THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY, DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL CULTURE, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS
& ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AGOO, LA UNION

The Why and How of School and Community Partnership

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this Chapter, you should be able to:

• explain what school and community partnership means;
• explain the legal and sociological bases of schools and community partnership; and
• cite examples of school-community partnerships

Activity – Let’s Do This

Based on your school experiences, list down ways by which a community helps a school and ways by which a
school helps a community.

Analysis – Let’s Analyze

Do you think there is real partnership between school and community? Do you think that one school might be
more favored because it gets more help than others?

Abstraction - Let's Conceptualize

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 stakeholders to contribute their time, effort and education
resources in ensuring that public school facilities are set in time for forthcoming school opening. It takes place
more or less the two weeks before classes begin in June. This is a school maintenano an entenance 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 local history study of

3. Work experience programs - Business establishments and offices in the community can serve as training
ground for learners. concrete example is the Work Immersion required of Senior A High School students. In
this Work Immersion, students are given the opportunity to work in relevant establishments or offices the
community to help develop in them "the competencies, in work ethics, and values relevant to pursuing further
education and /or joining 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 establishments contribute to the formation community 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 service learning
since it actively involves range of experiences which benefits students and the community at the same time
fulfilling the requirement of a curriculum.

Prepared by:
Ernesto G. Flores Jr.
Faculty, College of Education
 THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY, DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL CULTURE, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS
& ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AGOO, LA UNION

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 in tutorial programs, reforestation programs,
clean up drive community in medical mission; school for a river, assisting celebrations, teachers head involved
in planning local school band playing in managing programs, projects, activities; 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

• 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 child care
• 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

Learning from the Experiences of Schools and Community Partners

Here are concrete examples:

1. Dumingaga Central School, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur

Strong school community partnership was maintained Feeding program by community donors Mother
Butler Mission Guild, barangay councils, office of the mayor, parents who budgeted, cooked, purchased.
"Kiddie Cop" classes and right conduct, Cops lectures on good manners Municipal drug addiction, child
abuse, child welfare Welfare and Development Office Municipal Health Office conducted special classes on
health and nutrition, rights of the child.

2. Angels Magic Spot and Project REACH, etc. School, Makati Pembo Elementary

Pembo Angels Magic Spot (PAMS) were the volunteer environmental steward-students of Pembo
Elementary School while magic spots were the small dumpsites or empty lots in the barangay which were
converted by the students into vegetable gardens from which members of the barangay could harvest for
home supply, the school for their feeding program or sold them for cash for the purchase of seedlings and
planting of more vegetables.
PAMS brought together students, teachers, school head, parents barangay officials and clean up little
nooks for other members of the community garbage and converted them into green areas with vegetables
shared by all. It also taught gardening skills and positive attitude toward work to students and supplemented
the feeding program for the underweight and the malnourished in the school, Project BOWLS (Brain Operates
Well on Loaded Stomachs).
Another effective practice was Project Revitalized Enthusiasm for Assistance to Children of
Humanity (REACH) where each teacher adopted one student and acted as his/ her mentor for the entire school
year. The teacher gave free tutorial to the adopted student during his/her free time, visit the student's family
every now and in some instances gave the student a daily allowance of ten pesos from the teacher's own
pocket. This contributed to improved performance of Pembo Elementary School, 23rd in rank in the Division
Achievement Test zoomed up to rank 9 and six years later rank 1. (near-zero drop out rate)

Prepared by:
Ernesto G. Flores Jr.
Faculty, College of Education
 THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY, DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL CULTURE, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS
& ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AGOO, LA UNION

Urbanidad Kids were ideal students who acted as role models for the students and the PEMBO
community. They were the cleanest, most well-mannered and most diligent in class.

BOWLS means Brain Operates Well on Loaded Stomach. Every recess, children who were selected
by the school as BOWLS beneficiaries due to malnutrition were provided a free bowl of lugaw.

Pera sa Panapon was a weekly trash market where students, their parents and other members of the
community were invited to bring their recyclable garbage. The project helped the school purchase the
necessary supplies and was able to support two students to a 2010 math competition in Singapore.

Sociological Basis of School-Community Partnership?

The functionalist theory states that institutions their respective functions for the must perform 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 a child", SO goes the African proverb. It
has to work in partnership with other institutions in the church, government organizations and community
such as the 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 time with their 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 to 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.

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 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.

Prepared by:
Ernesto G. Flores Jr.
Faculty, College of Education
 THE TEACHER AND THE COMMUNITY, DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL CULTURE, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
SOUTH LA UNION CAMPUS
& ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AGOO, LA UNION

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."

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 in essence 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
commutator but all stakeholders."

RA 9155, states that partnership between school and community also ensures… that:

1) educational programs, projects and services take into account the interests of all members of the
community (Sec 3, d);

2) the schools and learning centers 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 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.

Application - Let's Apply

1. Illustrate with a cartoon or a diagram the partnership between school and community.

2. Develop a tool to evaluate the extent and quality of school and community partnership.

3. Pretend you are an Instructor /Professor in this professional course, The Teacher and the Community, School
Culture and Organizational Leadership. Your lesson has this learning outcome: To explain the sociological and
legal bases of school and community partnership. your lecture. How will you proceed? Deliver

4. School and community partnership enhances sense of ownership and sense of belonging. What do these
mean? How will these impact on schools and communities?

Prepared by:
Ernesto G. Flores Jr.
Faculty, College of Education