Rethinking creativity and innovation in community education: a practical approach

The need to reinvent the approach to teaching and learning in community education cannot be overemphasized. Being education in the non-formal mode, community education seeks to address the immediate needs of the recipients at the personal, group and community levels. This education targets the felt and shared needs of the community, through a collaborative approach that seeks to involve all stakeholders. Sadly however, it has been observed that community education is slipping gradually into the pattern, mode and focus of formal school education, with its attendant shortcomings and incapacity in tackling immediate problem, such as crime, corruption, unemployment, restiveness, ethnic Chauvinism, etc. This paper argues that through adopting creative approaches to the theory and practice of community education, some of these problems could be mitigated planning, conceptualization; such innovation should cover implementation and evaluation processes, hence rendering itself more relevant and responsive to the immediate needs and aspirations of contemporary Nigerian society.