Community

Immersion
COMMUNITY
IMMERSION
- is a strategy in community organizing
that is sought to imbibe among the NSTP
trainees a better understanding and
realization of the different community
concerns through the exposure on actual
life situations specifically in the deprived,
depressed and the underprivileged
(DDU) communities.
 Objectives of NSTP
Community Immersion
Objectives:

Community immersion Immersion programs relocate

allows individuals who are individuals into an unfamiliar
not familiar with the people environment for a period of
and communities where they time for the purpose of
will work immerse providing meaningful
themselves in these settings. learning opportunities.
Whom do you Immerse
within the Community?
When one goes to a community, he associates
with the people whom he intends to work with
a partners or allies in the community.

Whom do
We do not just work for and serve the people you Immerse
but rather we encourage their participation.
within the
Community?
Confucius’s philosophy of “give man a fish and
he will live for a day: teach him how to fish and
he will live for a lifetime.”
 Community immersion is empowering
Whom do the people towards development of the
locality.
you Immerse
Is vital to the development of the
within the students’ knowledge, skills, values
Community? and attitudes in realizing the
penultimate (last but one) ends of NSTP?
 What Conditions may
Qualify one to go into
Community Immersion?
What Conditions may Qualify one to go
into Community Immersion?
It is so desired that one fundamental
pre-requisite qualification among those
who intend or are tasked to undergo
community immersion is a full
understanding of the concepts and
theories behind the dynamics of
groups and community.
What Conditions may Qualify one to go
into Community Immersion?
Training-wise, community
developer/organizers and social
workers are most qualified because it is
assumed that they have more or less
formal background on carrying out
these kinds to organizing work.
What Conditions may Qualify one
to go into Community Immersion?
• As for NSTP, students enrolled in NSTP-CWTS/LTS 2 are
mandated to undergo community immersion for a period
covering a minimum of 54 hours to a maximum of 90 hours a
cited from CHED – prescribed Program of Instruction (OPI),
2007 edition
 What Personal gains
may a Student from
Community Immersion?
What Personal gains may a Student from
Community Immersion?
Community Immersion improves the students’ understanding of himself in relation to
others;

Opportunity for the students to comprehend people’s lives

Gain social acceptance derived from the community

Enhance experiences in conducting asset mapping

What Personal gains may a Student from
Community Immersion?

Establish rapport and relationship

Acquire first-hand experience

Chance to learn life skill

 Do’s and Don’ts in
Community Immersion
Qualities of an Effective and Functional
Community Service Worker
Empathy
- is the ability to identify with and understand
another person’s experience and point of view.
Communication
• – both verbal and non-verbal – is a
vital skill for social workers. The ability
to communicate clearly with a wide
range of people is essential. It is the
duty of social workers to advocate for
their clients – in order to do this, social
workers must understand the client’s
needs.
Organization
• This requires social workers to be very
organized and able to prioritize clients’
needs in order to effectively manage
cases. Disorganization and poor time
management could cause a social
worker to overlook a client’s needs
and result in negative outcomes.
Critical Thinking
• is necessary for social workers to
understand and identify a client’s
needs. Listening carefully,
concentrating, asking the right
questions, and utilizing techniques
such as paraphrasing and summarizing
also helps social workers to engage
and establish trust with clients.
Active Listening
• Social workers must be able to
objectively evaluate each case by
collecting information through
observation, interviews and
research.
Cultural competence
• Working effectively with clients from
diverse backgrounds requires social
workers to be respectful and
responsive to cultural beliefs and
practices.
Patience
• Social workers encounter an array of
circumstances and individuals in their
work. It is important to have patience
to work through complex cases and
with clients who need longer periods
of time to make progress.
Professional commitment
• This commitment is necessary for
fulfilling the mission of social workers
– “to enhance human well-being and
help meet the basic human needs of
all people, with particular attention to
the needs and empowerment of
people who are vulnerable, oppressed
and living in poverty.”
Advocacy
• Advocacy skills enable social workers
to represent and argue for their clients
and to connect them with needed
resources and opportunities, especially
when clients are vulnerable or unable
to advocate for themselves.
The Process of Community Immersion
Phase 1:
Pre-immersion
THIS PHASE REGARDS THE IDENTIFICATION
OF THE COMMUNITY WHERE THE STUDENTS
WILL BE IMMERSED AT.
 Community must belong to the deprived,
depressed and underprivileged (DDU).

Willingness and support of the local partners to

the project.
Factors to be Anticipated and demand falls within the resources
considered: of the students.

Places that is not saturated by other agencies.

Stable peace and order and accessibility.

Phase 2:
Entering the
Community
According to Manalili(1990) , Community
Immersion can enter the community thru:

Banking of Peoples
Ostentatious entry.
weakness.

People-centered
Academic Style of Entry.
approach.
Banking of Peoples
Weakness
It refers to a model of education or engagement
where those with power (like educators or
institutions) perceive the marginalized or
oppressed as deficient or lacking and therefore
attempt to "deposit" knowledge or solutions
onto them without genuinely understanding
their strengths, experiences, or perspectives.
Academic Style of Entry
This term suggests approaching community
immersion or engagement with a scholarly or
formal mindset, often characterized by a focus
on research methodologies, theoretical
frameworks, and academic discourse.
People-centered
approach
This approach emphasizes prioritizing the
needs, perspectives, and agency of the
individuals and communities being served or
engaged with.
Phase 3:
Community
Integration
COM M UNI TY INTEGR ATION EN ABL ES
PA RTIC I PANTS TO HAVE A DI REC T CON TAC T AND
BECOME INVO LVED IN LOC AL ENV IRONMENT.
TH E INVO LVE MEN T OF TR AINEES I S M ORE
PERSONA L W HICH HELP THEM TO MORE
CO N CERNED W I TH TH E PRO B L EM S/ IS SU ES .
 Integration
can be done
BOARDER STYLE ELITIST STYLE PEOPLE-CENTERED
APPROACH
thru;
Boarder style
This style of community integration
involves maintaining a certain distance
or boundary between oneself and the
community.
Elitist style
This involves engaging with the
community in a manner that
emphasizes one's perceived
superiority or privilege.
People-centered approach
emphasizes building meaningful
relationships, fostering mutual
respect, and collaborating with
community members to address
shared challenges and achieve
common goals.
Phase 4:
Community Needs
Assessment
COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT IS A
SYSTEMATIC PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING
AND EVALUATING SPECIFIC NEEDS OF A
GROUP OR COMMUNITY. THIS WILL HELP
IDENTIFY WHAT PROJECT OR PROGRAM
TO BE GIVEN.
Importance of Needs
Assessment
a. Gather information about the people’s attitude and
options
b. Identify the rank of problems, issues and
opportunities according to the urgent or importance.
c. Gather opinion from the people in determining
policies, goals and priorities.
d. Provide to shared owns opinion and thinking.
e. Provide speculation about what people really want.
 Historical Development

Information to
be Included in Geographic and Transformation Information

Assessing
Community Political and Legal Function

Needs
Demographic and Economic Data
 Focused Group Discussion (FGD) with Key
Informants
Method in
Collecting Community Forum/Assembly
Data for
Community Public records
Needs
Assessment
Survey
 a. Establish a working committee to solicit citizen and
community involvement and develop a plan of action.
b. List important aspects that are needed to be looked
upon.
c. Identify the population to be surveyed.
Steps in d. Determine the information that is needed.
Conducting e. Select a random sample of person to survey.

Needs f. Develop and pretest a questionnaire

g. Collate the information.
Assessment h. Analyze the data.
i. Go back to the community for validation of information.
j. Finalize the document.
 Community Assistance
in Assessing Needs
a. Help identify community groups and citizens to be involved in
the working committee.
b. Facilitate group discussion to identify important issues and set
priorities.
c. Help select the sample to be surveyed and design a system to
identity respondents.
d. Provide tested questions from which the working committees
choose questions that address the issues and
e. concerns.
f. Help design a process to distribute and collect survey
questionnaires, code, enter and analyze the resulting data.
Phase 5:
Program/Project
Implementation
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION DEALS WITH
THE ACTUAL EXECUTION OF THE PLANS.
 To ensure the success of the NSTP community service projects
performed by the trainees during their immersion time, the
following must be considered:

1. Program must be responsive to the needs of the clients;

2. Contribute to the upliftment of the living conditions of the clients;
3. Maximize the resources available in the community;
4. Tap the potentials of the clients and give due recognition;
5. Objectives must be SMART with tangible results that touch the lives of
the clients;
 To ensure the success of the NSTP community service projects
performed by the trainees during their immersion time, the
following must be considered:

6. Project must be done systematically to ensure significant contributions

from pre-planning, planning stage, implementation and evaluation;
7. Complete documentation must be observed as basis for reporting and for
future studies; projects must be within the capacity and concern of the
trainees that will allow them to gain the knowledge, skills and encourage
reflective action; and
8. Develop shared commitment among the trainees.
9. Projects must promote civic consciousness imbued with good citizenship
values of Pagkamaka-Diyos, PagkamakaTao, Pagkamaka-Bayan and
Pagkamaka-Kalikasan.
Phase 6:
Termination of
Projects
N S T P T R A I N E E S A R E E X P EC T E D TO C O M P L E T E T H E I R P R OJ EC TS I N
T H E C O M M U N I T Y I N T H E S PA N 5 0 - 9 0 H O U RS A S P R ES C R I B E D TO
T H E C H E D - E N D O RS E D P R O G R A M O F I N S T R U C T I O N F O R I T TO B E
C R E D I T E D I N T H E T R A I N I N G CO U RS E . R I G H T AT T H E V E RY S TA R T
T H E T R A I N E E - I M P L E M E N T E RS M U S T A P P R I S E T H E I R TA R G E T
PA R T I C I PA N TS OF THE PA R T I C U L A RS OF THE P R OJ EC T S
U N D E R TA K E N E S P EC I A L LY I N T E R M S O F T I M E F R A M E .
Thank you!