Collaboration between School and

Community
INTRODUCTION
 Schools have long recognized that they have a role in supporting young people’s wider
development, of which educational attainment is a critically important part.
 The guidance notes that excellent teaching and learning to unlock the potential of every
child must continue to be the core business of schools, on which they have the lead role.
 But schools can and do also make a significant contribution to other aspects of development,
both because these are important in their own right for a good childhood and because they
impact on children’s ability to learn and develop.
 School-community collaboration occurs when groups or agencies come together to establish
an educative community.
Community Development Theory

 Since the late nineteenth century, the use of the term community has
remained to some extent associated with the hope and the wish of reviving
once more the closer, warmer, more harmonious type of bonds between
people ambiguously attributed to past ages.
 Before 1910 there was little social science literature concerning 'community'
and it was really only in 1915 that the first clear sociological definition
emerged.
 This was coined by C. J. Galpin in relation to defining rural communities in
terms of the trade and service areas surrounding a central village. A number
of competing definitions of community quickly followed.
 Some focused on community as a geographical area; some on a group of
people living in a particular place; and others which looked to community as
an area of common life.
Approaching the theory of community

 It is helpful to begin by noting that community can be approached as a value.

As such it may well be used to bring together a number of elements, for
example, solidarity, commitment, mutuality and trust.
 Community can be approached as a descriptive category or set of variables.
Initially community can be explored in three different ways.
 Place
 Interest
 Communion
Community as network and local social
system
 It is a fact that people live close to one another does not necessarily mean
that they have much to do with each other.
 It is the nature of the relationships between people and the social networks
of which they are a part that is often seen as one of the more significant
aspects of ‘community’.
 When people are asked about what ‘community’ means to them, it is such
networks that are most commonly cited.
 Beyond that perimeter lie work, religious places, neighbourhood, civic life,
and a group of others. Wenger identified five types of support networks:
Cont…

 Wenger identified five types of support networks:

 The local family-dependent support network. This mainly relied on close kin, who
often shared a household or lived locally.
 The locally integrated support network. This typically consisted of local family,
friends and neighbours.
 The local self-contained support network. Usually restricted in scale and containing
mainly neighbours, this form had relatively little kin involvement.
 The wider community-focused support network. Involving a high level of community
activities, this form also typically entailed a high number of friends and kin.
 The private restricted support network. Characterized by an absence of close kin,
aside from a spouse in some cases, this ‘type’ also meant few friends or neighbours.
Community norms and habits

 To judge the quality of life within a particular community we, need to

explore what shared expectations there are about the way people should
behave and whether different individuals take these on.
Three linked qualities appear with some regularity in discussions of
communal life:
 Tolerance
 Reciprocity
 Trust
Social capital

 A sense of belonging and the concrete experience of social networks (and the
relationships of trust etc. that are involved) can bring significant benefits.
 However, the sense of attachment and quality of social networks varies
greatly between the different ‘communities’ that people name.
 Child development
 Public spaces
 Economic prosperity
Formulation of Objectives for
Community School Collaboration
 Schools do not exist in isolation and they cannot go it alone. To keep students
in school their social, economic, and family needs, as well as their academic
needs must be met.
 They need the support and help of the whole community. The often heard
statement, "It takes a village to raise a child," is very true. Volunteers and
funding are two major ways that communities support their schools.
 Some of the initiatives that involve partnering with the community are
School-to-Work Programs, after-school centers, and parental involvement
programs.
Improving School-Community
Collaboration by Formulating Objectives
 Encourage community use of school facilities
 Student Recognition
 Gold cards
 Honor Society
 Honors Passes
 Senior Citizens Banquet
 Positive Reinforcement
Selection of Representatives for
Collaboration
 A community representative must be a member of the community and can be
a parent of a child in the school. Community representatives are appointed by
school council members.
A community representative brings an additional perspective to council
decision.
 Expresses the viewpoint of the community they represent;
 Communicates the activities of the council to stakeholders;
 Works collectively towards the common goal of improving teaching, learning
and student achievement;
 Participates in the school development process with other participants; and,
 Participates in and is prepared for council meetings and discussions.
Collaboration with Local Bodies

 An effective family-community-school collaboration must come together at the

local level.
 Thus, a school and its surrounding community are a reasonable focal point
around which to build an infrastructure.
 Primary emphasis on this level meshes nicely with contemporary restructuring
views that stress increased school based and neighborhood control.
 From a local perspective, first the focus is on mechanisms at the school-
neighborhood level. Based on analyses of what is needed to facilitate and
enhance efforts at a locality, mechanisms are conceived that enable several
school-neighborhood collaborative to work together for increased efficiency,
effectiveness, and economies of scale (e.g., connecting a complex or “family” of
schools, such as a high school and its feeder schools).
Parent Teacher Meeting

 Parent-teacher meetings are a regular feature of school life. Often they add
to stress loads. Not only do they usually occur before or after a busy day of
teaching, many teachers feel uncomfortable dealing with parents.
 Communication with parents and guardians of students require considerable
planning and effort on the teacher’s part. One method will not work with all
parents.
 Communication with families can be face-to-face, written or electronic. An
opportunity for face-to-face verbal communication occurs at parent-teacher
conferences.
 If run effectively, conferences can offer great opportunities to establish good
relationships, but if handled poorly, they can have negative consequences.
Mechanism to Promote Communication

 Teachers attempt to establish partnerships with parents to support student

learning. Strong communication is fundamental to this partnership and to
building a sense of community between home and school.
 In these changing times, teachers must continue to develop and expand their
skills in order to maximize effective communication with parents.
 Avenues of Communication
 One-Way Communication
 Two-Way Communication
Barriers to Communication

 Cultural differences
 On a parental level
 Economic and time constraints
 Lack of technology
Overcoming Linguistic Barriers

 Speak slowly and clearly

 Ask for clarification
 Avoid idioms
 Avoid slang language
 Be specific
 Be patient