Learning Communities and Social Innovations
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Régió és Oktatás XII. Editors Edina Márkus & Tamás Kozma Learning Communities and Social Innovations Debrecen 2019 Learning Communities and Social Innovations RÉGIÓ ÉS OKTATÁS XII. REGION AND EDUCATION XII. Series of the Center for Higher Education Research & Development (CHERD) Series Editor Gabriella Pusztai Editorial Board Gábor Flóra (Partium Christian University, Oradea) Tamás Kozma (University of Debrecen) István Polónyi (University of Debrecen) Róbert Reisz (Western University, Timisoara) 2 Learning Communities and Social Innovations Edited by Edina Márkus & Tamás Kozma Debrecen, 2019 3 Learning Communities and Social Innovations Edited by Edina Márkus & Tamás Kozma © Authors, 2019: Julianna Boros, Eszter Gergye, Anita Hegedűs, Éva Annamária Horváth, Tamás Kozma, Tímea Lakatos, Edina Márkus, Sándor Márton, Barbara Máté-Szabó, Dávid Rábai, Tamás Ragadics, Károly Teperics, Dorina Anna Tóth Reviewed by Magdolna Benke, Klára Czimre, Gábor Erdei & Klára Kovács Technical editors Dorina Anna Tóth & Barbara Máté-Szabó ISBN 978-963-318-785-2 ISSN 2060-2596 (Printed) ISSN 2064-6046 (Online) 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE Tamás Kozma .............................................................................................................. 7 PART I. BACKGROUNDS LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS Tamás Kozma ............................................................................................................ 11 INVESTIGATING LEARNING COMMUNITIES - METHODOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Edina Márkus, Károly Teperics & Sándor Márton ................................................... 25 PART II. CASES FORMAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY LEARNING – THE CASE OF DRÁVAFOK Tamás Ragadics & Éva Annamária Horváth ............................................................ 37 COMMON VALUES - AND CULTURAL LEARNING - THE CASE OF TÉSENFA Julianna Boros, Eszter Gergye & Tímea Lakatos………………………………………53 CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY LEARNING IN FÖLDEÁK Anita Hegedűs ........................................................................................................... 83 THE ROLE OF SPORTS IN COMMUNITY BUILDING AND DEVELOPING LEARNING - THE CASE OF HAJDÚNÁNÁS Barbara Máté-Szabó & Edina Márkus...................................................................... 95 COMMUNITY LEARNING AND SOCIAL INNOVATION - THE CASE OF HAJDÚHADHÁZ Dávid Rábai ............................................................................................................. 105 COMMUNITY CENTRE: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BREAKING OUT (SÁTORALJAÚJHELY) Dorina Anna Tóth .................................................................................................... 117 PART III. CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS Tamás Kozma……………………………………………………………………...129 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ....................................................................................... 131 5 6 PREFACE The present volume introduces the first findings of the LearnInnov Project (Community Learning and Social Innovation). The chapters show the theoretical frame of the research project, its first results, its methods, and its future perspectives. The LearnInnov Project has grown from its antecedents, the LeaRn Project (Learning Regions in Hungary, 2012-2016). The result of the LeaRn Project was a cartographical map of the learning regions, cities and communities in Hungary. Those learning regions, cities, and communities have been studied by statistical indicators of four 'pillars' (dimensions). These were: formal, non-formal, cultural and community learning activities of the local society in the socio-territorial units (towns, settlements, habitats). The 'pillars' were characterised by statistical indicators and the statistical indicators were quantified by census data. This data was collected from all the country's socio- territorial units (settlements, habitats) and analyzed together. The main finding was that statistical data of three “pillars” largely reinforced each other - but community learning data differed considerably from others The data of cultural learning compensate for the shortcomings of formal learning to a certain extent, although formal learning cannot, of course, be compensated. We found three learning regions in Hungary, which have already developed and a fourth one which is emerging. Our urban areas develop into learning cities. Many settlements are trying to evolve into a learning community, but they are still isolated from each other. These were the most important results of the LeaRn Project. However, we could not analyse the transformation processes at territorial and community level. How will a territorial unit transform into a learning community? What do their inhabitants need for it? How can it be supported? These issues are addressed in the LearnInnov Project. The LearnInnov Project aims at discovering, describing, presenting and analyzing social innovations by which territorial units might become learning communities. 'Social innovation' means grassroots initiatives that change the community and prove to be sustainable. Social innovation starts when the community is challenged from outside. Meeting the challenge community hunts for new information, knowledge, and competencies. This effort strengthens the community and becomes part of the community's identity. It is why social innovation is closely related to social learning. Without learning, there is no innovation, and without social learning there is 7 no social innovation. Successful social innovations create and develop the so- called learning communities. This volume presents cases of this development. We studied cases whose statistical indices differed from what might have been expected. We went to find out why one or another statistics deviate from the rest. What we found were social innovations that have pushed the community in a new direction. The case studies have drawn attention to some of the transformations we did not expect. Organising sports events, local music concerts, and festivals, collecting local history memories are usually the 'social innovations' that local communities and their leaders use as means and tools for developing their territorial units as 'learning communities’. These are not economic innovations, which would be unavoidable for territorial growth. But in some cases they prepare economic innovations. Not every local innovation will turn into economic innovation. Economic innovations, however, cannot start without innovative local communities. The first chapter of the book tries to explain the relationship between social innovation and community learning. In the next chapter, we have collected some typical case studies. The closing chapter presents the method by which the cases were searched, described and analyzed. This volume presents the first findings of the LearnInnov Project. Further results are constantly being communicated in conferences and other public forums. We try to understand the relationships among social innovation, community learning and social transformation. By doing so, the LearnInnov Project contributes to the wider understanding of social transition, since innovations in local communities form the chain through which the whole society is gradually transformed. Tamás Kozma 8 PART I. BACKGROUNDS 9 10 Tamás Kozma LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS Abstract Social innovation as a reinvented concept is widely used and seriously contested (Bradford; Phills, Deiglmeier & Miller; Pol & Ville; Mulgan et al.; Nichols & Murdock; etc.) Following Ferguson (The Square and the Tower, 2017), the author interprets the concept social innovation as a product of the social networks (the Square) which time to time has to be stabilised by organisations (the Tower) and has to be liberated from them. Social networks are in the process of globalisation, but at the same time, they continuously separate from each other. Recent case studies in Hungary found horizontally growing networks that are vertically separated. This construction of networks helps the communities to resist top-down changes and makes them resilient against outside challenges. At the same time, vertically separated networks make it impossible for social innovations to break through and spread in space and time. The critical question of managing social innovation is, therefore, to connect vertically separated networks while securing their autonomy and ability to resist and being resilience. Keywords: learning community, social innovation, lifelong learning, Hungarian education, Central and Eastern Europe Introduction It is disputed who was the first person who talked about social innovations in the European literature, but Gabriel Tarde and Hugo Münsterberg are definitely among them. Economists generally quote Schumpeter (1930) when it comes to the origins and types of innovations. Since then many have been writing about the changing of production, service or other social practices from different aspects that can even be called innovations. (More detailed literary excavations - which are not closely related here - can be found here: Kickul & Bacq, 2012). 11 Social innovation rediscovered Social innovation - the concept and the process that it marks - was discovered again in the international literature in the 2000s; especially in the 2000s, many dealt a lot with it. Phillips, Deiglmeier and Miller (2008) are the most quoted of the discoverers and have been referred to their study more than a thousand times. Though social innovations surround us, we are mainly ignored them, says Mulgan (Mulgan et al., 2007). There has been much