The Community Activeness--Consciousness Matrix

More times than not, Extension faculty and other professionals who work in the area of rural community development will agree with the following statement: "When you've seen one rural community, you've seen one rural community." By no means am I asserting that we cannot make generalizations about rural communities. We, in fact, can and often do.

Instead, my claim is that every rural community has certain social, economic, and/or environmental issues/problems that are unique to that particular community. Furthermore, the way in which each rural community attempts to address its insistent issues and solve its pressing problems oftentimes is unparalleled. With that said, I now offer one generalization about rural communities and present a tool for Extension faculty to use when delivering programs relating to community development.

A Generalization: Activeness and Consciousness        

One generalization that I have made while working in the area of rural community development is that all rural communities differ along the dimensions of "activeness" and "consciousness." Activeness refers to the degree of interaction at the community level. Community-level interaction can be defined as the behaviors of local residents working together to address and solve specific locale-oriented needs and problems. Community-level interactions include activities such as participating in a community improvement project or working with other members of the community to try and solve local problems. Action at the community level varies widely across communities and within the same community over time.

Consciousness refers to a community's level of awareness of its current social, economic, and environmental situations in real time. Consciousness, like activeness, varies across and within communities. When a community is truly conscious, it is fully aware and knowledgeable of its current social, economic, and environmental conditions. Moreover, the community understands the history of its people, economy, and environment, and it also has a well-defined vision for the future.

A Tool: The Activeness--Consciousness Matrix

A tool that Extension faculty might find useful when initially delivering a community development-related program is something that I have termed the "activeness--consciousness matrix" (Figure 1). The activeness--consciousness matrix allows Extension personnel to quickly assess the levels of activeness and consciousness of a community as viewed from the local residents' perspective.

Figure 1.
The Activeness--Consciousness Matrix

As shown in Figure 1, I have dichotomized the activeness dimension into two groups, "active" and "not active." I have also collapsed the consciousness concept into two categories, "conscious" and "not conscious."

Using the Activeness--Consciousness Matrix

First, draw the activeness--consciousness matrix on a posterboard; then project the matrix using an overhead projector, or simply distribute handouts of the matrix.

Next, explain what each cell of the matrix represents to those attending the community development meeting.

Cell 1 represents communities that are both conscious and active. Communities of this nature characteristically are comprised of local citizens who are fully aware and knowledgeable of the current social, economic, and environmental conditions of their community. The local residents understand their community's history, and they have a well-defined vision of how they want their community to look, feel, and operate in the future. At the same time, citizens are actively working together to positively improve their community and purposively accomplish their vision.

Cell 2 represents communities that are conscious but not active. Communities of this nature characteristically are comprised of local citizens who are fully aware and knowledgeable of the current social, economic, and environmental conditions of their community. The local residents understand their community's history, and they have a well-defined vision of how they want their community to look, feel, and function in the future. However, citizens are not actively working together to positively improve their community or purposively accomplish their vision.

Cell 3 represents communities that are not conscious and not active. Communities of this nature characteristically are comprised of local citizens who are not fully aware or knowledgeable of the current social, economic, and environmental conditions of their community. The local residents do not understand their community's history, and they do not have a well-defined vision of how they want their community to look, feel, and operate in the future. At the same time, citizens are not actively working together to positively improve or purposively develop their community.

Cell 4 represents communities that are not conscious but active. Communities of this nature characteristically are comprised of local citizens who are not fully aware or knowledgeable of the current social, economic, and environmental conditions of their community. The local residents do not understand their community's history, and they do not have a well-defined vision of how they want their community to look, feel, and function in the future. However, citizens are actively working together to positively improve or purposively develop their community. Due to the lack of a common, well-defined vision, efforts at community development are generally uncoordinated and piecemeal in nature and produce, at best, transitory results in the community.

Last, ask program participants to state in which cell they would place their community. Also, ask the individuals to put forward the reason(s) why they chose to place their community in that particular cell.

Concluding Comment

The activeness--consciousness matrix can provide Extension personnel with a speedy assessment of the levels of activeness and consciousness of a community as viewed from the local citizens' perspective. Extension faculty who use the activeness--consciousness matrix will find that cell placement of the community and the reason(s) behind such placement may vary, sometimes widely, amongst individuals.

In actuality, the utilitarian value of the matrix increases with variation in responses. As residents put forth their justifications as to why the community should be placed in one particular cell as opposed to the others, critical dialogue emerges about the views and actions of various sectors of the community. And, as practice and research suggest, communication among individuals and groups within a community is one crucial element in the overall process of community development.