Monday, 10 December 2007

Hello Bin Gents

Bin_notice I came across this thorough example of community communication recently, heavily taped to an outside door.

I like the way it seems to represent quite closely what the communicator would probably have said face-to-face, if they'd had the chance. I note the matter-of-fact assumption or acknowledgment of gendered roles. And most of all I like the civil negotiation of a minute change in working practice that could make a welcome difference to someone else's daily routine.

10 Dec 2007 21:50:41 | Information and communication, Neighbourhood relations

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'Strong safe and prosperous communities' It's near christmas, and here's a glimpse of the government's scintillating choice of wrapping paper for the draft guidance on 'creating strong safe and prosperous communities.' OK calm down, I'll be Santa and give you the link now, the way you'll have a topic of lively conversation to liven up parties the next few weeks. If someone else gives it to you on christmas day, appear thrilled and try not to look as if you've seen it before. The closing date for responses is 12 February 2008, and yes, it is important stuff for neighbourhoods in England. It covers for example the new 'duty to involve,' what is meant by 'representatives of local persons,' the role of information provision in consultation and involvement, establishing the 'distinctive vision and ambition' of an area, what is meant mean by a 'sustainable community strategy,' and how everything (especially local area agreements) relates to everything else.
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Social capital in schools Social capital continues to make a comeback. Last month the Department for Children Families and Schools published research into 'the development and impact of young people's social capital in schools.' Drawing on survey and qualitative interview data from two inner London schools, the researchers looked at the sense of school belonging, access to social support networks, and attitudes to diversity. As we'd expect, their conclusions assert the importance of the school context in the social life of young people. They emphasise the uneven distribution of social capital (with white boys from lower socio-economic backgrounds having the lowest levels of social capital, and white girls having the lowest levels of socio-psychological resources). They also point to the need to relate the citizenship curriculum to the neighbourhood context and build extended services that promote collaborative relationships between different social groups. The report refers to the new duty on schools to promote community cohesion, and I noted one striking finding described in the summary: The schools in this study were highly ethnically diverse and, on average, students tended to hold positive attitudes to cultural and racial diversity... However, in both schools gay people were perceived as a small minority, and students seemed much less positive to diversity in terms of sexual orientation. Hence, while cultural diversity appeared to be valued, or at least regarded as a non-controversial issue within school, the data suggest that homophobia was a considerable problem in our two secondary schools.

Kevin Harris

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