E-Class AssignmentAnother View of Community Involvement
Please watch the following Ted.Talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
Supplemental information:
http://www.826national.org
http://www.onceuponaschool.org
Please post your answers to the following questions:
1) Dave Eggers mentions "a trust gap" as the reason why the tutoring center wasn't an instant success. What "trust gaps" currently exist between schools and the larger community? How can school leaders address them?
2) Dave Eggers takes us through his action plan for creating and expanding 826 Valencia. What lessons did you learn about involving the community from his experience? What elements about the design appealed to both students and community members?
3) Think about creating a "transformative partnership" with your school and the larger community. What need(s) would you want to address? What beginning steps might you take, as a school leader?
Sergiovanni Chapter Six: Followship First, Then Leadership
Please email me your responses to the following questions:
1) What makes a follower instead of a subordinate?
2) According to Sergiovanni, what does a leader need to do to have followers rather than subordinates?
3) Why shouldn’t the old leadership recipe of “expect and inspect” work in schools anymore? Do we still see it being utilized? How do policies like No Child Left Behind impact this model?
4) As a teacher, does your school have more followers or subordinates (and which category do you fall into?) How does this tie into your principal's leadership style?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. I think the trust gap that exist between the school and the larger community is one of belonging. The community doesn’t trust that the school needs them and that they have anything to offer to the school, the teacher, or the classroom. They parents and the community see the school as a building the houses students from 7 till 2 for high school and that they aren’t wanted or needed there. The school has a trust gap with the home and community and not asking for help from them. The school and the teachers are so pressed to get through curriculum and pass a test that they are afraid to deviate from the curriculum and let the students explore for the sake of exploring. The parents get a hands off feeling as soon as their students enter middle school for the most part. This is in part from the school and in part from their child. The child wants their independence and the parents want to give it to them. This is actually the time that the parents needs to become more involved. The students will start to make friends and choices that the parents don’t like and the parents are afraid to say no. They also are afraid of looking like bad parents so they don’t turn to the school and teachers to ask for help. The teachers are afraid of looking like they don’t know what they are doing and thus don’t turn to the parents either. They only real communication most teacher have with parents are when the students are acting out and need some control. They reach out to the parents and ask for help at times, others they just punish the students and the parent either goes along with it or not.
ReplyDeleteThe school leaders need to address the parents and get them to buy into the idea that school is an extension of the home. That the behaviors need to be consistent at home and school. The school needs to support the parents and make the school environment a warm and welcoming one so that the parents and community wants to come and help. The school I think needs to meet the community more than half way on this account. The community has felt for so long that they only way they are needed is monitory. They don’t come to the school to ask what can I do. The school needs a more proactive approach to bringing in the community. They have to go to community meetings like housing associations, church groups, retirement homes, and things like that and make the community aware they are there and want help. Once they get the people into the building they also need to make sure that the community members are being used in a real way and not just as window dressing like to copy papers and things like that. They have to be engaged in working with the teachers and the students. I agree with Dave that we need to give more students more one on one time with their work to make the successful.
I definitely took this question in a different direction but I really liked your response. In fact, it didn't even occur to me to think about parents not trusting the school because the school doesn't reach out to them. That does make a lot of sense and would explain why the relationship between parents and schools are as strained as they are.
DeleteIn my opinion, the trust gap in most schools is the lack of direct connection between the school staff and the parents. Most schools have parent laison but that still does not close the separation gap. School staff need to visit and make appearances in the community and engage in one-on-one conversation with the parents in the community. School staff need to visit the students at their houses, public libraries, community centers and cultural events. The school need to interact with the parents outside the school building. That will help increase the level of trust that the parents will have and it will build a long lasting relationship between parents and students.
Delete2. I learned that you really don’t need money to make a plan to change how you help support students. I need to find creative ways to find community members to come and actively engage with the students. They need to have the opportunities to work with the students and help them become successful. I think most community members are afraid to come to the high school setting because they are afraid they won’t understand the material and look foolish and not be helpful. Most of the time the students just need to see that there is someone that cares how they are doing and care about them.
ReplyDeleteI think the part that appealed to everyone was the building Dave had made learning not feel like school and that it filled the need the community had. It gave the students a place to be working on their work and becoming successful in their studies and it also gave the parents a sense of relief knowing that the students weren’t wondering the streets or our somewhere they didn’t belong. I think the store front being silly and unintimidating appealed to everyone as well. It established a place where all wanted to be to work and it put the students in touch with adults that they saw as professionals and could ask questions of.
Darren I really like your feedback on question number 2. I also believe that you don't necessarly need money to make change. I believe in inviting parents into the classroom often and any other events that their child is taking part in (field trips, assemblies, recess,etc.) I don't say that there is a particular reason they have or need to visit. When my parents do visit I make it a point to talk to them about what's going on in the classroom and how they can use the same strategies at home to see the same outcome. I want my parents to feel accepted, because often they feel that their children are not "accepted" by society.
DeleteThe best way to feel accepted is to trust the people you are working with. Dave Eggers at some point realized that there will going to be an issue of trust between his endeavor and the school community, and that is why he hired the teacher from Mexico city to help build that connection and maintain trust between the tutor center and the community. Without the connection, they parents would still be skeptical and even the schools will not trust the center.
Delete3. The main need that would have to be addressed for my school and community would have to be to build one in a way and place that is central to everyone. My school has a unique situation that it isn’t a local community that comes to the school. We don’t pull any students from the local neighborhood. I would have to say for my school community we would have to first address a place to start from. This may not be an option for my community, so it would most likely have to be created at the school and bring the community and volunteers to the school instead of starting in the community and then bringing it to the school. The initial store front idea wouldn’t work for us, but the concept of bringing people into the school for an hour or two and those people with all those hours or two combined would fill in the gaps needed at my school.
ReplyDeleteThe first steps I would have take as a school leader would be to go to the different community meetings and church groups and get into newsletters and things like that to make the community aware of the need that my school has. That the school isn’t looking for people to be there the whole day and that if they can give an hour or two every month and if everyone was able to commit to it, that we could cover the needs that the school has for reading, writing, math, science, and socialization. I would also have to explain to the community what types of students come to my school and what the special needs of the students are that come to the school. The community members would need to be able to committee time and patience to my students in order to make this successful.
1. Although the first type of trust gap that comes to mind is not a large one it is still important to recognize; when receiving the first bit of communication with the school or teacher and there being major typos and/or grammatical mistakes that need to be fixed. That would not make me feel very good as a parent. Or when looking at the website and seeing similar mistakes. That would not make me trust the people that I am supposed to be sending my child to learn from.
ReplyDeleteAnother trust gap that comes to mind is when you see failing marks on state tests. If a school continues to not meet AYP or be fully accredited, I would imagine there to be another trust gap. These are reasons for the community to not trust the school.
Not keep true to promises made and not communicating plans are more examples as to why there can be a trust gap between the community and schools.
2. I loved the idea of creating a cover store. At first I had a hard time grasping why they wouldn’t use that space for more tutoring room, especially after seeing the positive response they got from the community and all the tutors and students that wanted to come. In fact, I still have a hard time understanding why the “stores” are as big as they are. It was clear they were running out of space for tutoring. That being said, there is a huge buy in that all members of the community need and that the store fronts were able to provide. They were silly and fun and really gave the space some creative juices that could at times get stale because of all the hard work/not so fun work that is happening simultaneously.
3. I think that any school would be so lucky to have a transformative partnership like the ones viewed in this video. I would want to address similar ideas that 826 Valencia has come up with and give students as much attention as possible in order to help them progress in school. I do think there is something said for these opportunities happening off of school grounds. I would be curious to see if the same results were gained from those that were in a school site vs. at a location like 826 Valencia. As a school leader, I would want to reach out to someone like Dave Eggers to figure out how we can make this happen in my area. It would be great for our teachers to also get involved but I feel pretty strongly that it would need to be an outside team of people to get things started since it would be a full time job until it is under way. I would love for our teachers to be involved and get as many community members as possible to help out as well.
Courtney, I totally agree with your thoughts on the store front. At first I thought that it was a way to fill up space but as he began to show more stores with different themes it dawned on me what a great use of space this was. Like you said, the spaces were creative and provided entertainment to students and community members. People had a chance to learn while just looking around. I also like to think that these stores and their contents spark a lot of conversation among students, tutors and other community members.
DeleteAs I thought more about the various store fronts, I think it was the link that many students and community members needed to visit the space and see what it was all about. By making a fun and clever store front it grabbed the attention of community members and students. Once they went in they were hooked which helped increase the number of participants and volunteers. Just like we use links in our lessons to excite and engage students, Dave used the store front to pull people into the tutoring center.
DeleteCourtney I am not sure the success of the tutoring would have been as great if they didn't have the silly front of the store to get people into the space. Besides Dave said that the space was marked as commercial so he had to sell something in the front of the store so that is why he origianlly came up with the prirate theme and then each other space that opened just went with the whole fake store front with a weird actual front that faced the street so that the students wouldn't see it as a place of just tutoring. I agree with you as well that I would love to find a way to make it work for my school as well, with all those adults buying into the school enviroment and showing the students that they care, the students can't go anywhere but up. It would be nice to have the support he talks about in the school as well so that you have a steady stream of people coming into the school to help where needed to improve students outcomes. We have a small part like this at our school with the coast gaurd but would love to expand it more so there is always some adult working with the students on a one on one basis. You never know when that one adult is going to make a difference in that one student.
ReplyDelete1. I believe “fear of the unknown” is a huge trust gap between schools and the larger community. If you don’t know someone, you will be resistant in trusting. Trust has to be earned. In order to earn trust, you have make someone comfortable, show that you care and that can depend on you. Like every relationship, the community wants to know those things about the teachers and staff of the school in the neighborhood before they put their children and trust in their hands. The community doesn’t know how to school can help them outside of the school hours and the schools are unsure of how to reach out. As a school leader, making connections with the community, being visible neighborhoods and partnering with local community businesses are ways that I feel that this can be addressed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with "fear of the unknown" as a major trust gap. I find that true as a parent and as a teacher. That is why open communication is so very important. Schools do need to be more inviting and open to the families. If the school is so closed up within itself, then myths can flourish and trust will diminish.
DeleteI think the "fear of the unknown" is a huge reason why more community members shy away from schools. I think many times schools are so worried about standardized assesments and making sure they teach everything they need that many times reaching out to the outside community is quickly forgotten. As a school we need to be more inviting to the community and create those outreach opportunities. By being more inviting to the community, we can hopefully reduce the "fear of the unknown" and create a trusting relationship.
DeleteI definitely think community members have a strong "fear" when it comes to schools. Part of this may be because policies have changed SO drastically since they were in school that they have no idea what to expect! There also used to be a mentality that school stayed at school and home was for home. That may have worked a bit better when families had more time to be with their children; however, family culture has changed quite a bit since then.
Delete2. The lesson that I learned from Dave’s experience is that you have to reach out with a personal touch. When they first put the sign for free tutoring outside of 826 Valencia, they did not get the response that had expected because the “fear of the unknown” had crept into the neighborhood. I believe that if they had walked the neighborhood, introduced themselves, talked about the tutoring program and the vision for the community that it would not have taken finding a teacher another state to come in make those connections. Face time with the community would have been a way to see successful faster for 826 Valencia. The elements that appeared to students and community members were the novelty of the 826 Valencia. It was a cool looking place that housed a “Pirate Supply Store”, a huge mural on the wall and gave treasures to students. The one to one attention that the tutors gave to the students was a huge advantage. Most students were not able to have that at home. Using community members was a great way to bridge the gap between the school and the community. Taking it into the community and then back into the schools by involving the teachers was BRILLIANT (maybe because it was so in tune with what I would like to create for my school). We talk about how “it takes a village” but this plan really showed this. The flexibility was also huge for the tutors, they didn’t feel obligated to spend every day at 826 Valencia, but anytime that had for a student was utilized and appreciated. Going from 12 volunteers to over 1400 certainly created “ a happy community, a happy city, a happy world”!
ReplyDeleteSharonda, I love your idea for the personal touch. They really needed to introduce themselves around the neighborhood. I am sure it was difficult for the neighborhood to figure out who they were exactly, what were they doing at 826 Valencia? The 'village' quote popped into my head as I watched this as well. Also, it made me wonder how people can not agree with that quote when they see things like this program. The village (community) worked together and raised happy, successful children. It's so simple, but we make it so complicated.
Delete3. Much like I discussed in during my class presentation, as a school leader, I would reach out to parents and former students of the school to create a transformative partnership but I love the idea of having other community members and teachers involved and have tutoring across the community. We are always talking about improving test scores and over academic achievement. The would be an amazing opportunity for the members of the community to give back and for our students to gain the one to one attention that they deserve as well as, a taste of success!
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think having more community members involved the better for the school. Teachers are burnt by the end of the day. I think having others involved can move our conversations away from simple test scores, AYP, etc conversations to looking at the holistic picture of academic achievement.
DeleteI also think I will borrow from your idea and look for adults who were formerly at JDC and see if they can participate as a guest speaker or tutor or give back in some way. Our students would really relate to them and see there is a way out of their current situation.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe current "trust gap" that currently exist at Halley and surrounding community is "acceptance".
ReplyDeleteI believe that Halley can minimize this gap by becoming a part of the community by visiting the neighboring communities more often, communicating with parents of the communities so that parents and students can build relations in school and their community. Asking parents for suggestion on how we can assist more with bridging the gap between home and school, and most of all create the connection with students at school so they can share with their parents how much they feel welcome It’s nothing better than knowing that your child is happy and safe.
1. The lessons that I learned about involving the community from viewing the video was positive actions are contagious. Most people want to be a part of something positive and uplifting and this is what happened with this project.
It was so amazing to see that the tutoring center made its way into the public school, how book sales became a gateway to building community. I believe the creativity of each center is what makes the tutoring centers appealing also.
2. The first need I would address in creating a “transformative partnership” as an Administrator would be to create a welcoming committee and outline steps on how it should look and work. I would want the following individuals on this committee in order to make sure we reach the entire community in school and out.
Administration-It is important to be a part of something you want to implement (physical/verbal)
Teacher- This individual talks to other teachers and can highlight things seen and heard in the classroom and share information with committee members.
3. School Counselor-This individual can guide the committee when we have to deal with more delicate family situations committee can act as an extra support system for counselor and family.
Parents from each community that attends school- This group of individuals will be able to offer information that the school isn’t always exposed to (i.e. celebrations, poverty, fights,) that go on in their community.
I believe the school isn’t just a building for teaching the students that attend. I believe the school is an extension of the student’s community and we must treat it as such.
I too believe that positive actions are contagious. I've been reading for several years now about the call to make the schools the center of the community by being more open to the community, much like you have described here and in your presentations. This is something I could see you, Linda and Sharonda pulling off.
Delete1) In my current job situation the “trust gap” relates to a misunderstanding about the purpose and goals of the school. The larger community for me includes parents and those directly involved with court-involved students such as probation officers and detention center staff. For this community it seems to me they feel “their” kids are the ones being neglected and overlooked in the larger school system of Fairfax County. What is published and talked about in the news and on the website is the positive gains in testing scores, the percentage of students who go on to college, are in honor or AP classes, and other such high achieving examples of one of the state’s best school divisions. Their kids do not typically fit in with these examples. Therefore, they are ostracized and constantly seen as misfits in the broad community. When they come to school in the center it is difficult for the community to see that the JDC school is any different. They are constantly surprised by positive phone calls or reports detailing their child’s success. It is difficult to engage in positive school conversations because the community members have felt so discouraged by seeing their child removed from the system that talks so much about its successes.
ReplyDeleteThough it is often a cliché in schools, I think as the school leader, I would want to promote the school’s vision more consistently. Though we at JDC cannot control what is done in Fairfax County Public schools we can show how a student is able to re-engage with school and make progress. We can be an example of how teachers individually impact student progress and potentially help parents connect with at least one person within the county. 2)Community Involvement: I like how he provided training for all those involved in helping students and did not simply throw them to the wolves. He also did a great job of putting this “school” in an ideal location, right where the needs could be easily met not only for the students but also for the tutors. He made his environment fun, exciting, and had a large variety of tutors from various backgrounds who spoke different languages and appealed to the students.
Student Involvement: I think what I learned the most was that the students worked for the product and how proud they were of what they CREATED. Students do not create an “A” on a paper or create a passing score for AYP. Dave’s tutoring school was creative and exciting, yet directly met requirements for college essays, high school reports, and other English requirements for school. I feel the system of test and test and test has stifled my own creativity and it was inspiring to be reminded of the creativity that comes when students enjoy what they are doing and are supported without the constant “progress monitoring” that comes with IEP goals, SOLs, and AYP data were at-risk students often fail.
3)The biggest partnership that must improve at JDC is the relationship between the school program and the detention staff. Though progress has been made over the years there still remains a disconnect between the punitive side of JDC and the re-engagement goals of the school. There is a lack of communication between the two staffs that stems from the school principal and superintendent of the JDC. These two leaders rarely see eye-to-eye and their miscommunication trickles down to the teachers and counselors who serve the students on a daily basis.
As a school leader the first steps I would take would be to promote our school vision on a more consistent basis. Additionally, if I could not engage the superintendent in discussions about our shared goals for the students, then I would work with teachers on incorporating the counselors who sit in every class (to provide security) into the lessons. By simply allowing them to participate in class discussions, asking their advice on how to engage students, or soliciting their opinions on current topics can bridge a gap that currently exists. I feel even the smallest steps can curb the “us vs. them” mentality that is so present throughout the day.
It hurts to say so but you're right about the difficulty students have transitioning from JDC school back to an FCPS school. The same is true for students who need the services at Burke School, Quander Road HS and Cedar Lane HS. The process is so negative and the information about the schools is so negative and full of half truths. I've seen kids come back from JDC and the other schools do well and others who have not. Much of the problem has been the lack of understanding of how each school works. Communication, communication, communication. The students come back with good grades from JDC and teachers complain instead of trying to figure out why the student did well there. That lack of trust of the student's abilities leads to struggles and failures. Instead of being at odds with each other we need to be each others' promoters. Frustrating for teachers and destructive for the students especially when we just need to talk to one another.
Delete1. Trust gaps in our schools involve our SOL scores, security breeches, whether the teachers are giving the students the needed curriculum knowledge, whether the school is actually inviting to families and the community, and whether school information is actually being disseminated out to the public. School leaders should go out to community venues and personally invite the public to be more involved in the school. The public pays for the school, through taxes, so they should have access and involvement in the school. Personal involvement will escalate trust. The community should be invited to school events, concerts, art shows, festivals and other events. Showing off the good work of students will boost confidence in the school and help diminish the trust gap. Communication is the key and being open to the public accomplishes that.
ReplyDelete2. The most valuable lesson was seeing that going out into the community and getting actively involved bridges a trust gap. Everyone benefits when there is a cohesive link between the community, school, families and students. Happy families are important for a happy community.
The design of the tutoring place was innovative, creative and played on the imagination and dreams of children and adults. It made learning fun. An out of the box idea shows ingenuity and brings people in who want something different and exciting. The link between the school and the tutoring place was smooth and easy. Having a storefront that's fun and whimsical brings enthusiasm and higher aspirations. Being located in the middle of a neighborhood brings an openess to the public. Convenience is a hot commodity in the minds of families. As in real estate, the three most important words are locale, locale and locale.
3.A transformative partnership for Franklin and its community would be the Franklin students and staff becoming actively involved in doing volunteer community service. This would involve recycling/ trash cleanup, helping out in a nursing home or group home, gardening in the parks, helping fixup needed homes, coming to the aid of needy families, and volunteering for community events. The community members should come into the school and become involved with after-school clubs, volunteering in library, office or classrooms,and attending school events. As an administrator, I would seek out community businesses for becoming actively involved with our school, attend community citizen meetings and sell the idea of the dual involvement.
I agree with Helene in her answer to #1. I think communication is the key to closing the "trust gap" and we need to communicate in the most appropriate venue. Meaning, we need to take each community and each members specific situation into consideration when deciding on the best manner in which to communicate otherwise our communication will be falling on deaf ears.
DeleteI also agree! I think that one of the most important pieces to building trust is communication! We need to express ourselves in a manner that is effective which means that our messages should be understandable and direct. When we invite stakeholders to meetings we need to make sure that we have an agenda for what we need to discuss. I have been to several meetings where these situations quickly get out of hand and there are a lot people complaining. I think that an agenda would help to keep people on target and allow questions and comments for the end.
Delete1. I think the 'trust gap' exists for many reasons. One in particular is the fact that school, for many, was not a very positive experience. It was difficult to sit inside all day, your every moment of the day accounted for, learning curriculum you were sure wasn't going to be used in the future, teachers and administrators who constantly monitored your every move and then gave their opinion on it (you're doing a good job, you're off task, you could do better if you tried, etc.) School was a time of uncertainty, they were children who had no control over their lives. Now, as adults, they are working, earning money, reasonably in control of their lives. Why would they want to go back to a place that holds such unpleasant memories? Why should they trust an institution that is overall, rather unpleasant? And it's even more complicated than it was when they went to school. Now, there's state testing, different rules and curriculum, it's almost overwhelming. School leaders can bridge this gap by initiating communication with the community. Let them know that school is not such a bad place. Teachers should be encouraged to contact parents with good news as well as bad news about students. Contacting community newspapers and advertising events that are coming up may make the school more part of the community. Basically, up the visibility of the school.
ReplyDelete2. The lessons that I learned is that involving the community in school is a win-win. It is a very positive step that improves student learning and improves the community overall. If community members are involved with their students, they get to know them, they help them learn, they become friends. The students are assisted in learning, whether it is intervention or enrichement, and they become better students and better members of the community. The elementst that appealed to both students and community members was the jovial atmosphere. It wasn't the staid classroom they both may or may not find oppresive. There are whimisical signs and colors all around. There isn't a fixed curriculum, the students and community members work on an assignment they have chosen. Yes, it is assigned homework, but they can take their time, talk about it one on one and maybe share a few laughs. 3. A tranformative relationship with the community would be extremely exciting. I think the need that I would like to address is more social than academic. The state of Virginia takes great pains to set up a curriculum that they think will benefit our children. I would like to examine what other needs our students may require to become successful. Do they need to know how to budget their money, how to fill out forms and applications, information on laws that apply to everday life (such as paying taxes, etc.) Life can be complicated. I think if we address these needs, we will produce life long learners. The first step I would take would be to have parents and students fill out a survey to identify problem areas. What needs do they have that may or may not interfere with learning? I would also start inviting the parents to the school for coffee/dessert talks. I don't know if they could be held without an agenda, strong personalities can sometimes hijack a meeting. But I would want to talk to everyone present. I would also reach out to nearby businesses and churches to see if they would be willing to help out. I feel like people want to help, they just don't know how at times.
I agree with the comment stating that we need to address "more social than academic". I think that schools are so caught up in the academics that they often miss the social aspects, which are just as important in life.
DeleteTrish, I could not agree more! I think that a lot of the home-school communication, at least on the teacher and administrator level, is usually negative in nature. We do need to contact parents about the positives that occur in school when it pertains to their students. There are small and large victories won every day and it would mean so much to a parent and a student if the teacher or admin took a couple of minutes out of the day to send an email or give a quick phone call to say that the student did x,y and z so well! This will definitely help to create a more trusting and enriching environment that will give people positive memories!
DeleteTrish.... I like that you've taken question 3 in a different direction than most of us! :) There are so many needs out there that are not being met that are just as important as test scores.
Delete1. I think this “trust gap” is due to a “communication gap”. As a school community we are constantly talking about SOL and test scores and not about student’s overall achievements. When families are looking to move to a new neighborhood, they always want a school that performs well, meaning a school that has met its benchmarks and is not on probation due to test scores. To get away from this “testing is the most important thing about a school” view, leaders must go into the community and talk with community members about other accomplishments of their schools. Additionally, leaders should begin programs that allow students and members of the school to go out into the community and volunteer, work, or partake in school events outside of school (i.e. sporting event, drama event, etc.). Further, the leaders should be communicating with the community and inviting them into the schools to see the various activities and events that are taking place. As Helene stated, “communication is key.” Leaders need to get out in the community to invite and involve them in the school.
ReplyDelete2. Through the 826 Valencia project and expansion, I learned that such programs do not happen overnight and without involving an entire community. One way to involve the community is by targeting the community’s specific needs. For instance, when I lived and worked in Hawaii, I was not successful going out into the community on my own (being from the mainland I was an outsider). However, if I brought a local with me, I was accepted and the suggestions I made and the actions I took were well received. I think through Dave Eggers description of this project, this idea of knowing your community and working with those that know your community was an important factor to success. I also learned that if you do take the time to involve the community they will give back, by volunteering. This has always been a question of mine as to whether or not community members will volunteer, but this project has shown that with the right direction, initiative, and incentives the community will participate.
3. Within my program there is a lot that requires a transformation in terms of a community partnership. We need to get our students out in the community to learn basic skills they will require to succeed in life. Additionally, we need to make our community aware of the needs and the capabilities of those who are blind and visually impaired (make the community comfortable with this disability instead of afraid or completely empathetic to the point of dysfunction). Currently, we rarely, if ever get out into the community as a department. Therefore, I think we need to start by communicating with the families to better form an understanding of the importance of community involvement. Then we need to begin working with the various associations and federations for the blind in D.C. They are a huge help in getting communities involved and may provide assistance to us. One way I could do this as a leader is to talk with other leaders in the field including those at the federal level to find out how we can begin working towards this partnership.
Shannon, I absolutely agree with your statements pertaining to question #1. I also believe that if we continue to focus on the test scores and achievement only that we are missing the mark of developing well rounded students. Of course, we want them to have superb test scores but at the end of the day, when the college recruiters are looking at applications. They want to see a well rounded student. So, at the end of the day, if that student only has a 4.0 grade point average but never reached out and participated in community service, or was not in the band or a social club or dram, that student will lose out to a student that demonstrated that he could accomplish all of those things. I believe that we can develop successful students in many ways and that teachers, families and community members should all be opened to the idea of doing that.
DeleteShanna... in response to #2, I like that you made a personal reference to the difficulties of reaching out to a particular community. It proves it takes a team effort to build the necessary trust with families.
Delete1. The major trust gap at my school and FCPS in general deals with discipline. The last school board election drew many candidates who wanted to change the Zero Tolerance discipline policy and the most difficult trust situations I have faced as a teacher have been about disciplining a student.
ReplyDeleteThe most effective thing I've ever done to bridge a trust gap is to make my first call to a parent a positive phone call. Even if an incident happened before I say anything, I call with something positive. When I did not do that communication was difficult.
FCPS has great transparency about how well it does academically. We need to publish our discipline policies and rationales for those policies so parents can better understand that the policies are designed for the good of all students. Having parents sign the SR&R does not mean they have read let alone understand the incremental discipline policy of their child's school or of the district. At Back to School night it would be helpful to go over those discipline policies and when students do get into trouble, the student's teacher and administrator should have a phone conversation with the parent.
2. To involve the community you need more than just a good idea, you need connections. His idea did not really take off until he enticed his friend who had the connections with the local schools to come back from Mexico and make introductions. Once his friend vouched for him and his idea, the tutoring took off.
ReplyDeleteSeveral items jumped out at me as good ideas to appeal to both students and community members. First, he brought the idea off campus and into a store front. The space did not look like a school nor did it have the feel of a school or after school child care like at a Boys or Girls’ Club. 826 Valencia struck me as more of a kids’ museum or play space for kids where they could browse through the merchandise before getting to what they came for. It puts students into a mood to learn and tackle something hard. The second idea that appealed to me was that the tutoring was available to everyone, good and struggling students. Third, none of the tutors were given information about the students’ achievement levels. They met the students at face value. That is so refreshing to students to not be prejudged. Fourth, he made it easy for parents and the volunteers to be around and observe. This goes back to the trust gap; parents to want make sure the place is safe and volunteers want to be sure their commitment is overtaxing. Fifth, (this goes back to what Tracy, Linda and Sharonda presented) he placed the store in the community where it was easy for the students to come get help and get home when they were done. Finally, he made the space multiuse- place for writers to come, students to come and shoppers to come.
3. The first need is a cool place for students to hang out. It is surprising to see how many students, particularly minority students, hang out after school because they don’t want to go home. The second need is turn that ‘cool place’ into a place where the students want to get homework done. Despite the plethora of homework help sites on the internet, students don’t use them. Students want the feedback from a human being. To be practical for teenagers, the site would need to be for all subjects not just reading and writing. Many teenagers would need to bring their younger siblings who would also need help for work or a place for enrichment for them. Having a teacher there to provide enrichment activities for those children would be necessary.
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge endeavor. I don’t have the creativity or the contacts to design a space like 826. Which is the place to start, I need to make contacts. Network and find people who would be inspired by Dave Eggers’ vision to create an 826 Valencia in the Centreville area. Contacts are going to be important in getting any transformative partnership going. The partnership takes careful planning and needs to be more than just one person’s vision. Each person would have a task they would have responsibility to make happen.
Ideally the location would be nearby a neighborhood or school so that students could walk to the place. Because of Centreville’s design, crossing guards are needed. Most of the strip malls are across busy streets from neighborhoods. Hopefully, we could get the mall manager or owners to volunteer the space until it became self-sustaining. I have contacts with retired teachers who could finally do some of the creative fun lessons that SOLs made them drop from their curriculum.
1) I think that there are a few “trust gaps” that exist between schools and the larger community. Trust is not something that is just given, it must be earned. We live in a time where people are looking for catches or ulterior motives for everything. I think that if a group of adults wanted to open up a building for tutoring, parents and other community members would wonder why and question the safety of our children. Honestly, I would worry too because the safety of our students is the most important thing however sometimes a good deed is just a good deed. Unfortunately, there is no way to know that without getting all of the information. I think that this is another “trust gap” between schools and the larger community; communication. We have to communicate effectively to send and receive information. It is important to communicate our wants, needs, thoughts, questions and comments to inform others however it is just as important to listen to others so that we can understand them. I know at my school, language is a huge barrier and although we have made great strides by translating almost all correspondence that is sent home into Spanish and having a full time parent liaison to interpret meetings, phone calls and conferences for us, we still have other families that we are not able to communicate with due to language barriers. If we cannot communicate with one another how will we understand each other?
ReplyDeleteSchool leaders can address these gaps by accessing resources. Translation services is a great resource that can be utilized to provide interpretation for our parents who speak other languages. While it is unrealistic that Translation services would be able to translate all correspondence that is sent home, perhaps we could look for parents or other community members that would be able to call parents to explain paperwork that is sent home. Overall, it is vital that school leaders make their messages clear and concise to all members of the community so that we are all on the same page. You need to say what you mean and mean what you say!
In regards to trust within the community I think that we need to build that at school. School leaders should invite community members to PTO meetings or other after school events we can begin to build friendships and a stronger sense of community. Students, parents and teachers will get to know community members and the community members will get to know us and see what we do at our school. It is important to keep the safety of our students at the forefront of everything that we do and if needed we should inquire about background checks or other recommendations based on the situation.
2) I learned some great information from Dave Eggers’ action plan. First, you need to have buy in from the people that are involved; students, teachers, administrators and community members. The programs that have been set-up help all members of community. Students have the opportunity to have access to new experiences and also to get extra help with homework. This can lessen the stress that students and parents feel at home which would give them more free time. In addition, parents and other community members may be more inclined to shop at and support local businesses that give back to the community. This type of cycle is beneficial for everyone! I also learned that it is so important to communicate your message clearly. When the members of 826 Valencia simply placed a sign outside of their door, no one in the community understood what they were doing and the whole operation seemed suspect. But once they were able to communicate effectively with the school leaders, teachers, parents and students, people understood what the purpose of the building was and were motivated to have their students attend.
ReplyDeleteThe design of 826 Valencia appealed to students and community members because it was interesting, innovative and outside of the box. It provided the students and other community members with a theme that allowed the students to experience a variety of things (pirates) that they would not normally be exposed to. The premise of the building motivated the students to learn and enabled them to be creative in an exciting environment. The students had the time to play, explore, talk with adults, interact with peers and have a safe and quiet environment conducive to studying. 826 Valencia also gave the community a fun place to investigate and to shop which in turn put money into the building, allowing 826 Valencia the means to continue to offer tutoring services for the students.
3) As a school leader, the first need that I would address is communication. I would communicate the vision to school members and the larger community so that everyone is on the same page. I would set up informational meetings for the community members to meet with teachers, parents and students so that everyone has the opportunity to meet each other and discuss the program specifics and then everyone will have the opportunity to ask questions to promote understanding. This communication will be the foundation for the program. I would also want to discuss specific roles that each stakeholder will have including parents, students, school administrators, and community members will have. Again this will enable clear communication. Currently, my school has an afterschool tutoring program that is held at the local church on Wednesday evenings but it is only open to select 3rd-6th graders. I think that this is a great foundation for a program that can include students at all grade levels. I would want to reach out to the community to have more members get involved in the education of our students. I might need to contact someone like Dave Eggers to get ideas on how to promote a program like this in a community where many members are living at or below poverty level.
1. Many people within the community don’t know how they can help the school or volunteering would take them out of their comfort zone. I know my husband gets nervous every time he has come in to read to my students. They don’t know what they have to offer the school and the school hasn’t asked or told them how they could help. The school and community have not had a collaborative relationship in the years that I have worked at Rose Hill. As school leaders we must begin to bridge that gap with the community. School leaders must work to create a warm and welcoming environment for all community members. They need to identify specific strengths within the community and how those strengths can be used to support the students and community as a whole. Then the school leaders need to ask for help from the community in which they are doing something meaningful for students. It needs to be valuable and worthwhile for both parties or it won’t be sustainable. If the community members don’t feel like they are doing something worthwhile, they are less likely to return or continue volunteering.
ReplyDelete2. The surrounding community is almost always an underutilized resource for schools. Through Dave’s creativity and resourcefulness, he was able to spark interest in the community. He worked to prepare his volunteers to give them the confidence they needed and accepted anyone who was willing to volunteer regardless of the amount of time or frequency they were able to give. By creating a clever store front, Dave was able to pique the interest of community members passing by and got their foot in the door. We use links to engage students in the lessons we teach and we instruct our students to use hooks to pull readers into their written work. The store front was that hook that helped the community members and students buy-in to the tutoring center. Most students were not going to willingly spend time doing more academic tasks without an incentive. Knowing the strengths, needs, and wants of all community members was essential for the success of the program.
3. The students at Rose Hill are in desperate need of after-school types of activities in addition to academic support. If we could create a variety of fun and engaging after school activities that engage the students and work on a variety of academic and social skills, it would be an ideal after school activity. When I think about creating a transformative partnership with the school and larger community, I think the first step in creating this partnership is knowing your community and the various strengths they have to offer, then asking for that support from community members. For example, we have a variety of community members who work in the restaurant industry. It would be great to utilize those community members to create an after school cooking club. As part of that club students could work on various math skills (measurement, fractions, etc.) while doing something that they are interested in. As after school activities begin to grow in popularity among the community, additional types of clubs could be created to continue to support more students with academic support through fun and exciting after school clubs.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI agree that many people don’t know what they have to offer schools. I have had many parents and community helpers come in to volunteer and they have been very nervous. I reassure them and tell them how wonderful they are to come in and talk to the students about their talents or wonderful community service they are providing to the community. I have not had a volunteer to come in to read to my students yet, and I feel this would be a great idea. I am thinking maybe I could get my parents to volunteer once a week or once a month to read to the class. This could be very rewarding to the parents and students. I liked your comment about having the experience being worthwhile and valuable for both parties. You need to feel as if you are making a difference in order to help bridge the gap between the school and community.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. The trust gap currently exist in schools and community because the community is not aware of what the school have to offer or may not know what is going on day by day or from one month to the next. The community and parents might know the themes the teacher is reinforcing for the year however they may not know how the teacher is teaching the skills to reach the concepts involved in achieving the goals. When parents and the community are evolved we may see opportunities beyond learning during the school day or outside the school walls, such as libraries or museums that can offer apprenticeships, through cultural and academic enrichment.
ReplyDeleteThe school may be creating a gap or allowing the gap to grow wider by not being as transparent or inviting as they could be. They could begin by inviting the community and parent in to see what is happening in the process of learning. The schools need to communicate to parents through various means and processes. The school may let parents and community aware of what going on through media, newspaper, pamphlets, newsletters, calendars, notebooks, e-mail, internet home page, word of mouth, personally visiting the community, bus rides, or carpools of teacher, and/or school personnel to name a few avenues.
Linda, I agree! We need to incoporate various means of communication to reach the entire community. I like your suggestions.
Delete2. The lessons I learned were that involving the community is clearly an asset. By opening a store in the community and using a little creativity you can appeal to student and encourage them to come in and enjoy tutoring and learning. As a result they will realize they will be heard, and their words have meaning. They will know they are able to be good at accomplishing tasks and homework.
ReplyDelete2a. The elements of the design that appealed to both the students and community members were that the building itself was so accessible to students and tutors, and was right in the middle of the community. Students could not wait to come to the tutoring center, and the community knew that “homework was the key” that bought the students in. The parents were invited in to sit on a bench and view learning during the process, and the tutoring was free for all students. There were items that the students could purchase and were based on a theme that appealed to the studentsand it actually brought in enough money to pay for the rent.
I like how you cited specific examples of how student and community participation were promoted.
Delete3. The needs I would want to address if I were creating a “transformative partnership” with my school and the larger community would be creating a theme that would be a good selling point and would inspire the students. I would let the schools, parents and community know that I was starting a free tutoring business and invite them to come in to hear what I had to offer. Next I would need to get a volunteer base to start with and a building in the community that would be assessable from the bus, metro, and subway so students would be able to come if they did not have their parents to drop them off. I would make sure the business is locally funded and locally built and devoted to the students and their work. I would always need to be mindful of what the teachers had to recommend as being developmentally appropriate content for teaching the students.
ReplyDeleteYes, you need to have the community "buy into" what you are selling. I echo your thoughts on establishing a volunteer base and building from there.
Delete"Trust gaps" existing between school and community are a result of lack of communication and providing incorrect information. Schools are responsible for educating the community on what is taking place in the school. In order to access community support, the community needs to be made aware and gain a clear understanding of what changes are taking place, why, and how these changes will impact the school and community. When changes are taking place within a school or school system, the community should be provided with accurate information, e.g. a Principal's Coffee, where leaders can present the correct information and the community stays informed. For example, the new report card is being implemented at my school this year. My principal has invited Judy Heard, who spear heading this project, to speak to the Navy parents and address their questions. Invite community members into the school to tutor or volunteer in other ways. Community members like to see what is going on in their schools whether or not they have school age students. Open the doors, invite them in, and welcome their contributions. Trust does not happen over night. It has to be earned. Both the school and community need to find opportunities to develop and build this trust that will lead to exceptional schools, exceptional communities, and exceptional students.
ReplyDelete2. David Eggers had an excellent idea and I give him credit for not giving up on it. He accessed many resources to make this come to fruition. He was determined that students were going to receive at least one hour a week of one on one tutoring. He and his team took care of all of the aesthetic details, but needed an educator's perspective to bring in the students. He was able to provide a setting that did not present a stigma and with the help of his friend began to bring students in. Students developed a sense of pride in their work. The students were able to benefit from the tutoring and also showcase hidden talents with their writing of stories. Also,the relief of having their homework finished before they got home was a great feeling. As was said in the video, this promoted a happy family which leads to a happy community. David Eggers saw that his "store" became a "gateway to the community." More and more people frequented the store and in doing so saw what a great program was going on in the back. How his idea has been duplicated and continues to maintain success is commendable.
3. In creating a "transformative partnership" with my school and the community, I would want to improve the communication and trust aspect. Whatever school functions, PTO meetings, school basketball games, carnivals, speakers, etc., I would invite the community to attend. I would invite them to a Volunteer Open House where they could sign up to participate in different school related activities, e.g. tutoring, clerical duties, reading with students, etc. To initiate a building of trust, I would have a monthly Principal's Coffee, ideally one in the AM and one in the PM, to coordinate with people's schedules. At these coffees, I would invite community members and discuss topics about the school, the community, and both. I would allow time for questions regarding any concerns that they have. If I don't have the answer, I will find the answer and respond in a timely manner. The building of trust and respect begins when people know they are being heard and taken seriously.
1. Eggers alludes to the “trust gap” being formed due to the perception that was created by having a tutoring service behind a pirate store. It’s a known fact that pirates can’t be trusted and yet the community was supposed to trust a group of unknowns to provide tutoring to their children. He recognized the importance of having the right individual to communicate the service to the community, thus bringing in a known educator from Mexico. Molly also stressed the importance of communication in her response to the “trust gap” issue and I agree that communication is key in building trust. However, a “trust gap” issue that I have personally witnessed in the past few months and was also brought to my attention when interviewing a parent for my vision assignment is the “us versus them” mentality which creates a huge “trust gap” issue. When this is the message that is communicated school teams are pitted against parents and vice versa. As school leaders it is important that the message that is communicated is one of openness and collaboration.
ReplyDelete2. I believe Eggers experience highlighted the importance of community involvement and openness of communication from the beginning. He had a dream and followed that dream, but he also realized that in order for the dream to become reality that it would take more than just creating the environment. He recognized the importance of how and by whom information was communicated, thus bringing in a known educator to interface with the school community and the broader community as a whole. He was able to create an environment that was safe, welcoming, and without stigma which was embraced by students, parents, and volunteers.
3. In creating a “transformative partnership”, I feel it is important to break down those barriers of “us versus them”. This will be a slow process and will need to start with providing both educators and parents with the skills to build collaborative relationships. This can be started by providing trainings and focus groups. Trainings could be provided for school teams to help them understand the barriers of parent involvement and develop skills in building collaborative partnerships. As Darren discussed in his response it is important that we help parents feel that they are needed in the educational process and this could be started by providing trainings and focus groups meetings for parents during the day and in the evening to build their skills in working with school teams. The goal of these trainings and meetings for parents would be to develop their self confidence and awareness of the importance of their role in their child’s education. It will be important that we move beyond the “us versus them” mentality if we are truly going to help students succeed to their fullest potential.
Your comments on how some schools are perceived as having an "us versus them" dynamic could not ring truer. Parents and administrators both are guilty of this at times, and it must be communicated to everyone involved that there are common goals for the school which can be more easily attained if everyone is on the same page. (You are also right when you mention that pirates cannot be trusted :)
Delete1) The most glaring "trust gap" that I think is present among schools and communities is one that is easily fixed with the proper communication. Often, surrounding communities do not understand the goals that are set and direction that a school is headed in, which builds an immediate wall between those outside of the building. Inviting the community in, and educating them as to how they can best support the students and staff can help in gaining outside support. Opening lines of communication is a basic first step, but one that can become the backbone of a solid community involvement program.
ReplyDelete2) I enjoyed his view of creating a space that was not necessarily reminiscent of a school classroom. Maybe they went a little "overboard" with their themes, but I think that this type of environment appeals to the imagination of the students, especially when creating a type of writers workshop. I like the idea of creating an endless volunteer list with no expectations. Any volunteer is welcome to come in and help out, even if it is only for 2 hours every couple of months. In the area in which we live in, people are on such a time crunch for the majority of their week, finding the time to volunteer is the last thing on their mind. If there was a place that had minimal expectations of the time that was being put in, maybe there would be more people offering their time for a good cause.
3) The community where my school is located is very supportive of what is happening at the school, when they are actually made aware of times in which they can contribute. I think a "transformative partnership" can be established on a more regular basis. There are a variety of businesses located within the community, and they each have a certain set of skills or knowledge base that would be able to benefit the students in one way or another. With the support of the neighboring community, if the school was able to create after school clubs that introduced the students to various skill sets and different opportunities that are available outside of the classroom, this would assist in building the school-community relationship. By spending more time in the school and around the students and their families, the local community would come to a more complete understanding of what is being expected from those individuals directly involved in the school and would be more capable of supporting their specific needs.
1.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a general trust gap between parents and schools in that parents just don’t trust teachers to teach their children effectively. There are many situations where parents feel they know better than the teachers or specialists how to work with their child and what they need (this is frequently seen with special education parents). There are also parents on the other end of the spectrum where parents of Level-4 Advanced Academics students feel that their children will not get the challenge they need in their neighborhood schools and insist on placing them in centers. Parents are not trusting that teachers are experts in their fields and are dedicated to providing their students the best education possible.
I think school leaders can help address this by encouraging more contact between parents and teachers. In many situations, there is one face-to-face meeting at the beginning of the school, then the quarterly progress reports. There are only additional meetings if there is a problem. I think parents should have additional meetings throughout the school year to keep up to date on what is going on in the class. Parents should feel welcome to come into the schools and classrooms and see the class in action and see for themselves that students are being engaged and challenged. They can see that the teachers really do have a strong grasp on their child’s education.
2.
Eggers showed that it is important to build a bond with the community. He went out with someone they would accept which gave him a lead-in. He got the community to trust him and his project, and he was able to make them feel comfortable and needed. The design appealed to the students because it was fun and different. Even though they were doing schoolwork there, it didn’t feel like school. It appealed to the community members because it was convenient – it was readily accessible to them. They were felt welcomed to come observe what was going on and were able to help by volunteering whatever time they were able to give.
3.
Freedom Hill seems to have a “club” for everything, including homework help where high school students come in a couple afternoons each week to help our students get their homework done. The only problem is that not everyone in our community is able to take advantage of these clubs. There are many students who would not be able to stay after school because they would not have a ride home later. I think it would important to reach out and set up a location that is more convenient for some of our more disadvantaged students. Some of those students are the ones who need the most help. We should be able to bring the help to them. Beginning steps as a school leader would be to go into the community to speak directly with families to determine their needs – location, times, transportation needs, languages, specific concerns. It is important to let them know they are being heard, and build on what they feel is important.
Elizabeth,
DeleteGood points in #3. Is there a community center within any of the neighborhoods? We have a "club house" in 2 of our neighborhoods that we have started some events at. It seems to be easier for parents to get there than to get to the school.
1) Trust gaps are the root cause of problems in any relationship, be it professional or personal. Because schools need to maintain both professional and personal relationships with their communities, the effect of trust is twice as powerful. I think one main issue besides those great points already mentioned about is the stigma that "free" things are not of quality. While most community members pay taxes into schools, some people view education as a loosely orchestrated system that has no direct monetary contribution to improvements. This may have been an issue for the tutoring center at first. Parents may have though, "Well, this is a free service, so how good can it be?" Of course, a lack of effective communication is always another key issue in a trust gap.
ReplyDelete2) Dave's plan involved many of the key ingredients necessary for effective community-school relations. Primarily, I reinforced my belief that change can happenw without a substantial amount of monetary need. I have always believed that people are more valuable than money; Dave seemed to also agree. He was able to generate a large pool of tutors not because of a handsome salary, but because they believed in the cause. It is so important to have a firm philosophy to appeal to communities; Dave had that. The use of the store front was purely genious, especially for appealing to the children. As a special education teacher, I am acutely aware of the stigma that "extra help" has to children. It must be fabulous for them to receive assistance in this fashion!
3) First, I would need to generate enthusiasm among staff to begin such a project. As Dave discussed, the belief in the philosophy of actions needs to be the spark. I think my parent involvement project could be tweaked to add in some of the elements shared in the Ted Talk. The main idea is that schools CANNOT lead this kind of an initiative alone- community members need to be involved from the very beginning, not just invited after the planning is over.