Community Partnerships for Learning: A Story of One School's Experience

by Margaret Squires, Family Support Specialist, Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies
 

Community
Inclusive, not exclusive
Characterized by commitment
Operates by consensus
Values and appreciates differences
Is contemplative--examines self
Fights gracefully
Sees itself as a group of leaders
-F. Scott Peck

As the recipient of both a Maine Goals 2000 Innovative Education Grant and an Inclusive Education Systems Change Grant from LEARNS, School Union # 122 (Woodland, New Sweden and Stockholm) demonstrated their commitment to including the entire community as a group of leaders in their systems change efforts by sponsoring a community forum at the New Sweden Consolidated School on February 15, 1996.

This event, titled Welcome to the World of Planning Backward! A Community Forum!, kicked off in the afternoon with a presentation of the video The Face of Inclusion, A Parent's Perspective. This video features the story of 15 year old Ro Vargo's inclusion in her school and community as told by her parents Joe and Ro Vargo of Syracuse, New York. Margaret Squires and Betsy Enright from the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies facilitated the group of sixty parents, teachers, administrators, school board members and community members in a response to the video. The group responded to two statements: After watching this video ... I Wonder and After Watching this video ... I Worry.

Sample responses included:

I wonder how this inspiring testimony of belief in inclusionary education will be used to forge a dialogue around restructuring education for this school union and its families with educators.

I thought the movie was inspiring and actually worry less than I did before about whether or not inclusion is a good idea for all or many children.

I wonder what a beautiful community we would have if we look more at the inner person and character of each child -- maybe we would have more respectable adults -- what a concept!

I worry that inclusive education may be turned down by this community

By supper time, the community group had grown to over a hundred individuals who were hungry not only for the turkey dinner with all the fixins' but the systems change work that was to follow. With students helping to serve dessert and clear the tables, the participants quickly got down to work.

Connie Manter an Donna Gervais from the Maine Department of Education, facilitated the evening's work and began by giving the group some big pictures related to school restructuring from the national, state and local perspectives. The community members then worked diligently for the next two hours as they explored their collective vision of what to include in restructuring efforts to meet the need of students as they leave Union # 122 schools in the year 2000 and beyond.

Working in small groups, each participant was asked to tell a story from their personal experience that illustrated a strong belief they have about students, teaching, learning, and/or education. As the stories were told, a recorder listed emerging beliefs on chart paper. Once each member in the small group had shared a personal story, the beliefs were reviewed and a list of beliefs that everyone in the group could support was generated.

The list was then synthesized into five to eight core beliefs which were subsequently shared with the full group.

Sponsoring a community night is only one of the many steps in systems change. Once suggestions from the community are generated, they must then be incorporated into the school's systems change work. The next step Union # 122 identified was creating a vision statement. The draft of this statement reads: School Union # 122 in partnership with students, parents, and the community, will provide the opportunity for students to learn to their individual capacity and to achieve clearly defined outcomes.

Additionally, five major outcome areas were developed from the community's output:
- A Person who practices wellness
- A Person who is an effective
- A Person who is a clear and effective communicator
- A Person who is academically skilled
- A Person who is a responsible citizen

Sponsoring a community forum is one way to start building community partner- ships. Family and community involvement in school restructuring efforts does make a difference-for the schools, the families, and the community, but most importantly for the students. Working together as a team can help all students become the successful adults of tomorrow.

When planning a community night, keep the following suggestions in mind:
-Plan ahead
-Provide child care
-Provide a welcoming and friendly environment
-Encourage the entire community's participation
-Have a clear agenda
-Make it fun
-Make it free
-Provide food
-Involve the students
-Advertise in multiple ways (flyers, radio announcements, newspapers, telephone calls)

After the community night, remember to:
-Use the information generated to further your systems change work
-Keep listening-hear what people are saying.
-Keep everyone informed.
-Keep asking for input
-Keep moving forward-don't stop!

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