Establishing a Learning Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Establishing a Learning Community - Essay Example onger the world they have known; that the nation, and indeed the world, is undergoing deep and ever-accelerating changes; and that even the community or neighborhood in which they live no longer offers the comfort of continuity. One need only meet disadvantaged minority individuals, without the skills or abilities to participate in a society that does not recognize them, or elderly citizens, attempting to live in an environment they do not understand, to find people who have already lost most meaningful relationships with society. (Barge, 2003) They and many others in our communities are in such precarious positions because they are no longer able to cope with a changing environment. Change, accelerated by technological development, is affecting individuals and organizations at a rate never before experienced in the history of mankind. When life was simpler, one generation could pass along to the next what it needed to know to get along in the world; tomorrow was simply a repeat of yesterday. Individuals must now live in several different worlds during their lifetimes. (Kress, 2006) A new civilization is upon us, and it will reshape the whole nations character. A variety of forces quickens the pace of change. Americans will have to greatly increase the occupational mobility; a rise in the knowledge industries has to take place; computerized wireless hookups will be used by businesses, industries, and government agencies; people will have more leisure time, and jobs will be more customized. While some of the forces will be quite disruptive, others will offer opportunities to strengthen social and economic fabrics. (Sivers, 2003) Who would have believed that the doomsayers of the 1950s and 1960s were right about the rapid decline of natural resources and the explosion of population? America is truly and surely a country in crisis. America is convulsed by urban violence, illiteracy, homelessness, high deficits, unemployment, an increasing disparity between the