This document is an online assignment submitted by Shahina.S to their social science teacher, Sally Paul. The assignment discusses community resources, including their meaning, nature, and significance. It provides an introduction to social science and defines community resources. Several important community resources are outlined and categorized. The significance of community resources for teaching and learning is explained. Community resources can make lessons more relevant and help students become better citizens. The conclusion states that direct experiences with community resources provide concrete and meaningful ways to teach and learn social science.

1. ONLINE ASSIGNMENT
SUBMITTED TO:
SALLY PAUL
[SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHER]
SUBMITTED BY:
SHAHINA.S
[OPTIONAL- SOCIAL SCIENCE]

2. COMMUNITY RESOURCES
-MEANING, NATURE AND
SIGNIFICANCE.

3. INDEX
SL.No. Content Page .no
1 INTRODUCTION
2 IMPORTANT COMMUNITY
RESOURCES
3 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
4 CONCLUSION
5 REFERENCES

4. INTRODUCTION
Social Science is, in its broadestsense, the study of society and the manner in
which people behave and influence the world around us.
It tell us about the world beyond our immediate experience, and can help to
explain how our own society works –form the causes of unemployment or what
helps economic growth, how and why people vote ,or what make people happy.
It provides vital information for governments and policy makers, local
authorities, non-governmental organizations and others.
According to Michaelis, “the Social Studies are concerned with man and his
interaction with his social and physical environment; they deal with human
relationships; the central function of the social studies is identical with the
central purposeof education – the development of democratic citizenship”.
National Council for the Social Studies defined Social Studies as “the integrated
study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence".
Community experiences can enrich social studies in
instructions in ways more than one. To achieve the purposes ofsocial studies,
the child must, become a real part of the community in which he lives, interact
with it and contribute to it. To become an effective citizen, the child must
become a responsible member of community with civic attitudes and ideals
compatible with the spirit of democracy. There is no more effective way of
becoming this kind of person than through practicing what such a person will
do. A variety of community experiences offer the child the laboratory in which
he may experiment with life in the community and begin to find his place in it.

5. A community resourceis anything that has the potential to improve the quality
of life in a community. Traditional community resources start with
organizations that focus on helping people, such as supportgroups and poverty
outreach group, but the definition of community resources is much broader. It
includes public services, such as libraries and postoffices, gathering places such
as community centres and churches; and businesses that serve the community
by providing jobs and easy access to necessary products. Theindividuals who
work to improve community life by helping others, cleaning up the community
or organizing informal community activities are also community resources.
Community resources are a group of services or assisted programme that are
provided to the members of a community for free or at an affordable price. Each
resource is made available to community members to help them become self-
reliant and maintain their human rights and wellbeing. A community can be
many things; it is people who live in the same neighbourhood or city, people
with the same interest or back bound, or even organizations or communities that
have something in common.
Resources tangible and intangible, meet the need of the community by
providing assistance, ideas and solutions. Depending on the community,
whether it is a geographic area or a group with common goals or
characteristics. Community resources development is all about quality of life
and engagement by building stronger communities through civil engagement
and using resources in the bestmanner for desirable organizations or
individual’s knight. Here we are going to discuss about Community resources –
meaning, nature & significance.

6. IMPORTANT COMMUNITY RESOURCES
To make best use of the available community resources, the teacher should
help his pupils to catalogue the available resources before proceeding to study
them. The catalogue should include every information available about the
places that can enrich instructions in social studies. Each place be listed
separately with maximum possible information about its name , location, route
to reach the place, persons to be contacted, most appropriate time to visit the
place, the resources and materials of study available, expenses likely to be
incurred etc.
For preparing the catalogue readily usable, it may be divided into various
sections as follows.
1. PLACES OF HISTORICALINTEREST
This section may include temples, churches, gurdwaras, mosques, old
historical records, building monuments etc.
2. PLACES OF GEOGRAPHICAL INTEREST
It may include such places as factories, mills, railway station, sea-ports,
air ports telephone exchange, radio station, TV centre, theatres etc.
3. PLACES OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTEREST.
This list may include various clubs, parks, museums, zoo, art galleries,
fun resorts, university etc.
4. PLACES OF ECONOMIC INTEREST
It includes banks, trading centres, stockexchange, markets, dairies, LIC
building etc.
5. GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS
In this section should be included the panchayat Ghar,hospital,police
station, water supply, community centre ,various government offices etc.

7. 6. PLACES OF FORMS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
A separate section is spared to catalogue traditions, customs, rituals,
attitude etc.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY
RESOURCES
Community resources that facilitate learning include everything in the
community that can be used to illustrate a conceptor generalization, or to help
children internalise a value. Such resources include every community situation
in which children get opportunity to apply their intellectual, social or personal
potentials and skills. It also includes every experience that allows them to
express their feeling and clarify their values.
There are four main reasons why community resources are valuable:
1. Teaching and learning become relevant, becausethey can be performed
through the children’s social experiences.
2. The community provides excellent opportunities for social action and
for the development of intellectual and social skills.
3. The schooland community can become closer to each other.
4. The children learn more about the community, become involved in its
affairs, and thus become better citizens.
Even in ancient times educational theorists had argued that using child’s
experiences as a stepping stone to newer and newer knowledge will be
more effective than merely depending up on text book. This is a very
sound theory.

8. Colling has highlighted the value of community resources as follows:
1. Internal school work becomes more meaningful when this is linked
with out of schoolexperience. Concrete and familiar situations from base
for the development of new cognition.
2. That will act as an effective medium for training in citizenship, as
students get a feeling that they are actually involved in community life in
a meaningful way.
3. Students can acquire greater proficiency in problem solving for
example, active involvement in the planning and execution of a visit to
some important community centre will give pupils a feeling that they are
part of the community life.
4. Students gain first-hand experience about the job opportunities
available, qualification necessary for each job, working conditions
remuneration, etc.
5. Through participation in appropriate voluntary service activities and by
way of membership in community organization, students develop positive
attitude towards social service. They obtain enriched understanding of the
possibilities for portably using leisure time for activities within the
community.
Role of teacher
1. Teacher can inform both positives and negatives to pupils about each
resource.
2. It allows parents to talk voluntarily
3. Teacher should not be prejudice against the child.

9. CONCLUSION
Community provides ‘concrete’ ’visible’, and’ tangible’ resources which are
extremely dynamic, interesting and ‘meaning ful’ for the teaching and learning
of Social Science.
It is not enough for a child to have ‘knowledge’ about the factories, farms,
council sessions, museums and social agencies. He must have direct
‘acquaintance with, all these. A community is a child’s laboratory for having
first-hand experience about the ways of living.

10. REFERENCES
 TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES
-A.S.KOHLI
ANMOL PUBLICATIONS PVT.LTD NEWDELHI’
 SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION METHODOLOGY OF
TEACHING AND PEDAGOGIC ANALYSIS
- DR.K.SIVARAJAN
DR.T.V.THULASIDHARAN
DR.N.K.VIJAYAN