Eric Schaps in “Creating Caring School Communities” outlines succinctly the process, challenges, and outcomes of community building in schools, but in doing so identifies a need for a sort of professional scaffolding for teachers that seems to be ever-acknowledged, but rarely spoken about.
First though, it is important for me to restate what community has to do with with the relationship between curriculum, content, the teachers, and the learners. A successful community exists in a way across a spectrum of senses but most easily (and perhaps superficially) it is felt in the heart. The visual evidence of the community, the vocalization of respect, the touch of a helping hand, all facilitate that deeper knowledge that community surrounds you.
I sought to find how to bridge learners and content using the teacher as the pivot, however, I had failed to see that those three components are smaller parts in a larger thing that directly effects the relationship of the three with one another.
Back to community as something from which that relatedness emerges, and how to get there. Schaps suggests the movement begins with administrative implementation, and can grow from there. It does however require a genuine contribution from all members, who are in this case the administration, the students, the teachers, and parents/guardians. “We learn best from, and with, those to whom we relate well” Schaps says (2009, pg. 9).
I go into more detail on community in another post but wanted to post a link to this short article as well which identifies some checkpoints to measure progress of community along the way as well as reaffirms some benefits for the classroom and larger school.
