Community education officer
A community education officer promotes a wide range of educational and developmental activities to all members of the community, regardless of age.
Community education aims to encourage learning at all levels from very basic life skills to learning for further and higher education. It also includes learning for enjoyment and for building better citizens and communities.
The work involves engaging with local individuals and groups to identify community interests, needs and issues and then facilitating access to the different available projects and programmes.
In providing these activities, community education officers work in partnership with a range of other local authority and voluntary sector providers as well as providers of further and higher education.
Community education roles typically involve an element of community engagement to increase participation in mainly informal, educational activities. Some roles, such as in adult literacy work, may also include tutoring, but most involve the following tasks:
Depending on the role, some community education officers have responsibility for particular groups, such as young people, families, black and ethnic minority groups, unemployed adults or travelling people. Others promote participation in specific settings, such as national parks, urban and rural areas, and in specific communities of interest, such as homeless people or carers' groups.
Community education officers usually (though not exclusively) work in areas of social deprivation or high unemployment, to develop provision and to challenge individual, collective and institutional perceptions about learning. In Northern Ireland, community education officers work in similar contexts but are often involved in using education to foster better community relations. Some community education officers may have a specific focus on enabling access to appropriate qualifications and relevant training. This often involves working sensitively and creatively to overcome barriers and may entail many setbacks before success rates are obvious.
There may be strong links with social work, health or housing support agencies and local charities. Government initiatives are currently encouraging lifelong learning and increasing access to education in sections of the community that have not traditionally taken part before. In these instances community education officers may work exclusively in the field of education to alleviate mental health problems, homelessness, substance addiction, crime or domestic violence.
Although this area of work is open to all graduates and diplomates, a degree or HND/foundation degree in the following subjects may increase your chances of employment:
For most posts, a degree plus relevant paid or voluntary community experience is required. Many entrants come from a youth and community background, while others have teaching or adult tutoring qualifications and experience. Some postgraduate courses in community work or community education will accept students with an ordinary degree if they have relevant experience. Positions are also available to undertake work based learning where postgraduate qualifications are obtained while working.
If you have extensive experience, entry is possible without a degree, especially for posts within the voluntary sector, or posts linked closely with recreational or family activities. This is increasingly difficult and career progression is likely to be limited as roles with responsibility for policy development and strategic planning are usually restricted to those with academic qualifications. Candidates will need to show evidence of the following:
Students should try to get involved in volunteer work, since this will provide relevant experience and help you decide if community work is really for you. Contact your local volunteer bureau or student volunteer centre. You should also visit the YouthNet online volunteer matching service for advice and details of groups in the UK. Your university careers service may be able to advise you of widening participation initiatives and vacancies within your institution. Finding paid vacancies will often be the result of networking and maintaining contacts made as a result of voluntary experience.
For more information, see work experience and internships and search courses and research.
Staff development will vary according to the setting of the job and its specific demands but is likely to consist of short courses to develop skills or raise awareness of specific issues. This might involve health promotion issues, group work or training in the field of staff development.
These courses are often provided in-house, or by other organisations in the field of community development and lifelong learning. Such training opportunities are often funded through regional development agencies and may be coordinated by:
Postgraduate MA courses in community studies and/or education are valuable for career development. Those heavily involved in outreach roles may find that NVQ or diploma qualifications in youth and community work enhance your prospects. Such courses may be available part-time, and be encouraged and/or paid for by the employer. Visit Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) for further details on approved further education teaching qualifications.
Community education work is extremely diverse, so people often move sideways in their career gaining experience in a range of different kinds of community education work before considering promotion. Promotion opportunities vary between employers. For example, structured progression to management is more likely within large education services, further education colleges or local authorities. The structure is:
Career development might involve moving towards more formal settings such as careers or personal advice, adult tutoring, social work or other areas of community work. The accelerated interest in this field may lead to a growth of opportunities for experienced personnel to train others, and some limited consultancy services in community development. Opportunities will be enhanced by a willingness to relocate, and evidence of motivation, such as having additional relevant postgraduate qualifications.
Main employers are:
Related roles may be found in careers service partnerships, including Next Step , which are supported by the Skills Funding Agency .
Recent government initiatives in relation to widening participation and lifelong learning have resulted in increased funding for many new projects and a broader range of roles. These occur in:
At grassroots level, you may work alongside community organisations such as residents' associations, ethnic minority organisations or faith groups, and there are many opportunities to gain voluntary experience prior to employment. Community education is just as likely to happen informally through community action projects as through formal programmes of learning. Contin You promotes a wide variety of programmes - check their A-Z list of projects for examples of the work being done. A further example is extended schools, which aim to provide a range of services and activities to help meet the needs of children, parents and the community. See Training and Development Agency - Extended Services for more information.
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