Prof. Ed.

16 The Teacher and the Community School Culture

and Organizational Leadership

The Why and How of School and Community Partnership

Chapter 6
Objectives:
1. Explain what school and community partnership means.
2. Explain the legal and sociological bases of school and community partnership.

Readings:

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.

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
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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
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 in 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

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• 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 childcare
• 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
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 proverb. It has to work in the
partnership with other institutions in the community such as a child", so goes the African
proverb. It must work in the partnership with other institutions in the community such as
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 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 too 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.

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This is not to mention the negative effect of uncontrolled and 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 of1982, 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."
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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 from 2015 to 2030 that must involve education
stakeholders which 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 consider the interests of all members of the
community (Sec 3, d); 2) the schools and learning centers the 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 by 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.

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Exercises:
Task 8
Name: ________________________ Course/Year/Section: ______________
Subject: ________________________

1. Illustrate with a cartoon or a diagram the partnership between school and community.
2. School and community partnership enhances sense of ownership and sense of belonging.
What do these mean? How will these impact on schools and communities?