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The Use of Pattern Matching and Concept Mapping in |
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How can Pattern Matching and Concept Mapping be
applied to Community Organizing Projects?
One of the applications for Pattern Matching and Concept Matching in Community Organizing Projects is the ability to use technology to graphically show the priorty associated with areas community need or concerns that community members want to address and then either show the perceived matches or perceived disconnects in the levels of resources that community members believe to be devoted to each area. As the Neighborhood Association of the Manual Community Involvement Division of the Salem Neighborhoods, Inc. points out, having "... visual aids prepared in advance..." can be an effective tool when community groups use their power to effect change. It is not enough, therefore, to simply state that the people in a given community feel that the levels of resources devoted to a specific area of need are insufficient.
SIMPLY TALKING AT power brokers |
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. . .It may actual serve to keep the balance of power |
USING A COMBINATION OF TECHNOLOGY |
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It is much more effective to be able to show the community's perception of its resource needs and the community's perception of the current response from resource providers, local, state or federal government, the local school district, or any other body that can either be held accountable for resource deficits and/or work with the community organizers to effect change. This process will serve as a powerful planning tool also, allowing community groups to focus their energies on areas that are perceived as neglected, or to alter publicity or marketing of an existing, but overlooked, resource.
Quoted from the Community Involvement Division of the Salem Neighborhoods, Inc. Neighborhood Association Manual: The "How To"s of Citizen Action.
Enhance Your Group's Clout
". . . Identify and challenge decision-makers' assumptions about
problems. . ."
". . . Understand concerns, viewpoints and priorities of your enemies and allies. .
."
". . . Define your ideas, your vision of a society where problems which concern you
have been resolved. . ."
An example of Pattern Matching in use to address community concerns
Often community organizing projects begin by surveying the community and compiling a list of community concerns. That list may then be prioritized to give the community organizers information about what concerns should be addressed first.
Is there more that could be done with that list of concerns to make a more powerful impact?
One of the first questions that may come to mind is wether there is a common understanding of the concepts that are expressed on the list. If a percentage of the community members envisions the concept of 'quality childcare', let's say, as being more 24 hour childcare centers that will accommodate the work schedules of parents assigned to swing-shifts, and others define 'quality childcare' as after-school programs for latch key children, or in-home daycare for toddlers. It is clear to see that they may also feel that the community work done should focus in totally different directions. Establishing construct validity through the development of clear definitions of each concept and then prioritizing the elements of the concepts' definitions, is a vital element of the process.
Once a list of concepts has been prioritized and the elements of the concepts have been defined and prioritized, the third step in the process would consist of getting an accurate feel for the community's perception about how the enumerated resource needs are currently being addressed by various levels of resource providers. Sticking with our childcare example, let's suppose that the community has prioritized 'quality childcare' as the top item on their list. They have also defined the key elements of the concept of 'quality childcare' and have prioritized the elements based on community needs.
Priority # 1: Quality Childcare
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That process would not give a clear picture of how the community perceives that the issue of 'quality childcare' is being addressed. It is possible that when they examine their perception of the response to the vital need for 'quality childcare' that they are completely satisfied with the energy and money that is being focused on that issue. Perhaps the community can readily identify projects that are underway to expand the local 24 hour childcare center, or know that the area elementary schools and community centers will have expanded after school and summer programs for latch key children. Perhaps they are very happy about the joint efforts between community members and the area daycare provider's organization to recruit, train and provide start-up funds for community members that are interested in setting up in-home daycare centers.
If such a connection between the communities perception of the importance and definition of the concept 'quality childcare' and their perception of the level and quality of resources devoted to the concept 'quality childcare' exists the rung of the Pattern Match Ladder Graph that represents childcare would look like this:
But it is also likely that a community may feel there is no such connection. They may perceive that little is happening to address the need for 'quality childcare', or that the actions that are being taken are not appropriate. (A community that is very isolated through poor public transportation from a wonderful new childcare center that is strictly fee-for-service, and also lacks a sliding scale fee option, may understandably get a very low ranking for the resource level associated with concept 'quality childcare'.
THE SLOPE OF THE LINE GRAPH CLEARLY INDICATES A DISCONNECT IN THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIZATION OF THE CONCEPT 'QUALITY CHILDCARE' AND THE COMMUNITY'S PERCEPTION OF THE ENERGIES THAT ARE BEING EXPENDED BY THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF RESOURCE PROVIDERS TO MEET THAT NEED.
Now it should be stated that the action that the community organizers take may vary quite a bit when such a disconnect has been found, just as the response from resource providers may vary, also. Perhaps the community organizers may want to lobby the school board to shift funds to expanding an after school program. They may also, however, want to begin a volunteer based program at a local church, and/or encourage community members to consider starting home-based daycare services by promoting, or creating, entrepreneurial training and support efforts.
The resource community may in fact be defined as not just the typical service providers (notice how I avoid that phrase completely) but may be made up of a pool of organizations, individuals, community groups, religious groups, funding providers, and all levels of government. A response from some of those resource providers may be to just shift the focus of their efforts to make sure that they get the most 'bang for their bucks'; a shift in focus could be the difference between spending themselves into a deficit position or actually doing something positive and productive for their target population. Other groups may be able to identify an unmet need and use the documentation of that unmet need to seek new funding.
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Having such a neatly wrapped bundles of needs, |
A Pattern Match Ladder Graph that addresses all of the top priorities of a community along with the community's corresponding perception of the levels of effort that are being devoted to addressing those priorities may look something like this:
But that still leaves open the question of how the definitions and priorities of the elements that comprise the community's definitions of the concepts can be shown visually. For that we will move on and look an example of Concept Mapping in use to address community concerns.
An example of Concept Mapping in use to address community concerns
Resources describing the process of concept mapping can be found by going to What is Concept Mapping?. Creating a concept map of the elements that describe the major areas of community concerns allows an oppurtunity to describe the concepts themselves and provide a visual representation of the priorities of the constructs and how they relate to each other.
Using the information that was gathered from the index card sorting and prioritizing of the concerns and then listing and prioritizing the elements of the individual constructs to create a concept map will result in another powerful tool. |
For more information please also see:
Community Organizing
and Development Evaluation Sites
Who's Who in Community
Organizing and Activism
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The Use of Pattern Matching and Concept Mapping in Community Organizing Projects Copyright © 1997; Georgette M. King gmk5@cornell.edu. All rights Reserved.
DATE LAST UPDATED: 5/9/97
