Community Educators: A Resource for Educating and Developing Our Youth

Community Educators: A Resource for Educating and Developing Our Youth asserts that the relationships between education, community, and democracy are inseparable and illustrates that education is broader than just schooling. Harbour challenges current thinking about education and reveals how the public participates in the education and development of youth. This book is a call for action and responsibility―both individual and collective―to transform education beyond simply reforming schools. The author’s professional educational experiences, combined with stories from the field by and about youth and community educators, exemplify the importance of citizen collaboration among the various sectors of the community, including youth, parents, schools, businesses, and neighborhood residents. The book includes a foreword by Kettering Foundation president David Mathews.

About the Kettering Foundation

The Kettering Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research. Kettering’s primary research question is: What does it take to make democracy work as it should? Kettering’s research is distinctive because it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives, their communities, and their nation. For more information about Kettering research and publications, see the Kettering Foundation’s website at www.kettering.org.

Dr. Patricia Moore Harbour, CEO and President of the Center for Quality Education, is an author, educator, speaker, and a certified professional coach. An Associate of the Charles Kettering Foundation she conducts participatory action research about the role, responsibility and impact of citizens educating youth. She is a former Public school educator and Administrator, federal government employee and Founding Director of Healing the Heart of Diversity, a Fetzer Institute initiative. Recent publications include an article, "Communities Are a Resource; Broadening the Definition of Education [National Civic review Journal, Volume 104], and a book, Community Educators ~ A Resource for Educating and Developing Our Youth. Published by the Kettering Foundation. She received a doctorate of Education from Vanderbilt University. Pat serves on the advisory board for The Journey for success, a program supporting Single Moms to gain self sufficiency; She is a participant in the the Shannon Institute Leadership Program sponsored by the Wilder Foundation Minneapolis, MN.