Community can be a big word, and one we hear a lot. If you’re more on the introverted side (like me) it can feel daunting, like one more thing we have to tend to. But becoming a part of the CLN community changed that narrative for me. 

We may only see folks on our computer screens in Zoom events, but I’ve found that carries over to the rest of our world. Not only at in-person events like Symposium, but in personal outings as well. Early this spring I was wandering around a popular Canmore-based bath and body retail store and I bumped into another Executive Director from the South! There was an exchange of smiles, hello's and some light chatting before we each went on our way, but it was still very cool to see someone I knew in person! 

Another example was when I was competing at a Highland Games in Edmonton in June.  It was pouring rain, cold and just not pleasant outside. Between events a friendly face from CLN, who was there to watch her grandkids, came to say hello and let me stand under her umbrella for a bit. It was lovely that she took time to come over to see how my events were going.

Community can also be created around usual interactions with your learners. This is confirmed when the instructor of our Conversation Café (a casual, safe space for learners to build confidence in English language conversation) goes through the drive-thru at our local Tim Horton’s. One of her learners leans out and waves "Hi Teacher!" The smiles at the grocery store or the local farmers markets from people that have attended one of our programs display relationships that have been built. Referrals are often sent your way because of a connection you made at an event, or because you’ve made someone in a program feel safe. 

Community doesn’t have to be a chore. It can happen naturally and be a place where you find your space and feel like you belong. Like I have in the Community Learning Network.

In October, CLN invited CALP staff from around the province to 'Gather in Circle'. Here are photos from the circle in Lethbridge on October 22:

Whether you are meeting as a group in a class, connecting with someone to provide one-to-one tutoring, or hosting a small learning circle, the opportunity to build community is present. Community is a difficult concept to define: for some it means a physical location, such as a neighbourhood, a school, a town or a farming community. It may also mean a group of people, like a book club, sports team, or spiritual group. Community can also mean an organized gathering like a women’s peer group, a weekly ESL conversation group, or a meet up hiking group. People name something “community” if it is based on location, shared interests, common life stages, something they are acting on, something they belong to, pay into, or have been born into. The meanings of community are vast and in some cases, presumptuous.

Paul Born, Founder of the Canadian based Tamarack Institute and Vibrant Communities says: “I believe that there is a word that gets at the essence of all these different understandings {of community} and that word is belonging. A sense of “knowing that I belong” is the most common desire of those who wish to build community, but it is also one of the least realized desires…Belonging means to feel that we are in the right place, to be made to feel welcome in a place or group. It is to be cared for and to reciprocate that caring, to know that 'I am home.' It is a willingness to extend our identity to a people or experience.”

Born, P. (2014). Deepening community. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Inc. (p.56)

This exerpt comes from the 'Engage' section of the Gathering to Learn resource.