Schools win support from adults in the community.pdf

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extracted text: in school alright but did anyone of them finish any course? Nor did anyone of them prosper in lifo'? To be sure, a great many of them turned out to be gamblers and very few of them professed even a humble calling. The barrio populace thereafter lived in abject poverty and want. The concomitant evils followed; illiteracy, dishonesty, immorality, indolence, etc. Having profiitted from their sad experi~nre tlie people in this barrio woke up to their misery. Aml having learned lessons from their de$picable past redirected their course of action. They tried to do away with their vicious practices and brought up their children in an atmosphere conducive to approved ways of life. Results: The barrio is now progressing. It can boast of educated youths; men and women, \Vho constitute the cream of the citizenry. At present, there are no more gambling dens; no cockpit, no nothing. .Instead, there are all sorts of appropriate devices for spending profitable leisures. Thus, environment affects favorably the norms of conduct and approved decorum of the youth: Schools Win Support Adults From in the Community Edward G. Olsen R ELATJONSHIPS between the school and the adults in any community are important in determining educational policy and program. Problems that confront educators and lay people everywhere include these -what people think about their schools, -how school purposes actually relate to cultural traditions and expectations, -the extent to which formal education really meets community needs, and -the basic role of the school in a soe-iety now shaken by vast and unprecedented changes which are both technological and institutional in character. '-' Reprinted from The Nation's School, July, 1956 issue. PAGE 50 With the advent of the modern trends of education many more agencies are added to the list of factors affecting the general welfare of the public. There are for instance: The Social Welfare Administration, Agricultcral Extension, Rural Health Unit, etc., etc. These agencies, needless to tell, help one way or another in the implementation of education in its true sense. The functions being performed by these agencies in the promotion of the common welfare are only too glaring to merit enumeration. The point iR: Is the school solely and exclusively responsible for the promotion of education? As proved by the discussion under consideration the duty of educating the masses is not a monopoly of the school. It is a 'joint responsibility of various agencies charged with the task of extricating the people from the morass where the~' were damped once upon a time. So long as the school, the home, the church, the environment, and other minor agencies cooperate wholeheartedly in the total war for the betterment of our youth, so long will they succeed in their attempts to build a strong, healthy nation \vith good and upright citizens. Here are some operating principles for teachers and administrators as they work with their communities. Ile friendly Maintain a warm, welcoming school atmosphere. Always be hospitable to Iay people, however demanding they may be. If you want respect from community adults they must have confidence in you, and that requires you to be the kind of person who deserves their· trust. You won't get it just because you are an educator. You must earn it as a friendly, down-to-earth human being who only happens to be a teacher. Parents' dream for children Remember always that parents want their children to be better off than they are. The great dream of individual advancement is basic in our culture and is shared by virtually all Americans. To be sure, parents do not want their children to be 'schooled away' from themselves. Usfog technologi~al terms, we might say that most parents want their children to be unadjusted to the parental life level, but not maladjusted to themselves. The risks of alienation will be minimized if you keep your community needs and develop it through joint child and adult sharing in planning. Ile realistic Begin with real problems that are right at hand. For best results these will be problems which are of THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR actual· or potential concern to both parents and children; are not controversial in terms of objectives, however much disagreement there may be on methods; can be solved (but not too easily lest real satisfactions not develop); require direct community participation by children and adults; and use in their solution varied resources close at hand and readily available. Encourage teamwork Get people working as teams - including, if possible, both children and adults on committees. In teamwork each individual accepts responsibility for a part of the whole. Each may learn from the others how better to set up criteria, get facts, plan, execute, and judge the project. Each can find stimulus and encouragement in the progress of the whole -as he identifies psychologically with the larger enterprise. But he sure to include some of the 'power people' on strategic~ teams, and don't fail to give the lay people all possible public credit for success achieved. Begin modestly Plan big but begin small (so as to assure initial success) ; then expand as rapidly as possible. No growing· program can stand long on any plateau. It is always necessary to go ahead, or interest will rapidly dwindle. So don't stop too long to admire your achievements; instead, move on to develop larger projects and to involve more participators in them. And remember that it is not enough merely to get people interested and concerned; they must also be mo_ved to 'vork actively in the project. Satisfying personal involvement is the key to deepening interest and widening effort. Stop to look Arrange for appropriate self-appraisal by the group itself. When all share in diagnosing a cooperative project's effectiveness, they can grow together in both insight and interest. Continued effective action is not likely without some kind of 'how are we doing?' evaluation sessions at frequent intervals. Integrate your planning As the program expands, be sure it develops appropriate structure and organization. Having beOCTOBER. 1957 gun informally, with a minimum of organizatton, you vvill need to go on to develop careful (even written) plans and to find recognized leadership. A temporary chairman and recorder may be selected at the outset, but you may soon need more permanent leaders for some such organization as parents committee or a community council. Sometimes cooperative community projects fail because expanding programs outgrow their structural supports. Look to lay 011inions Remember that responsibility for a community school does not lie solely with school people. Community education is the proper concern of everyone in the community. Teachers may often need to take the lead in promoting community cooperation of this kind, but the community school is by no means 'their show'. Oftep school people do their best work when they are willing to follow community lay leadership instead of expecting to lead themselves. A tortoise won a race Don't be discouraged if progres::; seems slow. You won't develop a real community school in three clays 01· 30 days or three years. There are long, hard traditions and much inertia to overcome - traclitions ancl inertia within the school as well as in the community. But take heart when the going is rough, remembering that you are on the right side of histor~' and that thou::;ands of fellow teachers are "\Vorking in the same direction. Don't forget the tea<·her Finally, never forget or ignore the vital importance of the individual teacher. No ::;chool, however well equipped, is ever superior to its teachers. A child is better off in a one-room rural school taught o~' an intelligent, imaginative, and dedicated teacher than enrolled in a multi-room city school staffed by cli::;couraged, time::;erving bell-watchers. The community school idea is the recognized pattern for educational progress. The deep need of our times is for devoted educational leaders to translate that broad pattern into local programs of action. PAGE 51
Date: 1957
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