Community Engagement

Reflect:

How might you connect with families?
What are the ways in which we are communicating to families on a consistent basis?
How are we ensuring that the ways we communicate to families are culturally responsive?
How are we amplifying community wisdom?
How might we create the conditions for increased connection among families?
How are we making programs and school experiences transparent?
How might we include family voice when gathering data about students in order to set school goals?
How might we centre the voices of student and families in our documentation and assessment?

Learn:

Something to Read:

What Community Engagement in Education Looks Like . . . and Can DoSee how community businesses in one Tennessee school district became heavily involved with local high schools and graduation rates dramatically increased.

6 keys to community engagement in schoolsWhen I read the definition of community engagement in Community & family engagement: Principals share what works (Berg, Melaville, & Blank, 2006), I was confident it would be an interesting…

Co-Constructing Family EngagementEducators need to get past school-centric activities and take steps to create more generative relationships with families.

Something to Listen To:

LE 203: Generating Meaningful and Effective Engagement of Parents and Community Members with Dr. Rosa Isiah

Something to Engage With:

Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education: Family and Community EngagementDevelop strategies to tap into family and community wisdom; develop strategies to tap into local resources; develop strategies to increase connections among families; identify community issues that impact classroom culture; and identify methods of culturally sensitive communication.

In looking more directly at family and community engagement, keep the following critical practices in mind:

Culturally sensitive communication
Inclusion of family and community wisdom
Increased connections among families
Use of local resources
Engagement in community issues and problems

This resource walks you through these critical practices to get to meaningful engagement

Act:

Be Transparent

How might you be accountable to the school community?

How are you being transparent about issues, challenges, processes and celebrations?

How are you communicating to families?

How might you create spaces for families to share concerns or questions?

How might you create spaces to connect with famillies?

Gather Street Data

Street Data: A Pathway Toward Equitable, Anti-Racist SchoolsSo many equity initiatives fall short because our test-obsessed system doesn't support them. Street Data takes a completely different approach, and it may very well change everything.

Why Street Data is Different:

Data collection is holistic and ground level
Agency is the goal
Anti-racism is the driver

Critical Practices for Family and Community Engagment:

How might we consider:

Culturally sensitive communication
Inclusion of family and community wisdom
Increased connection among families and use of community resources
Engagement with community issues and problems

Possible Opportunties for Connection

Setting Up Strong Family Engagement in the Early GradesGood connections between classrooms and families can sustain young students’ success.

How might we think differently about engaging with families?

Bi-weekly or monthly home surveys to encourage feedback
TEAMS office hours for open communication
Family Book Walks
Family Book Clubs

Make Learning Transparent and Involve Community in Program

Engaging Parents to Engage Learners: Digital Portfolios Can Make it HappenBy Chris Besse - Digital portfolios are bringing parents into the classroom in a very powerful way. Here's why they work.

How might we make our programs more transparent to families?

How might we create digital portfolios to update parents of progress and invite families to share their comments?
What tools can we use to empower students to document their thinking and share with parents?
How might we centre the voices of student and families in our documentation and assessment?

Community Conference to Repair Harm

https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/125/386

Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being

Community Praxis: Exploring a Community Engagement Framework for Restorative Justice

Community as providers and facilitators
Community as circles of care, support and accountability
Community as neighbourhood

Create a Connection to Place

Connecting to Place in Education and Why It MattersAs our society has become increasingly global and digital, so has our educational system. Smart, thoughtful uses of technology can engage…

"The place in which a school is situated forms a powerful and engaging context for student learning. In return, education that regularly involves being in the community and local nature (in all its forms) and is well facilitated by teachers can empower students to advocate and take actions that improve the places in which they live.

Place-based education can shape society for the better while providing an authentic, real world education for our children."

Engage in a Community Walk

Community Walks Create Bonds of UnderstandingWhen students lead teachers through their communities, the cultural exchange can have a transformational effect on school culture.

Community Walks:

Set a clear purpose - Why has our school or team chosen to do community walks? Which community do we hope to learn more about?
Craft a learning question - Can you clearly state what you wonder about or hope to learn from this experience?
Create norms to promote respect - Have you and your staff discussed how to model respect as you enter the community?
Invite the students, families and community to participate - Have you asked parents and students to identify the most important places for teachers to visit and learn about? Have you coached students to design an engaging experience? Have you organized a meeting with leaders from the community you will visit?
Structure the experience - Have you created time during the workday for staff to participate? Have you built in time (at least an hour) for a thorough debrief of the experience? Have you planned a reflection process for staff to share key learnings?

Additional Resources:

“Families Are Such an Asset”In this interview, TT Award Winner Liz Kleinrock talks about the steps she takes at the beginning of the school year to connect with her students’ families and how she builds those relationships throughout the year.

Section III: Family EngagementIt is impossible to really see and understand students without understanding their lives outside of school.

Section IV: Family and Community EngagementBeing an ally to LGBTQ students means bringing people in and reaching out.

Building Connections Across CommunitiesIn recognizing a meaningful moment with educators, LFJ Associate Director for Learning in Schools, Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, Ed.D., explains how “This work is more sustainable when we share it with others.”

Building a Sense of Community With MusicHow a music program can fortify peer relationships and increase parent engagement and community involvement.

Community Engagement

Reflect:

How might you connect with families?

What are the ways in which we are communicating to families on a consistent basis?

How are we ensuring that the ways we communicate to families are culturally responsive?

How are we amplifying community wisdom?

How might we create the conditions for increased connection among families?

How are we making programs and school experiences transparent?

How might we include family voice when gathering data about students in order to set school goals?

How might we centre the voices of student and families in our documentation and assessment?

Learn:

Something to Read:

Something to Listen To:

Something to Engage With:

In looking more directly at family and community engagement, keep the following critical practices in mind:

Culturally sensitive communication

Inclusion of family and community wisdom

Increased connections among families

Use of local resources

Engagement in community issues and problems

This resource walks you through these critical practices to get to meaningful engagement

Act:

Be Transparent

How might you be accountable to the school community?

How are you being transparent about issues, challenges, processes and celebrations?

How are you communicating to families?

How might you create spaces for families to share concerns or questions?

How might you create spaces to connect with famillies?

Gather Street Data

Why Street Data is Different:

Data collection is holistic and ground level

Agency is the goal

Anti-racism is the driver

Critical Practices for Family and Community Engagment:

How might we consider:

Culturally sensitive communication

Inclusion of family and community wisdom

Increased connection among families and use of community resources

Engagement with community issues and problems

Possible Opportunties for Connection

How might we think differently about engaging with families?

Bi-weekly or monthly home surveys to encourage feedback

TEAMS office hours for open communication

Family Book Walks

Family Book Clubs

Make Learning Transparent and Involve Community in Program

How might we make our programs more transparent to families?

How might we create digital portfolios to update parents of progress and invite families to share their comments?

What tools can we use to empower students to document their thinking and share with parents?

How might we centre the voices of student and families in our documentation and assessment?

Community Conference to Repair Harm

Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being

Community Praxis: Exploring a Community Engagement Framework for Restorative Justice

Community as providers and facilitators

Community as circles of care, support and accountability

Community as neighbourhood

Create a Connection to Place

Engage in a Community Walk

Community Walks:

Set a clear purpose - Why has our school or team chosen to do community walks? Which community do we hope to learn more about?

Craft a learning question - Can you clearly state what you wonder about or hope to learn from this experience?

Create norms to promote respect - Have you and your staff discussed how to model respect as you enter the community?

Structure the experience - Have you created time during the workday for staff to participate? Have you built in time (at least an hour) for a thorough debrief of the experience? Have you planned a reflection process for staff to share key learnings?

Additional Resources: