ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the different roles and expressions of community that impact learning. It considers the specific mechanisms by which the education and politicization of young people and their communities can support their growth into entities capable of advancing their own interests in society. Studies of political economy are concerned with control of resources and power in a society. The chapter examines some models for building high-performance communities in traditionally deprived or marginalized areas. Community and family life provide foundation for success in school, shape a person's relationship to other communities, instill ability to pursue one's goals, and provide experiences necessary to take advantage of school and society. Digital communication and culture have created still another form of community which requires young people to exercise textual and cultural literacy. Non-grassroots, school-based reform models need to attend to role of community in education. The development of human agency creates personal and community capacity to exercise rights and human, especially political, capital.
