By Jayne Westerlund
Once
a month at our secondary school in rural southern Africa, a verbal
notice was sent out to the surrounding community announcing a parent teacher
conference. The purpose of the conference was to discuss disciplinary
actions, student issues and the future of school programs. No one came.
There always seemed to be a tirade over why parents did not show up.
Many teachers complained that the community was apathetic, parents whose
children were not at our school did not care or that some did not like
the principal because he was from another area of the country. Through
talking with students, I found that many leaders in the area felt that
the community was not being heard in these conferences, did not have any
sway, and felt generally ignored by the teachers and regional offices.
As stated in the "Practical Guide" of this CD, community involvement
can be facilitated through invitations to school activities outside of
formal meetings that might be intimidating and not conducive to encouraging
parents and those who are not parents in the community to get involved.
Through open days, sport days, and persuading professionals in the area
to assist with special classes such as health classes, agriculture, or
crafts, the community can get to know the school. Students can learn from
and appreciate the knowledge and talent in their community.
Although this sounds great, I know that when I was a teacher, I was also
informed about these ideas but I found it difficult to teach almost every
class during the day and find time to help out with extracurricular activities.
It is a lot to ask teachers to also put together presentations or some
sort of party for those in the community with almost no resources - not
even tea to offer the parents when they came. The teachers were embarrassed
and did not have the time or energy. Although, if left to the students,
the teachers said, nothing would take place.
Most of the teachers at the school, including myself, were not from the
area and did not know the local language fluently. This made it especially
difficult to try to identify not only who was working in a science field
but also who was knowledgeable and respected by the community and the
students. This took a lot of effort and extra help from local teachers.
Even the extracurricular activities were difficult to implement because
of the burden on overloaded teachers and school management. Two activities
that I was involved in with other teachers- sport coaching and the school
newspaper- were sporadic due to resource and time issues.
However, teachers should note that nothing elaborate needs to be put
together. Something as simple as assigning the students to investigate
professionals and others in the community through interviews, will allow
students to evoke information and knowledge about their community with
minimal help from teachers. In History class the students can interview
older members of the area to elicit stories and personal recounts of events
in the country; in Agriculture or Life Science class students can interview
local farmers or game wardens; in Life Science or Biology class students
can interview health workers; etc. Teachers can use creative assignments
to involve the community without adding additional work for themselves.
Motivation of learners to take the initiative on their own can be fostered
through school assignments and fund raising programs. Integrating activity
with the community into the curriculum is an excellent way to promote
learning.
Motivation can comein the form of grants and scholarships as well. Another
school in the center of the country where I was teaching put together
a cultural celebration and invited students from many different schools
to showcase their singing, dancing, and music abilities. Our school also
joined through donations from the government in order to share their culture
with others in the country.
In a geography class that I taught, we studied reading and interpreting
maps. One of the assignments I gave the students was to map the school
and surrounding community and then share them with the class. This gave
students the opportunity to practise their spatial and communication skills
but also encouraged them to explore the surrounding area, consult with
community members and express themselves creatively.
In addition, a Student Representative Council can be assigned the task
of seeking out the leaders of the community to interview them on their
feelings about the school. Students can brain-storm questions that they
would like to ask the community leaders such as what they appreciate most
about the local school's teachers, the students, or the programs. The
question could be phrased as "When have you felt most welcome in the school?"
or "Describe a time when you feel the school was working at its best.
What was happening?" or "Tell a story about when you were a child and
the community was very involved with what was happening at school. How
did the parents participate? What encouraged them to participate?" These
questions can then be focused on the current school and current atmosphere.
"Based on your answers to the previous questions, how can this school
encourage more participation?" or "What are you willing to do or to contribute
to this school?" The students could then report these findings back to
their fellow students through oral presentations.
Crisis, unfortunately, also motivates and brings people together. In
the school where I was teaching, we had many problems with the students
who viewed the principal as unfairly strict, arrogant, hypocritical, and
suspect of being corrupt. While the principal was at times stubborn and
self-centered, I think the real problem laid with his inability to communicate
effectively with the students and community as well as his overt tribal
links. This crisis came to a head with protest marches of the students
which turned violent when some of the students began throwing garbage
and stones at the principal. The principal was removed and placed in another
area for his own safety and the regional offices were called in. News
of the issue reached the Minister of Education who was a former principal
at the school and whose family lived in a village close to the school.
He and his assistants participated in a school and community wide meeting
to analyze the situation.
The Minister of Education was able to bring people together because of
his reputation, political power, and his standing in the community as
one of the most respected people in the country. People came from all
areas surrounding the school in order to hear him speak; people believed
that things would change not only in the school but in the whole district
because he was willing to take charge of the situation. Through these
perceptions, things did change. The community was made aware of the issues
facing the school, more through the dialgue with teachers and students
than through the Minister's presence. I don't think that every school
would be able to invite the Minister of Education, but by asking respected
members of the community to attend meetings or conferences, whether those
living in the community or those who are living outside but still have
power and influence in the area, the neighborhood would be more willing
to attend because of the belief that their ideas, thoughts, and participation
would be appreciated and valued.
Another idea to bring people together is to ask many students to interview
members of the community, teachers, and other students as a school wide
project to combat apathy, inspire more active participation among community
members in the school and among teachers and students within the community.
The focus could even become broader than the school and incorporate community
based projects to improve the local environment, health, or economy. Students
may integrate this assignment into a writing or journalism class. Through
questions that inspire thoughts of the best qualities of the community,
teachers, students, and the school, a positive focus on what can be built
up, improved upon, or celebrated will be an antidote to the discouraging,
often defeatist blaming of "outside factors" or "things beyond our control."
Believing that the school is part of the community and the community is
part of the school enables students, teachers and community members to
take responsibility, feel in control and build the school into what they
view as their own.
Other ideas for involvement/participation:
- Community art projects/beautification
- Parent/teacher Associations
- Enviornmental awareness projects in the community
- Community members on the schoolboard
- Hiring a community liaison to the school
- Community craft fairs or food markets to raise money for the school
- Talent shows, plays, or concerts put on by the students
- Community cookbooks which can be sold to raise funds for the school
Or, each grade can choose a topic from the above list as their "grade
contribution or project" and have a competition between grades for
amount of money raised, number of community members involved, or awareness
of the event in the area.
|