The Why and How of School CNS Ta.) and Community Partnership earning Outcome: At the end of this Chapter, you should be able to: * explain what school and community partnership means; * explain the legal and sociological bases of school and; community partnership; and * cite examples of school-community partnerships. ‘Activity~Let’s-Do Thissa 1. Based on your school experiences, list down ways by which a community helps a school and ways by which a school helps a community. Come up with an exhaustive list. 2. Group yourselves by 6. Compare your lists. Come up with a final list in which communities help schools and in which schools help communities. Based on your group list, is there: real partnership between school and community? Or do you find one party (like the school) more favored because it gets more help than the other? Defend your answer.The Teacher and the Community, Schoo! Culture and Organizational Leadership Tey Conceptualize Opportunities for School-Community Partnership Partnership implies two parties helping each other. Both parties benefit. This ‘means that if a school - community partnership exists, both parties benefit from the relationship. Thus in the following paragraphs we shall present what communities can do for schools and what schools can do for communities. r What can the community do for schools? Here are examples of what a community can do for schools: 1. Brigada Eskwela - This program engages all education stakeholders to contribute their time, effort and resources in ensuring that public school facilities are set in time for the forthcoming school opening. It takes place more or less two weeks before classes begin in June. This is a school maintenance program that has been institutionalized since 2009 when DepEd issued DepEd Order # 100. 2. Curriculum development - This can mean use of community resources for learning. e.g. museum, elders of the community as key informants in research or resource persons in the study of local history . 3. Work experience programs - Business establishments and offices in the community can serve as training ground for learners. A concrete example is the Work Immersion required of Senior High School students. In this Work Immersion, students are given the opportunity to work in relevant establishments or offices in the community to help develop in them “the competencies, work ethics, and values relevant to pursuing further education and /or joining the world of work.... Partner offices for immersion provide Senior High School students with opportunities: “1) to become familiar with the work place; 2) for employment simulation; and 3) to apply their competencies in areas of specialization /applied subjects in authentic work environments (Enclosure to DepEd Order No. 30, 3. 2017). In this school-community partnership, the school can fulfill what curriculum requires and may improve on their curriculum based on community feedback, enables the students to undergo hands-on work experience, while community establishments contribute to the formation of graduates who are more ready for life and more equipped for the world of work. Business establishments or any world of work in the community are the ultimate beneficiariesChapter 6 — The Why and How of School and Community Partnership -] 65 of these graduates who have been more prepared through work immersion. Some schools call this service learning since it actively involves students in a wide range of experiences which benefits students and the community at the same time fulfilling the requirement of a curriculum. 4. Remediation and enrichment classes - Parents and retired teachers may be involved in the School Reading remediation and Learning Enrichment Programs. 5. Youth Development Programs - The young may involve themselves in youth development programs and develop their skills and talents, learn how to deal positively with peers and adults and serve as resources in their communities. 6. Community Service - Examples of community service are students participating in tutorial programs, community : reforestation programs, clean up drive for a river, assisting in medical mission; school head involved in planning local celebrations, teachers managing programs, projects, activities; school band playing in fiesta parade What can schools do for communities in return? Schools may allow the community to use school resources. Here are concrete examples enumerated by the DepEd Primer on School- Community Partnership: . * Classroom used by community organizations for meetings * School used as a polling place and venue for medical mission which it may co-sponsor with the Rural Health Unit .* School used by the Rural Health Unit for mothers’ class on child care * School used as an evacuation center * School facilities used for community assemblies * School basketball court used for local celebrations and barangay sports league * Schools conduct livelihood skills-training programs for parents and out-of-school youths by using school resources * Livelihood skills-training for parents and out-of-school- youths by teachers themselves‘The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Learning from the Experiences of Schools and Community Partners Here are concrete examples: 1, Dumingaga Central School, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur Strong school community partnership - Feeding program was maintained by community donors - Mother Butler Mission Guild, barangay councils, office of the mayor, parents who budgeted, cooked, purchased. “Kiddie Cop” classes - Cops lectures on "good manners and right conduct, drug addiction, child abuse, child welfare. Municipal Welfare and Development Office - Municipal Health Office conducted special classes on health and nutrition, rights of the child. 2. Angels Magic Spot and Project REACH, etc. - Pembo Elementary School, Makati Pembo Angels Magic Spot (PAMS) were the volunteer environmental steward-students of Pembo Elementary School while magic spots were the small dumpsites or empty lots in the barangay which were converted by’ the students into vegetable gardens from.which members of the barangay could harvest for home supply, the school for their feeding program or sold them for cash for the purchase of seedlings and planting of more vegetables. PAMS brought together students, teachers, school head, parents barangay officials and other members of the community clean up little nooks for garbage and converted them into green areas with vegetables shared by all. It also taught gardening skills and positive attitude toward work to students and supplemented the feeding program for the underweight and the malnourished in the school, Project BOWLS (Brain Operates Well on Loaded Stomachs). Another effective practice was Project Revitalized Enthusiasm for Assistance to Children of Humanity (REACH) where each teacher adopted one student and acted as his/ her mentor for the entire school year. The teacher gave free tutorial to the adopted student during his/her free time, visit the student’s family every now and in some instances. gave the student a daily allowance of ten pesos from the teacher’s own pocket. This contributed to improved performance of Pembo Elementary School, 23" in rank in the Division Achievement Test zoomed up to rank 9 and six years later rank 1. (near-zero drop out rate), ad Kid “Chapter 6 - The Why and How of Schoo! and Community Partnership Urbanidad Kids were ‘ideal students who acted as role mod- els for the students and the PEMBO community. They were the cleanest, most well-mannered and most diligent in class. BOWLS means Brain Operates Well on Loaded Stomach. Every recess, children who were selected by the school as BOWLS beneficiaries due to malnutrition were provided a free bowl of lugaw. a Pera sa Panapon was a weekly trash market where students, their parents and other members of the community were invited to bring their recyclable garbage. The project helped the school purchase the necessary supplies and was able to support two students to a 2010 math competition in Singapore. Sociological Basis of School-Community Partnership? ‘The functionalist theory states that institutions must: perform their respective functions for the stability of society. Other institutions must come in if one institution fails to do its part for the sake of society. The school cannot do it all. "It takes a village to educate a child", so goes the African proverb. It has to work in partnership with other institutions in the community such as the church, government organizations and non-government organizations. With the breakdown of families, schools face greater challenge in educating the young. ‘The rearing and education of the child is the primary obligation of parents. The school, the Church and other social institutions come in to assist parents and families to fulfill their irreplaceable obligation. The breakdown of marriages, the demand for both mother and father to work to meet the demands of a rising cost of living resulting to less or practically no more time for parents to spend time with their children have, however, attacked the stability of families and have adversely affected families in the performance of their irreplaceable duty to educate children. Added to these is the increasing number of families composed of single mothers struggling to raise a family. With the burden of earning lodged solely on the shoulders of one parent, single parents struggle to earn enough .to provide for their families. Consequently, this responsibility leads to their having a limited amount of time to spend for and with growing and developing children who, unfortunately become more likely single-parent families themselves. The cycle goes on. This is not to mention the negative effect of uncontrolled andThe Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership unregulated use of technology on the young. While the use of technology has brought a lot of convenience its uncontrolled and unregulated use by the tech-savvy kids expose these kids to all sorts of information not necessarily. favorable for their development. So families, schools and other social institutions need to work together to save the youth. Legal Bases for Parents and Community Involvement It is no wonder why even our laws support school-community partnership. RA 9155, Governance of Basic Education Act, Section E (10) explicitly states that one of the responsibilities of school heads is “establishing school and community networks and encouraging the active participation of teachers organizations, nonacademic personnel of public schools, and parents-teachers-community associations.” Section 3 (f) of the same Act encourages “local initiatives for the improvement of schools. and learning centers and to provide the means by which... improvements may be achieved and sustained.” Batas Pambansa Blg. 232, otherwise known as the Education Act 0f1982, Section 7 states that: Every educational institution shall provide for the establishment of appropriate bodies through which the members of the educational community may discuss relevant issues and communicate information and suggestions for assistance and support of the school and for the promotion of their common. interest. Representatives from each subgroup of the educational community shall sit and participate in these bodies, the rules and procedures of which must be approved by them and duly published. Another law, RA. 8525 , Adopt -A-School Program Act, also provides for school-community partnership. It allows “private entities to assist a public school, whether elementary, secondary, or tertiary,... in, but not limited to, the following areas: staff and faculty development for training and further education; construction of facilities; upgrading of existing facilities, provision of , books, publications and other instructional materials; and modernization of instructional technologies.” Even the Philippine Education for All (EFA) 2015 Plan, then a vision and a holistic program of reforms that aimed to improve the quality of basic education for every Filipino by end 2015 likewise states: “Schools shall continue to harness local resources and facilitate involvement of every sector.of the community in the school improvement process.” This EFA 2015 Plan was extended in Education for All Beyond 2015-Agenda 2030. Agenda 2030 has 7 new educational targetsChapter. 6 ~ The Why and How of School and Community Partnership from 2015 to 2030 that must involve education stakeholders which in essence is school - community partnership. UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education, Dr. Qian Tang, himself admits that Agenda 2030 cannot be realized without schools partnering with community. He said: “Our vision must be more aggressive, more committed not just involving government, non-government agencies but all stakeholders.” RA 9155, states that partnership between school and community also ensures... that: 1) educational programs, projects and services take into account the interests of all members of the community (Sec 3, d); 2) the schools and learning. centers reflect the values of the community by allowing teachers/learning facilitators and other staff to have the flexibility to serve the needs of all learners (Sec 3, e); and 3) local initiatives for the improvement of schools and learning centers are encouraged and the means by which these improvements may be achieved and sustained are provided (Sec 3, f). So schools and communities function better when they work as a team. PSY Illustrate with a cartéon or a diagram the partnership between school and community. 2. Develop a tool to evaluate the extent and quality of school and community partnership. 3. Pretend you are an Instructor /Professor in this professional course, The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership. Your lesson has this learning outcome: To explain the sociological and legal bases'of school and community partnership. How will you proceed? Deliver your lecture. 4. School and community. partnership enhances sense of own- ership and sense of belonging. What do these mean? How will these impact on schools and communities? ———={_ = * School and community partnership means school head, teachers, learners, parents of learners and non-teaching personnel working together with civic and religious leaders, alumni, other parents, non- . government organizations, government organizations for the good of children. ——‘The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership . The upbringing of children is the main and irreplaceable duty and responsibility of the family. But with the weakening influence of the family on the upbringing of children and with children’s unlimited exposure to modern technology like the internet, the challenge for schools to teach the young has become even greater. So schools cannot do it all. They have to partner with community. In this partnership, children, the primary customers of schools, are most benefited but school and community are likewise mutually benefited. RA 9155, also known as the Governance of Basic Education Act, BP 232 which is the Education Act of 1982, RA. 8525, Adopt -A-School Program Act and Agenda 2030 stipulate school and community partnership. There are many opportunities for school and community partnership. The Brigada Eskwela which is now institutionalized in DepEd Schools is a glaring proof of school and community partnership. Schools with all its human and material resources can offer services also to the community in many ways. Pee ica ih ade lL) 1. Can schools take the place of families in the rearing of children? Why or why not? 2.- What sociological reality in the Philippines: and in the world demand that schools partner with the community (Church, mass media, business establishments, etc.) for the education of children? 3. State the provisions of law that refer to school-community partnership. 4. Cite additional examples of school-community partnerships that benefit the young. = bas biaead In what way am I involved in school and community | partnership? What good have I done to school and community? What else can I do?