BuiLding Caring Community WITH Families for the 21 st Century learner

1. BuiLding Caring Community WITH Families for the 21st Century learner Dan Schwartz, Head of School, Baker Demonstration School dschwartz@bakerdemschool.org October 27, 2012

2. The Rag Coat • What does community mean? • Examples of community • Role of relationships in community • Power of community • Challenges to and within community

3. What is Community? • “In thinking of community, we need to emphasize the process words: making, creating, weaving, saying, and the like. Community cannot be produced simply through rational formulation nor through edict…Community is not a question of which social contracts are the most reasonable for individuals to enter. It is a question of what might contribute to the pursuit of shared goods: what ways of being together, of attaining mutuality, of reaching toward some common world.” M. Greene

4. Redefine Community • “The task of creating environments where all kids can experience the power of their ideas requires unsettling not only our accepted organization of schooling and unspoken and unacknowledged agreement about the purpose of schools. Taking this task seriously also means calling into question our definitions of intelligence and the ways in which we judge each other. And taking it seriously also means accepting public responsibility for the shared future of the next generation.” D. Meier

5. Role of School • “If you want schools to perpetuate the present order…then one type of intellectual method…is indicated. But if one conceives that schools should strive to educate with social change in view by producing individuals not complacent about what already exists, and equipped with desires and abilities to assist in transforming it, quite a different method and content is indicated” J. Dewey, 1928

6. Redefine School • In these schools “the organizational structure and policies, interpersonal dynamics, instructional practices and curriculum content…help move children [and adults] toward values of social bonding, caring, responsibility and justice” J. Goodman

7. Leadership for Community • Shared leadership includes an emphasis on relationships, meaningful collaborative decision making, a shared vision, opportunities for staff leadership, and reflective practice. • Shared leadership does not just happen. It must be consciously woven, carefully including the differing strands of student, staff and parent interests. Like a tapestry, these threads, once interwoven, become stronger and inter-reliant, the picture they represent more detailed and meaningful.

8. Shared Leadership • Sergiovanni, for example, believes that shared leadership creates a schoolhouse in which “principals, teachers, parents, and students [become] self-managing, accepting responsibility for what they do, feeling a sense of obligation and commitment to do the right thing.” Sergiovanni

9. Democracy, Leadership and Community • “In becoming purposeful communities, schools provide the structure necessary to develop a culture of empowerment, collegiality, and transformation. The leadership of the school community does not rely of ‘power over’ but on ‘power through’ others to accomplish shared visions and goals” Sergiovanni

10. A Community of Learners and Leaders • In a community of learners people “value and honor learning, participation, and cooperation above prescription, production, and competition.” It is a place where “adults and children learn simultaneously and in the same place to think critically and analytically and to solve problems that are important to them.” R. Barth

11. Family/School Connections • The right kinds of school-family connections – those built on relationships, listening, welcoming, and shared decision making – can produce multiple benefits for students, including higher grade point averages and test scores, better attendance, enrollment in more challenging courses, better social skills, and improved behavior at home and at school. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory 2002

12. Involvement versus Engagement • Family involvement versus Family engagement • Involvement - identifying projects, needs, and goals and then telling parents how to contribute • Engagement - listening to what parents think, dream, and worry about – not serving clients but gaining partners

13. Engagement • Listening • Relationships • Communication versus Conversation • Shared goals • Meaningful involvement

14. Characteristics of a Good Teacher Caring Encouraging Interesting, Personable Good/Quality Teacher/Teaching Helpful, Dedicated, Strict Motivating Fun, Demanding, Expectations, Compassionate PDK/Gallup 2010 Annual Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Phi Delta Kappan, September 2011

15. Power of Caring • A circle of caring – creating a community of trust • CASEL Study

16. The Baker Story • Baker story Baker Demonstration School • Forming a vision, defining a mission • Developing core values

17. Models of Engagement and Involvement • Skokie School book groups Skokie School, Winnetka • Llano Grande community projects, Texas Llanogrande Center • Macdonough Elementary School, Middletown, Connecticut • Mission Hill School, Boston Mission Hill School • Baker Demonstration School, Evanston

18. School/Parent Learning Compact Sample School-Family Compact

19. Sensitivity to Cultural Differences • “Parents come to schools with their own education beliefs and priorities, which may not always match those of the school. In democratic schools, we need to elicit more parent perspectives to jointly shape policies and programs and address inequities.” Auberbach, “Learning from Latino Families.” Educational Leadership, May 2011 • Peabody School, Cambridge MA • Is anyone listening to families’ dreams? • Connecting with parents at home

20. Sensitivity to Cultural Differences Six Strategies for Enhancing Hispanic Parent Involvement • Remove language barriers between the parents and the schools. • Address economic obstacles that hinder parental involvement. • Schedule activities to make transportation easier for parents. • Empower and motivate parents to get involved. • Promote teacher-parent relations. • Acknowledge and empower parental aspirations. Zimmerman-Orozco, “A Circle of Caring,” Educational Leadership, May 2011

21. Challenges to Community • External • Internal • Situational

22. Redwoods • Redwood trees grow tall and strong. They live hundreds of years. Yet, the root structure for redwoods is very shallow, seemingly in contradiction to their size and age. Redwood roots may be shallow but they achieve great strength by interlocking themselves with those of surrounding trees. In this interdependence they become strong and resilient, and are able to live long and healthy lives.

23. There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask what is possible not what’s wrong. Keep asking. Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams. Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters. Talk to people you know. Talk to people you don’t know. Talk to people you never talk to. Be intrigued by the differences you hear. Expect to be surprised. Treasure curiosity more than certainty. Invite in everybody who cares to work on what is possible. Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something. Know that creative solutions come from new connections. Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know. Real listening always brings people closer together. Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world. Rely on human goodness. Stay together. M. Wheatley

24. Bibliography • Auberbach, S. ( May 2011). Learning From Latino Families. Educational Leadership. 68(8), 16-21. • Barth, R. (1990). Improving schools from within: Teachers, parents, and principals can make the difference. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. • Bushaw, W. (September 2010). PDK/Gallup 2010 Annual Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Phi Delta Kappan. 92(N1), 8-27. • Dewey, J. (1928). Progressive education and the science of education. In Archambault, R., ed. (1964). John Dewey on education. New York: Modern Library Publications. • Ferlazzo, L. ( May 2011). Involvement or Engagement? Educational Leadership. 68(8), 10-15. • Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. • Goodman, J. (1992). Elementary Schooling For Critical Democracy. New York: State University of New York Press. • Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on Education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. • Kugler, E. ( May 2011). Is Anyone Listening to Families’ Dreams? Educational Leadership. 68(8), 32-37. • Meier, D. (2002). In schools we trust. Boston: Beacon Press. • Mills, L. (1991). The Rag Coat. Boston: Little Brown. • SEDL. (2001). Beyond the Building: A Facilitation Guide for School, Family, and Community Connections. www.sedl.org/connections/toolkits/beyond-the-building.pdf • Sergiovanni, T. (1996). Leadership for the schoolhouse. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. • Wheatley, M. (2002). Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. • Zimmerman, S. ( May 2011). A Circle of Caring. Educational Leadership. 68(8), 64-68.