Community Leadership Programs as a Collaborative Learning Process: Increasing democratic knowledge to promote Latino leadership.

Community centers, organized civil society, volunteer associations, as well as community colleges and universities tend to share common goals that promote general well-being in society.  While their efforts to implement their particular goals vary, collaboration between these entities is commonplace.  Traditionally, ties between community and institutions of higher education have resulted in the development and implementation of various initiatives that benefit their own constituencies.

            However, despite the increasing number of collaborative projects between organized civil society and higher education institutions, much is left to do in the field of representation and dissemination of knowledge to minorities and vulnerable populations in the United States.  In general, Latinos in the United States do not occupy managerial or leadership positions in proportion to their share of the population. Many educational programs exist that aim to address this gap in leadership training; however, their overall impact is limited to people that have followed a more traditional educational path.  

            This paper explores the creation and implementation of a Community Leadership Certificate program that aims to expand educational opportunities for Latinos in the United States.  The program emphasizes leadership skills that could have positive impacts in their communities.  The initiative is the result of a collaboration process between a regional community organization that promotes Latino leadership and an institution of higher education in California.

Using a case study approach, the authors first describe the conceptual and logistical elements of the program, and the challenges for implementation.  Through the use of anecdotal evidence and interview data obtained from individuals involved in the creation and design of the program, the researchers aim to apply the conceptual framework on learning and actionable knowledge first proposed by Argyris (1993).  

The second part of the paper presents a preliminary assessment of the program shortly after implementation.  In order to assess the program, the authors analyze survey results provided by members of the initial cohort after each session, as well as information from a group exit interview.  

Specific research goals include:

1. Investigating the factors that led to the collaborative learning process, adapted from the work of Cooper, Bryer, & Meek (2008) on collaborative public management, between the community organization and the University;
2. Examining the transfer of democratic knowledge from the community organization to the University for program design purposes.
3. Framing the facilitator role that the University assumed for knowledge delivery and program implementation.
4. Assessing the experience of program participants for future civic engagement.  

            Results from this study can help us expand our knowledge in the area of service-learning in non-traditional settings, categorize the factors that make collaborative learning processes possible, and identify the potential applications to other collaborative projects aimed at increasing civic and community engagement.