Assignment #1 - Group C, Reflection #1

Schools and Communities in Partnership

“Administrators and teachers are professionals whom the public entrusts with creating classroom practices and school cultures where all students can learn well; their actions determine the quality of students’ opportunities. However, educators are not the only adults who influence whether schools actually become academically rigorous and socially just learning communities. Administrators, teachers, parents, and community members must all work toward this goal. In the best schools, educators reach out, welcome, guide, and respond to families and community members to make sure that their participation is authentic and meaningful” (Oakes & Lipton, 2007, p. 383).

Teachers and administrators play a large role in shaping students’ educational experiences and opportunities. However, they should not be the only people involved in determining the methods and goals of a school. The parents of the students, as well as other community members, should be allowed to collaborate with teachers and administrators in these matters, and should do so when given the opportunity. Educators cannot wait for the parents to come to them. Teachers must actively seek and recruit the parents and community members who are willing to contribute to the success of their local schools. They must disregard the notion that parents of low socioeconomic status are not as involved as their wealthier counterparts, and instead make them feel comfortable enough to participate and play a larger role in their children’s education.

“Parent ‘involvement’ means so much more than parents’ acting as supporters, helpers, or compliant clients for the schools’ services. Parents must be equal partners in their children’s schooling; this is not to say, however, that parents and teachers are supposed to perform one another’s ‘jobs.’ Instead, the entire community needs to get straight how its various members both do their job and work together. This isn’t easy, because the best distribution of work and power in order to create a good school is not familiar or comfortable to most people” (Oakes & Lipton, 2007, p. 384).

Again, it is extremely important for parents to play an active role in their children’s education, both inside and outside of the classroom. One cannot truly benefit from one’s education until the teachers and parents have equal positions from which to influence one’s education. Many may not be familiar, or even agree, with this idea, but adopting such a technique will finally allow parents to be involved in every aspect of their child’s education. This will ensure that teachers and parents understand each other’s methods and goals. Additionally, parents must have access to the overarching educational structure of the school, not just that of the classroom.

“An activist approach to improving school opportunities draws from the collective power of residents to solve public problems; this power to solve comes from critically examining community issues and taking action to solve them. Parents who are community activists can be especially effective in bringing socially just schooling to all of the neighborhood’s children. Parent activists are also uniquely well positioned to bridge families and schools. Parents who have organized to promote social change do not see themselves as empowered by others; their empowerment is derived from their collective actions and ‘wins,’ whereby each successful activity informs and emboldens them. By contrast, typical school-controlled support projects may speak of empowering parents, but they often place limits on parents’ ‘power’ if parents’ goals differ from the school’s agenda” (Oakes & Lipton, 2007, p. 407).

The most effective way to include the community in the life of the school is to take an activist approach. Residents can only solve public problems once they unite and stand together, creating power to affect change. Local activists are the most effective way to ensure that every child receives a socially just schooling, and those who are parents serve the important purpose of bridging families and schools together in a mutual flow of respect and culture. Current policies related to parents in schools claim to empower them, while actually limiting their power if their goals differ from those of the school. Instead, schools should embrace local activists and encourage parents to participate in all aspects of their child’s schooling.

“Teachers are rarely leaders of these organizing approaches to parent and community involvement in education. Yet, increasingly, community organizations are reaching out to teachers who are committed to social justice education to add their voices and their power to that of parents. Many teachers have also discovered that the strategies of community organizing – building relationships, forging common meanings about teaching and learning, and taking action together – are powerful ways for forging connections with parents” (Oakes & Lipton, 2007, p. 414).

Teachers must also make increased efforts to include parents and community members in the more obscure and concealed aspects of education. Recently, it has been up to the local residents to include the teachers in their efforts, but it should be a mutual endeavor. Through the efforts of communities, educators have discovered important and powerful ways of building and maintaining connections with parents. The community organizing strategies of the residents can easily be adapted by teachers to fit the classroom and influence their students’ education.

Reference List

Oakes, J., & Lipton, M. (2007). Teaching to change the world (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.