History

CLD has its origins in the welter of change that swept through society in the 18th and 19th centuries. New industries, and changes in science, technology, land use and education dislocated or smashed traditional forms of family and community life.

While wealth through individual enterprise, democraticdecision-making and state provided education promised routes to a brave new world of opportunity for all, these have proven to be strewn with barriers for those bearing the brunt of the down side of change.

Continuing disadvantage has often related to where youwere born, your race or gender and has remained embedded in the institutions, such as schools, health services and social work, intended to overcome it.

CLD has its origins in the need to counter the effects of this persistent disadvantage. This can be seen for example in:

• The history of youth work, starting with voluntary action often with a Christian ethic
• The development of the Workers Educational Association and the National Council of Labour Colleges
• The growth of community development as a response to the “rediscovery of poverty” in the 1960s

In the post 2nd world war era, the role of the state in the economy and society, including welfare and education grew in scale and complexity. The Alexander Report – Adult Education: the challenge of change (HMSO 1975) was a response to the persistent issues of disadvantage in that context.

In advocating that “Adult education should be regarded as an aspect of community education and should with the youth and community service, be incorporated into a community education service” it brought about the birth of CLD in the form it has grown into in the 21st century. 

There have been four key reports influencing the shape of CLD from 1975 to 2025:

• Alexander Report - The Challenge of Change
• Communities: Change through Learning
• Working and Learning Together to build stronger communities
• Learning: For All. For Life

“The Making of an Empowering Profession” (PDF) was first published in 1996, followed by editions in 1997 and 2002. It is a collection of material that outlined and illustrated how the practices that we now describe as Community Learning and Development have been created, analysed, argued over and changed since the mid-1970s.

Influencing Change: CLD in Scotland, 2001-2015 is a companion reader to The Making of an Empowering Profession and brings together the key policy and guidance documents across all aspects of CLD. It highlights the ways in which the story of CLD is an integral part of wider social, political and economic developments.

You can also find a wealth of material on the history of CLD, informal education, social pedagogy, lifelong learning and social action at infed.org, provided by the YMCA George Williams College.