community by
attending professional development workshops or
seminars.

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 More Lessons learned…
• Be a proactive leader.
• Be flexible and avoid treading on tightly held dogma. Flexibility
does not equate to weakness. It can be a sign of secure and
responsible leadership.
• Decentralize the decision making process.
• Delegate responsibility to subordinates in order to make decisions
that reflect the desires of those closest to the issue.
• Be prepared to respond quickly to specific problems or issues.
• Learn to be an active listener! Ask questions and then just listen.
• Become a member of service organizations in the community.
This is an excellent way to build relationships with many power
brokers.
• Use informal situations to gather information. 38
 More lessons learned

• Keep an ear to the ground and find out what the word-on-the-street
is. Do not hesitate to ask that question directly. Many citizens will
be flattered that their opinion is valued.
• Learn who is a reliable source of information and be able to
differentiate that from gossip. Some sources may be self-serving
and tend to exaggerate the sentiment to the entire community when
it may only be of importance to them.
• Share the synthesized information with other administrators to
check on the of the assessment of who holds power in the
community.
• Use common sense along with the information about the power
structure of the community.
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 More Lessons Learner

• Never lose sight of the reason for doing all

of this: Increased opportunities for success
for all students.
• Know that a proactive approach to forming
school-community alliances can thwart
negative pressures brought to bear on
schools by some power wielders.

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 VALUES and INEQUITIES influence
SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS

• The purpose of American schools is to provide a literate

citizenry that can up hold the values of our democracy. This is
core to the survival of democratic institutions.
• many arguments and legal complaints regarding the equity of
the educational opportunities provided in one community
compared to another
• Schools have resorted to community fund raisers to try to
bring an equitable solution to sorely needed resources
• Other monies come through state and federal grant programs
• Digital divide. Students in very poor school districts do not
have the same technology advantages as students in wealthier
districts

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 Distributive Justice

• Distributive justice questions who is

entitled to what amount of a public
institution’s resources.
• Rescher has promulgated a principle of
utility that asserts that goods and services
should be distributed according to the
greatest good for the greatest number.

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 Fair Exchange
• Peter Blau (1967) has described this phenomenon
of people expecting certain benefits from their
institutions as fair exchange
• individuals do not want to feel ignored by
institutions they support
• Only in the area of special education do we set
policies on what is good for the individual student’s
educational program rather than the majority
• Handing out apples…

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 Summary of Power Structures
• Schools need to intelligently deal with power
structure(s) so they better take the time to
know who they are.
• Power structures are controlled by people
who want to shape the community.
• How do they influence?
– Through rewards –advancements, higher social or
economic status, monetary gains, influence on the school
board to hire/fire administrators or increase salaries.
– Through punishments

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 The Schools and Power
Pressure
• know the history of dealing with these power
structures on past issues
• protection the school district has when influence
gets out of control
– Laws
– Policies
– And a well planned C-R program that is thriving in the
schools and the district. That is, a well-informed
citizenry can be a force that power brokers are
reluctant to deal with. These people will take the issue
public and power elites do not like to be in the limelight.

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 FERTILITY
Refers to the actual reproductive
performance (number of child births) that
can be expected of a person, couple, group
or population during a woman’s
childbearing years, normally defined as
15-49 years of age.
a)SOCIAL PRECONDITIONS OF
MARRIAGE
b)BIRTH CONTROL METHODS 46
 MORTALITY
Refers to “the demographic process
relating to deaths, often summarized by
death rates, survival rates and life
expectancy. A decrease in death rates,
an increase survival rates and longer
life expectancy contribute to lowering
fertility rates.

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 MIGRATION
Refers to the process of moving from one
place to another. It could also be the
movement across a specified boundary for
a considerable period of time and for
various reasons (personal, economic,
sociocultural, political or environmental in
nature) in order to establish a temporary or
even permanent abode.
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Refers to the norms that need to be
followed before a man and a woman are
allowed to unite as a couple and produce an
offspring.it may include getting parental
approval/consent, giving of dowry, or
having the man prove himself that he is
financially capable to support his wife-to-
be and later on, his family. The stricter the
social preconditions, the lower the fertility
rates are in given community
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Refer either to use of
artificial contraception or
natural means to prevent,
delay or even terminate
pregnancy.

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Fertility rates determine the
population size of a
community. Understanding the
factors that determine fertility
rates holds the key in properly
managing a community’s
population size.
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 COMMUNITY POWER
STRUCTURES

----------Are hierarchical
interrelationships that govern
the interaction of individuals
among each other within a
localized group setting.
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 COMMUNITY POPULATION
COMPOSITION
---Refers to common demographic
variables that describe the size,
distribution, and characteristics of the
population such as age structure, sex
composition, educational level, marital
status, economic status, employment
status and ethnicity classification, to
name a few. 53
In this type, power belongs to
those who control the
economic system of the
community, or is distributed to
those who are able to
accumulate capital.

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This is a variation of class-
based theory of power where
a coalition of group exists.
They perceive community
growth as economic gain for
themselves.
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 STATUS
Attainment of influence by
virtue of family prominence,
positions held, past
achievements, or personal
prestige.

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 WEALTH
Attainment of influence by
virtue of using one’s
money and material
resources

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 EXPERTISE
Attainment of influence by
virtue of possessing hard-
earned specific knowledge and
abilities such as being a
lawyer, banker, entrepreneur,
accountant and etc.
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 CHARISMA
Attainment of influence by
virtue of having unique
qualities of personal
magnetism that people
naturally follow, often with
blind devotion. 59