Lesson 6

THE WHYs AND HOWs OF SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY

PARTNERSHIPS

INTRODUCTION
When schools and community organizations work together to support learning,
everyone benefits. Partnerships can serve to strengthen, support, and even transform
individual partners, resulting in improved program quality, more efficient use of
resources, and better alignment of goals and curricula, as per the Harvard Family
Research Project (2010).

Article III of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers (1997) lays down the
law with regards to “Teachers and the Community.” Likewise, Domain 6 of the
Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (2017) covers “Community Linkages
and Professional Engagement.” These will be discussed further in the following pages.

Materials in this lesson are based on the textbook “The Teacher and the
Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership by NG Prieto, CN Arcangel
and BB Corpus” (2019), and various web sources as noted in the Reference section of
this lesson. Answers to assessments should be accomplished in separate pieces of
paper to form part of the e-portfolio for this course.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this Lesson, the PST should be able to:
1. Explain what school and community partnership means;
2. Explain the legal and sociological bases of schools and community partnerships;
and
3. Cite examples of school-community partnerships.

LECTURE DISCUSSION
Group Activity - Let's Do This. Write your answers on a separate piece of paper.

Based on your school experiences, list down ways by which a community helps a
school, and the ways the school helps the community. Then group yourselves into 3
and compare your lists. Come up with a final list in which a school-and-community
partnership exists and who do you think benefits.

Analysis - Let's Analyze.

Based on your group list, is there a real partnership between school and
community? Or do you find one party (like the school) more favored because it gets
more help than the other? Defend your answer.

Abstraction - Let's Conceptualize.

Opportunities for School-Community Partnership = a partnership implies two

parties helping each other. Both parties benefit. This means that if a school-community
partnership exists, both parties benefit from the relationship. In the following paragraphs
are presented some examples of what communities can do for schools and what
schools can do for communities.

What can the community do for schools?

Here are examples of what a community can do for schools:

1. Brigada Eskwela = This program engages all education stakeholders to contrib-

ute their time, effort and resources in ensuring that public school facilities are set
in time for the forthcoming school opening. It takes place more or less 2 weeks
before classes begin in June. This is a school maintenance program institutional-
ized in 2009 through DepEd Order No. 100, s. 2009.
 2. Curriculum development = This can mean use of community resources for
learning. e.g. museum, elders of the community as key informants in research or
resource persons in the study of local history.

3. Work experience programs = Business establishments and offices in the com-

munity can serve as training grounds for learners. A concrete example is the
Work Immersion required of Senior High School students. In this program, stu-
dents are given the opportunity to work in relevant establishments or offices in
the community to help develop in them "the competencies, work ethics, and val-
ues relevant to pursuing further education and/or joining the world of work... Part-
ner offices for immersion provide Senior High School students with opportunities:
"1) to become familiar with the work place; 2) for employment simulation; and 3)
to apply their competencies in areas of specialization n authentic work environ-
ments (DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2017).

In this school-community partnership, the school can fulfill what curriculum requires
and may improve on their curriculum based on community feedback, enables the
students to undergo hands-on work experience, while community establishments
contribute to the formation of graduates who are more ready for life and and more
equipped for the world of work Business establishments or any world of work in the
community are the ultimate beneficiaries of these graduates who have been more
prepared through work immersion.

Some schools call this service learning since it actively involves students in a wide
range of experiences which benefit them and the community, while at the same time
fulfilling the requirement of a curriculum

4. Remediation and enrichment classes = Parents and retired teachers may be

involved in the School Reading remediation and Learning Enrichment Programs.
 5. Youth Development Programs = The young may involve themselves in youth
development programs and develop their skills and talents, learn how to deal
positively with peers and adults and serve as resources in their communities.

6. Community Service = Examples of community service are students participating

in tutorial programs, community reforestation programs, clean up drive for a river,
assisting in medical missions; or a school head involved in planning local cele-
brations; teachers managing programs, projects, activities; school band playing
in fiesta parade

What can Schools do for Communities in return?

Schools may allow the community to use school resources. Here are concrete
examples enumerated by the DepEd Primer on School-Community Partnership:

 Classroom used by community organizations for meetings

 School used as a polling place
 School used as venue for medical missions which it may co-sponsor with the Ru-
ral Health Unit
 School used by the Rural Health Unit for mothers' class on child care
 School used as an evacuation center
 School facilities used for community assemblies
 School basketball court used for local celebrations and barangay sports league
 Schools conduct livelihood skills-training programs for parents and out-of- school
youths by using school resources
 Livelihood skills-training for parents and out-of-school-youths by teachers them-
selves

Learning from the Experiences of Schools and Community Partners

Here are concrete examples:
 1. Dumingaga Central School, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur
There is a strong school community partnership, such as a Feeding
Program maintained by community donors like the Mother Butler Mission Guild,
barangay councils, office of the Mayor, and the parents who budgeted,
purchased and cooked the meals for the beneficiaries of the program.
"Kiddie Cop" classes - Cops lecture on good manners and right conduct, drug
addiction, child abuse, child welfare.

Municipal Welfare and Development Office - Municipal Health Office conducted

special classes on health and nutrition, and the rights of the child.

2. Pembo Elementary School, Makati

Volunteer students and teachers set up the Pembo Angels Magic Spot (PAMS)
where the volunteer environmental steward-students of the school worked on the
Magic Spots which were the small dumpsites or empty lots in the barangay which
the students converted into vegetable gardens from which members of the barangay
could harvest for home supply, the school for their feeding program, or sold them for
cash for the purchase of seedlings and planting of more vegetables.

PAMS brought together students, teachers, school head, parents barangay

officials and other members of the community to clean up little nooks for garbage
and converted them into green areas with vegetables shared by all. It also taught
gardening skills and positive attitude toward work to students and supplemented the
feeding program “Project BOWLS (Brain Operates Well on Loaded Stomachs” for
the underweight and the malnourished children in the school,

Another effective practice was Project Revitalized Enthusiasm for Assistance

to Children of Humanity (REACH) where each teacher adopted one student and
acted as his/ her mentor for the entire school year. The teacher gave free tutorial
lessons to the adopted student during his/her free time, periodically visited the
 student's family, and in some instances gave the student a daily allowance of ten
pesos from the teacher's own pocket. This contributed to the improved performance
of Pembo Elementary School, 23rd in rank in the Division Achievement Test,
zoomed up to rank 9, and to rank 1 or near zero drop-out rate, six years later

Urbanidad Kids were ideal students who acted as role models for the students
and the PEMBO community. They were the cleanest, most well-mannered and most
diligent in class.

BOWLS means Brains Operate Well on Loaded Stomachs. Every recess,

children who were selected by the school as BOWLS beneficiaries due to
malnutrition were provided a free bowl of lugaw.

Pera Sa Panapon was a weekly trash market where students, their parents and
other members of the community were invited to bring their recyclable garbage. The
project helped the school purchase the necessary supplies and was able to support
two students to a 2010 math competition in Singapore.

Sociological Basis of School Community Partnership

The Functionalist Theory states that institutions must perform their respective
functions for the stability of society. Other institutions must step up if one institution fails
to do its part for the sake of society. An African proverb says “It takes a village to
educate a child” since the school cannot do it all. It has to work in partnership with other
institutions in the community such as the church, government and non- government
organizations. With the breakdown of families, schools face greater challenge in
educating the young.

The rearing and education of the child is the primary obligation of parents. The
school, the Church and other social institutions come in to assist parents and families to
fulfill their irreplaceable obligation. The breakdown of marriages, the demand for both
mother and father to work to meet the demands of a rising cost of living resulting to less
or no time for parents to spend time with their children have, however, attacked the
stability of families and have adversely affected the performance of their irreplaceable
duty to educate children. Added to these is the increasing number of families composed
of solo female parents struggling to raise a family. With the burden of earning lodged
solely on the shoulders of one parent, solo parents struggle to earn enough to provide
for their families. Consequently, this responsibility leads to their having a limited amount
of time to spend for, and with growing and developing children who, unfortunately
become more likely solo-parent families themselves. The cycle goes on.

This is not to mention the negative effect of uncontrolled and unregulated use of
technology on the young. While the use of technology has brought a lot of convenience
its uncontrolled and unregulated use by the tech-savvy kids expose them to all sorts of
information not necessarily favorable for their development. So families, schools and
other social institutions need to work together to save the youth.

Legal Bases for Teachers’ Involvement in Community Development

Section 16 titled “Teachers’ Obligations” of Republic Act 232 Education Act

of 1982, states that “every teacher shall participate as an agent of constructive social,
economic, moral, intellectual, cultural, and political change in his school and the
community within its context of national policies…”

Article III of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers (1997) lays down
the law with regards to “Teachers and the Community.”

 In Section 1, “a teacher is a facilitator of learning and of the development of the

youth; he shall, therefore, render the best service by providing an environment
conducive to such learning and growth.”
  Section 2, “every teacher shall provide leadership and initiative to actively partic-
ipate in community movements for moral, social, education, economic and civic
betterment.”

 Section 4, “every teacher shall live for and with the community and shall, there-
fore, study and understand local custom and traditions in order to have sympa-
thetic attitude, therefore, refrain from disparaging the community.”

 Section 5, “every teacher shall help the school keep the people in the community
informed about the school’s work and accomplishments as well as its needs and
problems,” and in

 Section 6, “every teacher is an intellectual leader in the community, especially in

the barangay, and shall welcome the opportunity to provide such leadership
when needed, to extend counseling services, as appropriate, and to actively be
involved in matters affecting the welfare of the people.”

Domain 6 of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (2017) covers

“Community Linkages and Professional Engagement” as seen in the following:

“School and community partnership is essential in ensuring quality learning; a strong

and positive partnership can guarantee success and excellence in learning among
students. Teachers need to work with families and the wider community to gather their
support and cooperation for school and class activities that are designed to help
students enjoy schooling.” Domain 6 consists of 4 strands:

1. Establishment of learning environments that are responsive to community con-

texts;
2. Engagement of parents and the wider school community in the educative
process;
3. Professional ethics; and
 4. School policies and procedures

Legal Bases for Parents and Community Involvement

RA 9155, Governance of Basic Education Act, Section E, explicitly states that

one of the responsibilities of school heads is "establishing school and community
networks and encouraging the active participation of teachers’ organizations, non-
academic personnel of public schools, and parents-teachers-community associations.”
Section 3
(f) of the same Act encourages "local initiatives for the improvement of schools and
learning centers and to provide the means by which... improvements may be achieved
and sustained."

RA 9155, states that partnerships between the school and the community also
ensure... that:
1) educational programs, projects and services take into account the interests of all
members of the community (Sec 3, d);

2) the schools and learning centers reflect the values of the community by allowing
teachers/learning facilitators and other staff to have the flexibility to serve the
needs of all learners (Sec 3, e); and
3) local initiatives for the improvement of schools and learning centers are encour-
aged and the means by which these improvements may be achieved and sus-
tained are provided (Sec 3, f). So schools and communities function better when
they work as a team

Batas Pambansa Blg. 232, otherwise known as the Education Act of1982,
Section 7 states that: “Every educational institution shall provide for the establishment of
appropriate bodies through which the members of the educational community may
discuss relevant issues and communicate information and suggestions for assistance
and support of the school and for the promotion of their common interest.
Representatives from each sub-group of the educational community shall sit and
participate in these bodies, the rules and procedures of which must be approved by
them and duly published.

Another law, RA. 8525, Adopt-A-School Program Act, also provides for school-
community partnership. It allows "private entities to assist a public school, whether
elementary, secondary, or tertiary,... in, but not limited to, the following areas: staff and
faculty development for training and further education; construction of facilities;
upgrading of existing facilities; provision of books, publications and other instructional
materials; and modernization of instructional technologies."

Even the Philippine Education for All (EFA) 2015 Plan, a vision and a holistic
program of reforms that aimed to improve the quality of basic education for every
Filipino by end 2015, likewise states: "Schools shall continue to harness local resources
and facilitate involvement of every sector of the community in the school improvement
process."

The EFA 2015 Plan was extended in Education for All Beyond 2015-Agenda
2030. Agenda 2030 has 7 new educational targets from 2015 to 2030 that must involve
education stakeholders which in essence is school-community partnerships. UNESCO
Assistant Director General for Education, Dr. Qian Tang, himself admits that Agenda
2030 cannot be realized without schools partnering with community. He said: "Our
vision must be more aggressive, more committed not just involving government, non-
government agencies but all stakeholders."

Takeaways from Lesson 6

 School and community partnership means school heads, teachers, learners, par-
ents of learners, and non-teaching personnel working together with civic and reli-
gious leaders, alumni, other parents, non-government organizations, and govern-
ment agencies for the good of children.
  The upbringing of children is the main and irreplaceable duty and responsibility of
the family. But with the weakning influence of the family on the upbringing of chil-
dren, and with children’s unlimited exposure to modern technology like the inter-
net, the challenge for schools to teach the young has become even greater.
Schools cannot do it all; they have to partner with the community.

 RA 9155, also known as the Governance of Basic Education Act; BP 232 or the
Education Act of 1982; RA 8525 or the Adopt-A-School Program Act; and
Agenda 2030; as well as the Code of Ethics of Professional Teachers and the
Philippine Standards for Public School Teachers; stipulate school and community
partnership.

 There are many opportunities for school and community partnership. The
Brigada Eskuela which is now institutionalized in DepEd schools I proof of school
and community partnership. Schools with all its human and material resources
can also offer services to the community in many ways.

Link to Video Recording

https://www.youtube.com/results?
search_query=Global+Issues+that+Concern+Schools+and+Societ

Activity
Part 1: Multiple Choice (10 items)

1. What global issue directly impacts the accessibility of education in developing

countries?
a. Climate change
b. Lack of funding
c. Population growth
d. Digital literacy
 2. Which organization focuses on global education advocacy?
a. UNICEF
b. UNESCO
c. WHO
d. WTO
3. One challenge for schools in addressing climate change is:
a. Teaching STEM subjects
b. Building eco-friendly facilities
c. Reducing internet use
d. Providing financial aid
4. What is a key global concern related to education?
a. Overpopulation in urban areas
b. Lack of trained educators
c. Decreased global trade
d. Rise in nationalism
5. Which is NOT a solution to global educational inequality?
a. Increasing teacher salaries
b. Expanding internet access
c. Promoting vocational training
d. Privatizing all schools

Part 2: Short Essay (5 points)

Choose one global issue (e.g., digital divide, climate change, poverty) and describe how
it affects education. Suggest one practical solution.

Rubrics for Activity

Criteria Excellent (5) Good (4) Satisfactory (3) Needs

Improvement (2)
Accuracy 90-100% correct 75-89% 60-74% correct Less than 60%
(MCQ) answers. correct answers. correct answers.
answers.
Clarity Essay is clear, Essay is Essay addresses Essay is unclear
(Essay) insightful, and clear but the topic but is or does not
thoroughly lacks depth. superficial. address the issue.
addresses the
issue.