Simple teacher’s strategies in improving relationships with the community

THE concept of school and community partnerships is not new. It is an acceptable concept which every schools around the world are practicing. When schools and community organizations work together to support learning, everyone benefits.

Partnerships can serve to strengthen, support, and even transform individual partners, resulting in improved program quality, more efficient use of resources, and better alignment of educational goals and curricula (Harvard Family Research Project, 2010). This article was written to help support principals and teachers in their efforts to build and sustain partnerships with various school stakeholders.

In addition to supporting student learning directly, partnerships can have additional benefits to students and their families. They can: provide continuity of services across the day and year, easing school transitions and promoting improved attendance in after school programs; facilitate access to a range of learning opportunities and developmental supports, providing opportunities for students and teachers alike to experiment with new approaches to teaching and learning; facilitate information sharing about specific students to best support individual learning; and provide family members with alternative entry points into the school day to support their student’s learning. The following are my strategies to improve the relationships with the community divided into short term strategies as well as the long term strategies.

My short-tem strategy to improve relationships with the community: If ever I will become a school administrator, I will incorporate my school into social media. I will ask my teacher who is an expert in ICT to create a Facebook page of my school. With this FB page, any school stakeholders can see from from time to time as a way to build greater understanding of specific school-improvement ideas. For many people, social media have become their primary sources of news and networking, and it’s where they are regularly exposed to new ideas, readings, videos, resources, and innovations. And because people can like posts or retweet, social media helps to spread ideas through personal relationships, professional networks, and communities. Social media is so powerful that it can influence the people even the higher-ups.

My long-tem strategy to improve relationships with the community: If ever I will become a school administrator, I will build stronger partnerships between my school and other local entities in our locality like government organizations (barangay unit, LGUs etc.), health and social service agencies, community-based nonprofits, and faith-based or religious organizations. I will ask their assistance if there is a need, should we have a program that is relating to their kind of service. With these partnerships, I will intentionally create structures, strategies, and good professional relationships to provide the learning conditions and opportunities both in school and out that are enjoyed by our students. I will make a detailed partnership plan for long-term sustainability. Successful partnerships plan for sustainability from the beginning. Develop a plan to maintain your community partnerships across multiple school and fiscal years. Try to create a diversified funding stream to support service delivery work from multiple fund sources (Nine Elements of Effective School Community Partnerships to Address Student Mental Health, Physical Health, and Overall Wellness (2016). Lastly, creating an Action Plan for strengthening the PTA for the most comprehensive common good of all students and other school stakeholders is a must.