Publish at February 08 2023 Updated February 08 2023
What is the situation evoked by this sentence? One possible scene: parents with their child on one side of the table, the school principal and a teacher on the other, gathered to discuss a situation (usually complicated) whose pivot is the student. Or perhaps some anecdote involving parents (usually exacerbated) questioning some attitude of the teacher. Isn't this lack of understanding between teachers and parents baffling?
In an educational community, teachers and school staff, families and community work together in order to improve student learning. All, used to acting in isolation, seek to develop mutual trust. The Coalition for Community Schools defines family and community engagement as an integral part of an educational community:
Using public schools as a hub, community schools bring together a wide variety of partners to provide a wide range of services and opportunities for children, youth, families, and communities. Their integrated focus on education, health and social services, youth and community development, early learning and care, and extended learning, along with family and community involvement, leads to better student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities.
Community schools can establish annual plans for family and community involvement in the school, for implementing and evaluating activities of diverse character. Six types of involvement have been characterized through research:
Adapted from Epstein et al, 2002
They are significant, as shown in the list below, with the foundation being the establishment of greater trust among participants:
The positive relationship in the school community benefits families of all economic and educational levels. Family participation in the school allows for a less stereotyped relationship between parents and teachers; knowledge of the other's belonging to a particular social category is less influential than individual characteristics.
In schools where community action is not practiced, interactions between parents and teachers are more diverse and frequent during kindergarten, subsequently becoming more irregular, formalized, and centered on assessment and problem-solving processes as one progresses through schooling. In community schools, the benefits of family-teacher relationships reach students of all ages.
School communities are open to all families, recognizing and respecting cultures, valuing parents' experiences and knowledge, and incorporating them into the classroom. Thus, teachers can better understand where students are coming from, providing support and relevant teaching.
One school held a program to celebrate the differences of eight cultural groups represented by the school community. Families and volunteers contributed objects, songs, and poems. The activities helped students develop language skills and involved diverse families in the children's learning.
In one school, family reading nights were conducted. Parents came with their children, chose books appropriate for their age group, took questions about reading with teachers, and learned strategies for encouraging reading at home.
Another school organized a café where parents could listen to texts written by students. And finally another that delegated the writing to parents, who wrote about their experiences and read their texts to students.
Schooling can be compared to a student crossing a tightrope; at one end of the rope, teachers and the school maintain the necessary tension, which needs to be maintained at the other end by parents and family members. Students with parents involved in school feel more confident and show better grades and behavior.
And it's not just the students who benefit from this relationship. Parents communicate better with teachers and the school, and find support from other parents and the community. Schools and teachers, meanwhile, receive support from family members, indispensable teammates.
References
Families in the educational community - Isaura Pedro
Partnering with families and communities - Joyce L. Epstein and Karen Clark Salinas
Community Schools as an Effective School Improvement Strategy: A Review of the Evidence
- Anna Maier, Julia Daniel, Jeannie Oakes, and Livia Lam
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