Community Education:Listening to the voices.

Community education may have had a clear, concise definition at one time, but that definition has been re-worked by the dynamic interpretations that have imbued it as a result of the community education movement, over two decades. This article tries to capture some of those new meanings and to raise some issues for exploration. It cannot do justice to the entire scope of the field but it will consider three broad areas in relation to these trends. Firstly, it takes a brief look at the growth and development of community education in Ireland. Secondly, it explores the impact of community education on learning in a post-modern knowledge based society. Finally, it traces the role it has played in the emergence of communitarianism as a social movement in Ireland.