“School Social Workers are generally hired by school districts to augment the district’s ability to meet its academic mission, significantly where home, school and community
collaboration is essential to achieving the mission.” (SSWAA, 2003)
One of the core responsibilities of School Social Workers is to develop, maintain and reinforce the connection between the home, school, and community. School Social Workers fathom and respect the fact that such connection is productive for the children, parents, teachers as well as community members. Also, the involvement of families and community conveys that school is crucial and the attendance of the children in the school and the knowledge and skills they gain is worthy of adult attention (Davis, 2000).
Schools that engage families in their children’s learning are drawing out the rich source of information and expertise (Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government). The home-school partnership enables forming better programs, opportunities and learning for students. Moreover, the linkage provides a relevant platform for the families to be instrumental in school decision-making. Besides, when the schools maintain proper relation with the community, the students will experience the benefits from community leaders as mentors, participate in community cultural or recreational activities, and receive support in tackling with family and/or personal problems. Additionally, the connection between school and community enables the community to identify with and be supportive of their schools. As a result, they can together work towards providing quality of education to the students. Also, community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities (Purinto & Azcoitia, 2016).
However, establishing and boosting the nexus between home-school-community is a daunting task. It requires commitment, dedication and investment of time. Due to the various circumstances and pressures, many families and community will need special arrangements, or extra support, to enable them to become actively involved in children’s school lives, and to help children get the most from school. (Family-School & Community Partnerships Bureau Australia)
6.1) Elements
6.1.1) Level of Linkage
Many studies have concluded that high levels of parental and community involvement lead to effective schools, generally because the involvement brings out enhanced student learning, attendance, and behavior. The collaboration of school, family, and community results in enhanced student achievement, family health, school success and community development. Thus, the school should endeavor in engaging both parents and community which should be well planned and implemented properly. Ideas should be gathered from parents as well as communities in designing school programs and activities considering the best interest of the child.
37 Primarily, in Jana Udaya School, school administration and SMC is involved in developing
the schools’ plan and programs whereas PTA is conferred with moderately. The respondents remarked that consultation with wider community and parents is absent. Although the parents are invited to meetings and asked for suggestions, the suggestions limit to documents and are not implemented. In my opinion, at times, the suggestions provided do not comply with the school code of conduct or are beyond the capacity of the school. Thus, it is crucial for the school to convey its regulations and limitations beforehand to make the parents and community aware of the scenario. Additionally, some suggestions might require more time and commitment, not only from school but from parents as well as community members.
Such necessity should be communicated effectively and the roles and responsibilities should be defined clearly. The school should also impart the reason for not addressing the suggestions from parents and community members.
When respondents were inquired about the encouragement from school for parental and community involvement, all respondents shared similar views beside a teacher. The teacher responded that the school does not stimulate parental and community involvement.
Although parents are invited for programs, inviting parents is taken as a compulsion and not viewed as a fundamental initiative. Nonetheless, students agreed that the school realizes the significance of involving parents and other respondents commented that parents are frequently invited to school programs and meetings but only the parents who have time attend such events. Students reasoned that parents skip school programs also because some of them do not hold the opinion that they should be engaged in school events whereas others do not care about participating.
The responses infer the necessity for both school and parents to comprehend the signification of parental involvement. As both school and parents are highly responsible towards the students, they should work closely for the betterment of the child. Importantly in this school where most of the parents are daily-wage earners, until and unless they know that their time, efforts and contribution is helping their child to grow and develop in a best possible way, they will not compromise their time. Under such circumstance, School Social Worker can conduct home visits to learn about the families as well as the environments where they live and support school and parents in establishing and thriving the engagement of parents in the school. Also, the school should “offer a broad range of activities to encourage support and participation, including non-threatening, low-commitment opportunities” (Vandelgrift &
Greene, 1992).
As parents and community members are experts in diverse fields, their knowledge and experiences can be shared with the students through numerous learning activities. There might be parents who are willing to share their knowledge of occupations, travel, skills, and hobbies. For instance, if the class is about ethnicity and culture, parents belonging to different ethnicity and culture can be invited to share their norms, values, lifestyle and so on. By inviting parents to volunteer, the school conveys that the parents are wanted, needed, and welcomed at school. When parents volunteer in the classroom, their children feel proud and feel that the course is significant enough (Giganti, 2011). Besides, working with children will teach parents about how children learn and how to explain the same idea in different
ways, also such participation will illuminate the strengths and limitations of their own child (ibid).
However, there is no record of such level of participation by parents in Jana Udaya school.
A teacher expressed that it is either because the parents are not aware that they should be involved in learning activities and share their knowledge or perhaps such trend has not started yet. But a parent shared that it is an effective concept as students will gain some knowledge from parents as well. Likewise, a student commented that it will be helpful for students if parents help them with studies. As both parents and students feel enthusiastic about the engagement of parents in learning activities leading to enriching student performance, it will be more convenient for teachers to reach out to parents for volunteering in the classroom. School Social Workers can assist the teachers and parents in enhancing their capacity to make the involvement effective and meaningful.
Underlining most parents limited educational background, a teacher said that if not in helping child academically, the parents can contribute by creating favorable environment at home and allocating time for playing and studying. Likewise, a teacher shared about suggesting the parents to encourage students to study at home as well to spend some quality time with the children. A parent affirmed giving their best in establishing effective learning environment at home for their children- having a separate learning space to study and helping children with studies during morning and evening. The parent even expressed about avoiding fighting in front of the children to prevent impingement upon them in any way.
The more the parents get involved and learn about the school, the more they can help the student (LaBahn, 1995). The parents are able to "increase their understanding of child development in areas of physical, social, emotional and cognitive development" (Gelfer, 1991); this helps to provide a bond between home experiences and the educational program. Parents are better able to offer a more positive and exciting home environment when they understand how the child develops (LaBahn, 1995).
Notwithstanding, there are many difficulties that the parents go through challenging them to manage everything. Although parents want to provide rich, supportive learning environment and opportunities for social interaction for their children, this can be less realistic for low-income families to achieve as compared to families with a higher socioeconomic status (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Heymann & Earle, 2016).
Besides, the resources available in the community should be harnessed by the school to enhance the quality of education and the learning environment. On one hand, the students will get dynamic, interesting and real-life opportunities for learning and on the other hand, they will learn the ways to employ the community resources and the possibility of intertwining them to achieving goals or solving problems. In Jana Udaya School, the students are taken for trips to museums and industries. A teacher shared about taking students for a visit to the police department to learn about their roles, responsibilities as well as lifestyle. Students expressed that out of such educational trips, they practically see and observe things and are also able to make the connection between theories and real world hence making learning better and effective.
39 Such education trips can diversify the range of learning opportunities, establishes the sense
of engagement with the real world and confirms the pertinence of the curriculum. The field observations can further be discussed in the classroom and the students can share their experiences and learning and further learn how other students perceived the similar scenario.
Moreover, a student noted that school is regularly using the community ground as a school playground and for organizing school events. According to a teacher, the school building is labeled as a community building and is available to organize programs by the community and the community organizations. The school is in the community and is the property of the community. However, besides materialistic, there is no other substantial connection between this school and the community. A student commented that more ways should be identified to exploit the community resources for reinforcing the learning environment.
In addition to the school, it is essential for the community to organize programs for the students to enhance student’s skills and learning. It will reflect the community concern towards the education and development of the students, including respect towards and acceptance of the students. The community can involve students in fund-raising activities, taking care of elderly, vocational activities, cleaning community, and so on. The teachers of Jana Udaya expressed that there has been no such initiation from the community.
Nevertheless, a parent shared about a program organized by the community for the first batch of students to attend SLC examination. Likewise, all students mentioned about street drama against smoking and drug abuse organized by the community organizations to tackle such problem, targeting both community members and school students. However, the teachers’ retorts signify that the community should be involved more with school and in organizing school activities.
Moreover, it is vital that the community, in which the school is located, has a favorable environment for the students. It should be safe for the students as they pass through the community to get to school from home and vice-versa. The safety comprises of safe infrastructure (building, roads, power supplies) as well as being protected from any risks or problems. What happens before the school day starts and after it ends are just as important and impactful in student’s lives as what happens during the traditional school day (Pride Surveys, n.d.). As per a teacher, drug abuse is one of the prevailing problems in the community of Jana Udaya School. The issue of drug abuse is not only limited to community members but has influenced the students as well.
A teacher pointed that the school puts regular efforts in solving problems within the school by providing suggestions and guidance to the students and working together with parents.
Likewise, a parent noted that the school mainly takes responsibility to look after the students during school hours and request parents to be concerned and notice the student’s activity while at home. The school had organized a program on drugs, in collaboration with the local Police Department which focused on the overall issue of drug abuse and its legal aspects.
Nonetheless, these endeavors have not been broad enough to spread up to the community.
Besides, neither school nor community initiates to coordinate in solving the problems. The school nevertheless is conducting necessary investigations and a teacher justified that there are only a few cases of drug abuse in school.
From the ecological systems perspective, the case of drug abuse is prominent because of the continual interaction between the student and the environment. Hence, evidence-based intervention with multiple systems (here: school, family, and community) at the different levels (here: micro, mezzo) is paramount. Although the parents are consulted about the issue and they are taking necessary steps at home, even the community should take strong action against the individuals who are involved in drug abuse. When all three partners show an equal level of concern and determination to tackle the issue, the probability of eradicating the issue of drug abuse increases.
Further, all parents expressed that the school has not approached in solving community problems. A student claimed that the reason behind is also because the budget that the school receives is enough only for the school operation. Notwithstanding, the student remarked organizing street drama by the child club against drug abuse. Another student mentioned about school initiating to addressing problems if it is within the school capacity. The respondent gave an example where the students, as well as school staffs, donated some money to help a community member whose both kidneys had failed.
Subsequently, the respondents were asked to give their opinion on the role of community, parents, school, and students in strengthening the home-school-community partnership (Figure 6, p.42). A teacher underlined the absence of local students and thus suggested that if the community members send their child to this school considering it to be a local school, they would have been more concerned about the school. In teacher’s part, they should invite the parents regularly and take suggestions from them regarding their teaching, their efforts and so on. Such initiation would make the parents feel that they are valued. The recurrent communication between parents and teachers leads to strengthening the linkage and enhances the concern towards the linkage.
While the teachers focused on reinforcing the partnership, a parent stressed on the progress of students for which the relation between community, parents, and school should be effective. The respondent remarked that when school and community are doing good, the students can progress. However, in the context of this school, neither school nor community is concerned about each other. It is also significant for the parent to be aware of the crucial role they play in establishing and maintaining the liaison leading to enhancement of student performance and learning. Notwithstanding, another parent commented that as the focus of the parents is their child’s betterment and to prevent them from delinquency, the parents should give suggestions to the school so that the children can study properly. Also, it is essential for the parents to maintain frequent communication with the school and accumulate information about their child’s education and activities.
When analyzing the retorts from the teachers and the parents, I find a gap in the comprehension among teachers and parents that their roles are interlinked and that it is crucial for them to collectively work on reinforcing the linkage for improvement, progress and better student outcomes. When parents and schools work together, it will help make the schools the best it can be and the students better prepared for their futures. School Social Workers are the key link between the school and the home in promoting the involvement of
41 families in their child’s education and helping school comprehend and relate to the diversity
of family forms, lifestyles, and backgrounds (Allen & Tracy, 2004).
Besides, a student elaborated the role of community, teachers as well as parents. As per the respondents’ retort, the parents should support the school financially as well and they should inquire about their child’s progress at school. It is also crucial for the parents to get information about the school operation: how is it being operated and how are the students as well as the teachers performing. In the case of any deviance, the parents and teachers should come up with strategies to tackle the issues. Concerning community, they should be updated about happenings in school, also about where students go and what they do. As such, the community should apprise school as well as parents about any suspicious activity of students. In the case of students, they should fulfill their duties. There are times when teachers do not come to school for small reasons or teachers skip classes because the students deny studying and request to have a play time. As per the respondent, it does not simply disturb that single class, but it has a ripple effect and affects concurrent classes. Hence, if such actions are controlled, a positive environment to study is established in the school.
Likewise, another student emphasized the significant role of the parents to give ethical knowledge to their children on how to behave in school and differentiate good from bad, parents being the first teachers. As per the respondent, parents are equally needed for the proper development of the students and with the help from parents, the children can excel in school. Having said that, the respondent also claimed that such relationship does not exist amidst most of the parents and students of this school. The majority of the parents hold religious beliefs and most of the parents are poorly educated and hence they neither encourage the children nor create a favorable learning environment at home. On top of that, parents think that as student’s study in school, there is no need for them to study at home.
This scenario makes the students completely dependent on school for their academic success. In a study conducted by Auerbach and Collier (2012), parents believed that the most meaningful contribution they made to their child’s education was the transmission of mores, beliefs, and values. The authors hence concluded that home-based involvement has a greater impact on academic success than parent’s visibility at school.
A student also underscored the necessity for the school to teach parents to provide good learning environment at home. Another student briefed the role of each; parents should be involved in all the school programs; the students should study well and the different needs
A student also underscored the necessity for the school to teach parents to provide good learning environment at home. Another student briefed the role of each; parents should be involved in all the school programs; the students should study well and the different needs