SCHOOLS AT THE CENTRE OF THEIR COMMUNITIES
There can be no doubt that schools often sit in the centre of their communities sharing both physical and emotional focus and, in many localities, becoming the residual publicly funded social institution openly available to children, young people and their families.
Historically speaking, schools have always looked to communities for what they provided; children, support and feed-back. However, the covid-19 experience has highlighted for many, the key role that schools have in supporting communities thereby creating a policy shift whereby they have taken on the reciprocal role of looking out into the community with an offer well beyond the classroom. Childcare, food provision, education, well-being and social cohesion have all been centred around schools at this time of heightened social need. Aspects of this wider “education” offer (often downplayed by schools themselves) have been ‘the ask’ of many communities and particularly so in those which are disadvantaged or marginalised.
Furthermore, in both urban or rural contexts, ever expanding residential development has, more often than not, created situations where schools serve as a key social meeting point for individual citizens and their communities. As a result, policy around parental engagement and community empowerment creates opportunities to build on the role of the school at the heart of the community. This is a shift in the function and definition of schooling and requires further exploration if centring schools within the lives of families and communities is not to fall into the trap of tokenism and consequently, opportunities for improving the life outcomes for children lost.
What has been fundamental to meeting the needs of any community, particularly at this most difficult time, has been to know the community. This in-depth knowledge requires understanding of the subtleties of communities, the shifts of power and need, and can only happen over time through prolonged authentic and trusted engagement.
COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS - TRANSFORMING SCHOOLS AND REVITALIZING COMMUNITIES
Communities and schools are strongly linked – one seldom succeeds if the other fails. Schools need families and communities that are involved in the education of students; communities need schools that serve as centers of neighborhood life. Cincinnati Public Schools has created campuses that strengthen the link between schools and communities. Its Community Learning Centers serve as hubs for community services and provide a system of integrated partnerships that promote academic excellence and offer recreational, educational, social, health, civic and cultural opportunities for students, families and the community.
Since launching in 2002, our CLC model has drawn national attention for successfully engaging community partnerships in school buildings. CLCs offer health services, counseling, after-school programs, nutrition classes, parent and family engagement programs, career and college access services, youth development activities, mentoring, arts programming and more.
Using our two school-based case studies of practice together with international examples of successful community engagement in schooling, we’ll now explore how this broader ask of schools reflects the current zeitgeist and heralds a fundamental shift in the role of schooling as a significant contributor to building strong and resilient communities. We have chosen to do this through three distinct but interrelated themes each of which have sub themes around which we have gathered resources and materials which we hope will inform thinking and promote discussion.
The themes are:
BUILDING TRUST
INVITATIONAL LEADERSHIP
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
Schools do not operate in a vacuum. Successful schools depend on the resources and support of their communities and schools at the centre of their communities are often the most successful schools. In turn, schools are vital to the social health of their local communities… Given the importance of schools for disadvantaged communities, how can system support for teachers and education staff be strengthened in these schools to drive quality and equity? What can we learn from schools that partner with businesses, educational services and cultural bodies in their community and excel at driving business and social innovation in their communities? How can schools engage the local community and contribute to social responsibility?
OECD (2018)