This volume explores multiple layers of educational community and the conditions that contribute to their resilience and growth. Using a backdrop of the experiences of different schools, the discussion depicts community as a process rather than a commodity and illustrates how ideas of community develop. Issues of identity, leadership, voice, and normative forces in the lives of ordinary people are considered. The chapters are: (1) "Examining Community"; (2) "Identity in Community"; (3) "The Construction of Difference and Diversity"; (4) "Learning and Celebrating Community"; and (5) "Vulnerability, Fragility, and Resilience in Community." (Contains 8 figures, 6 tables, and 136 references.) (SLD)