Helping the community help the school

(This information is drawn from the Philippines Multigrade Teacher's Handbook.)

Even beyond the immediate circle of families with children in our classes, the community can be an important resource, supporting active learning in many ways.

Community leaders are often very interested in what's happening in schools, even if they don't have school-age children themselves. Enlisting their support is important, because they can influence others to support your work as well.

They may even be willing to visit your class to see the results of special projects. They can then receive brief thank-you letters or cards from the children.

Different kinds of support

The community can support your work in many easy ways.

Field-visit transportation

Transport operators or others who have vehicles may be able to help meet your transportation needs for field visits. (Clear their involvement with your head teacher or principal, and ensure that they are safe drivers.)

Classroom materials

If paper is scarce in your classroom, businesses may be able to make notebooks for children by stapling sheets of paper that have been used on one side. Furniture makers may be able to make blocks or other math manipulatives (see Mathematics skills and mathematics concepts) out of scrap wood. Farmers can provide seeds for a school garden, (see Science: The world around us) as well as advice on how to sprout them.

Expert information

Members of the community may be excellent sources of information for learners on a range of topics, from farming to mechanics to medicine and healing. Invite experts to address the class when you begin a new topic, or arrange local field visits to see clinics, newspapers, farms, or fisheries.

Interviews

For younger children, adults can be sources of stories and history. For older children, they can be interviewed regarding historic or community events (see Social studies: The world we make), such as when their families arrived in the region, and from where, or what their occupation is. Interviews and analysis of the results can easily link to learning in writing, social studies, and mathematics.

Journal activity: One point of contact

Create a plan for one activity in social studies or science that involves members of the community.

Begin by reviewing your work plan or curriculum for the next six weeks, to determine ways in which the community might be involved. Identify the topics that you'll be addressing in social studies and science.

Are there members of the community who could add to learners' concrete knowledge and experience of the topic?

Are there materials or information that could be of value to learners' investigations, such as specific plants to be dissected or traditional costumes that can be displayed.

Write out a short plan for taking advantage of these resources. Who will you contact, and how? When will you want an expert to visit or a costume to be loaned? How will you and the class follow up on the experience?