Family, school, and community partnership are essential elements of socialization whose foundation is laid down in childhood, where a child is taught how to relate to family and school and how to fit in society (Dosbenbetova et al., 2020). The immediate family usually holds much power in a child’s development because it is the environment in which child spends most of their time. This partnership helps the school organize programs involving families in different areas and locations where they can actively participate (Epstein et al., 2018). For instance, parents can partner with teachers to help their kids with homework activities. In contrast, the school and families can also form partnerships with local organizations that can sponsor programs such as sports activities and cultural events, contributing to a learning process. This paper discusses the influence of the family, school, and community on a child’s development.
Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Systems Theory considers child advancement as a multifaceted relationship system impacted by various environmental factors. This ranges from the close environment, such as family, to wide-ranging environments, such as customs and laws. Bronfenbrenner divided the settings in which a child grows into five systems: the ecosystem, the microsystem, the mesosystem, the microsystem, and the chronosystem. The microsystem is the closest level of development and the most influential (Berns, 2015).
The Bronfenbrenner theory is vital in understanding the differences between children, their families, and their communities. When a person understands the environment in which a child grows, it becomes easier to understand their behaviors and relate with them. For instance, teachers or tutors can understand their students well and build better communication in their interactions. Additionally, these environments affect a child’s psychologically and socially. For instance, if the parents and teachers team up together, this will have a positive effect on the child’s development, while if the parent or teacher has a bad day and decides to act harshly toward the child, then this will have a negative impact on his development.
Connecting with families
Partnership refers to the engagement of the community, family, and educators for the development and the success of the student in learning by sharing the responsibilities, for instance, by coming up with partnership programs (Epstein et al., 2018). The early stages of a child’s development are critical, hence; parents approach the issue from a partnership angle with the essential caregivers. Child and family health nurses maintain a nurse-family relationship by employing their skills to help families build confidence and competence. This will act as a shield against threats to parents and child well-being. The partnership between families and the crucial caregivers helps to improve the child’s educational, health and well-being outcomes. This is important because it creates a warm relationship between the families and the caregivers; hence, the family feels welcomed and respected. Once teachers understand a family’s structure, that include separated parents who co-parent, they would organize how to communicate effectively to both families for the positive development of a child. According to Gonzalez (2017), teachers can develop different ways where both parents would play an active role in a child’s progress. Common activities include attending events and encouraging parents to update teachers regularly on a child’s home and school activities.
Communities
It is essential to know the culture of different families to understand their behaviours and the various ways in which they socialize. This helps to know the do and don’ts of different cultures that reduce conflict chances and encourage harmonious relationships (Safir, 2017). Communities can help in such situations because most communities are usually people of the same cultures. Communities also play a significant role by passing the family’s culture from one generation to the next. This process encompasses the daily activities of schools, families, and their neighbours by practicing the community’s culture of communication, language, and historical background. Community interactions enable students and teachers to receive support from diverse quarters (Lynch, 2021). In doing so, the activities lay a good foundation for the child as he or she grows up. The community also plays a significant role in providing support and encouragement to the students to motivate them to succeed (Epstein et al., 2018). The educators can connect with families by coming up with programs that engage both the family and the school. These partnership programs will improve the performance of the school and the behavioural changes (Epstein et al., 2018).
My community in Harlem provides insights to educators by providing life-changing opportunities for children to excel in all areas of life. These include the availability of a public library, access to public transportation, and availability of health facilities. The essential thing in the Harlem community is jazz music. The top landmarks in Harlem are The Studio Museum of Harlem, The Apollo Theatre, Schomburg Center for Research. People can eat at restaurants and do shopping at the chain stores. There are playgrounds such as alexander Hamilton and Harlem lane playground. Most Harlem churches are Baptist churches such as Abyssinian Baptist Church, and the town is both a residential and an industrial town. Community members in Harlem do both white-collar and blue-collar jobs. The town has libraries such as Harlem library and The Schomburg Center for Research and transportation is mainly through subway and bus, while the recreational centers are Jackie Robinson Park, Thomas Jefferson recreational centre. Organizations such as the Harlem children’s zone assist in education, community projects, health issues, and the East Harlem community resource that helps kids soar to a great height and offers support in domestic violence cases. The Harlem community interacts mainly through religious activities, jazz music concerts, and community organizing activities such as fundraisers. The community plays a significant role in ensuring cohesion among families, children educators, and the rest of the community by engaging in partnership programs that bring them together.
Supporting Families
The Allred and Hancock article talk about disability and family response from the 1950s to date. It also includes the interaction between teachers and parents in response to students with disabilities in the community. Various models, such as “the traditional approach to parental response to disability,” are discussed to understand these responses. Community-level resources can help parents and teachers understand how to deal with the disability situation (Allred & Hancock, 2012). These resources include east Harlem community resource, which helps students with special needs, and Harlem independent Living center allows members living with physical and mental disabilities. Additionally, the community can support these families by forming partnership between the parents and teachers who will aim at achieving a common goal that is the positive development of the child by attending to their needs by ensuring they have access to the necessary resources. This partnership can involve programs that ensure both the teachers and parents actively participate in the child’s life. Through this, the children will feel as part of the community and get to learn different values and factors that make them unique from the others (González, 2017).
In conclusion, the family, school, and community play a significant role throughout a child’s development. The influence of the three dimensions shapes children into what they become in adulthood. Parents and caregivers should ensure children learn the best virtues to grow into responsible members of society.
References
Allred, K., & Hancock, C. (2012). On Death and Disability: Reframing Educators’ Perceptions of Parental Response to Disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v32i4.1737
Berns, R. (2015). Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization and Support (10th ed.). Thomson Wadsworth.
Dosbenbetova, A., Bitemirova, A., Zhapbarov, A., Zhapbarova, G., & Tuimebayeva, G. (2020). THE PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION OF THE CHILD’S PERSONALITY IN THE CONDITIONS OF INTERACTION OF FAMILY AND PRESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. Journal of Critical Reviews, 7(07). https://doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.07.99
Epstein, J., Sanders, M., Sheldon, S., Simon, B., Salinas, K., & Jansorn, N. et al. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships (4th ed.). SAGE Publications Company.
González, K. (2017). Two Homes, One Classroom: Inclusive Practices That Work | NAEYC. Naeyc.org. Retrieved 2 May 2021, from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2017/two-homes-one-classroom.
Lynch, M. (2019). How Community Walks Transform Schools – The Edvocate. The Edvocate. Retrieved 2 May 2021, from https://www.theedadvocate.org/how-community-walks-transform-schools/.
Safir, S. (2017). Community Walks Create Bonds of Understanding. Edutopia. Retrieved 27 April 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/community-walks-create-bonds-understanding-shane-safir.
