Specific Learning Goals of FCCB I

1. to understand the history of community development and the emergence of the new field of family-centered community building.
   
2. to help students develop an understanding of how families and communities are impacted by cultural differences, social structure, and social change, and other social institutions;
   
3. to understand communities and families as complex systems;
   
4. to understand the multiple determinants of family and community well being;
   
5. to appreciate a systems approach to community building that creates a new vision for community change and a set of strategies designed to communicate that new vision, governance and leadership;
   
6. to develop an understanding of productive ways to revitalize communities through the promotion of family well being, by creatively addressing challenges facing families including:
   
   a.  Jobs and workplace environments that value the contribution of family members and respect their family needs;
   
   b.  Early childhood and school readiness programs that launch each child on an optimal life long trajectory;
   
   c.  Health care, child care, and elder care programs that support families in all of their care giving roles;
   
   d.  Schools that can serve as lifelong learning centers in communities beginning with comprehensive child development and school readiness programs and extending through programs that involve elders as teachers and learners, and everything in between;
   
   e.  Youth development and civic engagement programs that create valuable after-school activities for young people, and make a strong connection between young people and the roles they will assume as adult members of their communities;
   
   f.  Community infrastructure that support clean water, clean air, roads and transportation systems, and parks and open space, in order to enhance a “livable community”;
   
   g.  Cross- generational programs to build the caring relationships that both elders and young children need;
   
   h.  Community change and transformation strategies that build upon relationships within and between families to empower change.
   
   i.  Community report cards/reports, community youth charters, community assessments of developmental assets, and other monitoring strategies so that community residents can be informed about the well being of their community, and can use this information to develop strategies for community building, and can also hold their elected officials more accountable.
   
   j.  Appreciation of the nature of the evidence needed to add to knowledge about family-centered community building, to engage the interest of media in such systems change, and to influence policy makers to support such change.
   
   k.  Evaluation tools and strategies that afford proof that community building efforts are effective, that improve such efforts, and that increase the capacity of community, members of families and the individuals within them to sustain and bring such work to scale. 
   
7. to help students develop a coherent perspective for viewing social behaviors in groups--from intimate dyads to large-scale bureaucracies;
   
8. to assist the students in applying an understanding of these concepts to their personal and professional lives;
   
9. to enhance students' personal and intellectual growth through class assignments, discussions, group interaction, and volunteer experiences;
   
10. to improve critical thinking skills in the context of FCCB;
    
11. to develop reflective-generative thinking;
    
12. to form ethical and civic values;
    
13. to strengthen community-campus partnerships;
    
14. to allow students to actually “do something” rather than just hearing about it.