Unit 3: Beyond the Classroom

 

Agenda

Timing	Activity
55 min	Session 3.1: Thinking about the meaning of "Community"
80 min	Session 3.2: Communities and schools working together
60 min	Lunch
120 min	Session 3.3: Understanding community roles
Total timing: 5 hours 15 minutes

 

Session 3.1: Thinking about the meaning of "Community"
RATIONALE:  Communities are the overall context in which children live and learn, and in which they apply what we have taught them. The values and involvement of families, community leaders, and other community members are vitally important for getting all children in school and helping them to learn successfully. For instance, if families and communities value the education we give their children and value us, as teachers, as well, then children will also value their opportunity to learn. It will encourage them to respect us and their classmates—especially those with various backgrounds and abilities—and encourage them to apply their learning in their daily lives. For this reason the first session forces participants to identify what makes a community, the different kinds of communities, and who the active members of a community are.

 

Session Goals:

• Participants will be able to understand why communities are important to education and schools in general as well as in the formation of child-friendly spaces 
• Participants will be able to think about the meaning of community, as well as what kinds of communities they come from
• Participants will be able to think about the active members of a community, including themselves 

 

Outline and Timing: 

Timing	Activity
5 min	Introduction: Session Objective
30 min	Community Brainstorm
20 min	Members of a Community
Total timing: 55 minutes

 

Materials:

Three definitions of "community," written on large paper or board, three large blank pieces of paper for group work, 

 

Preparing for the Session:

Make sure the facilitator is comfortable with the idea of "community," as well as the definitions of community given below. Being aware and comfortable with the different communities the facilitator comes from will make participants more comfortable and willing to share about their own communities.

 

Facilitating the Session:

 

1.  Introduction: Session Objective.  (5 minutes)   

Tell participants that today/in the following sessions they are going to think outside of the school and classroom to the local communities, and how these communities interact and effect child-friendly schools and spaces.

 

If necessary, review important themes from the previous two days on The Teacher and The Student.

 

2.  Community Brainstorm.  (30 minutes)  Ask participants "What is a community?" "What defines a community?" "What makes one community unique from the other?" 

 

Here are three definitions of community, taken from Community Support for Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa by The World Bank (September, 2001).

 

• Geographic Communities: Refers to a village, the geographic community in which most Africans (and people) belong, or an area of urban or pre-urban settlement. Rural communities are usually more easily identifiable than urban communities, since they tend to have clear physical boundaries and are more stable and homogeneous populations. They are also widely regarded as being more socially cohesive than urban communities and therefore better placed to use participatory approaches to development (p. 10).

 

• Ethnic, Linguistic and Religious Communities: Important sources of education [in Africa], and often cut across geographic communities. They tend to exercise a powerful hold over their members, since most people inherit these identities from their parents, and share them with their immediate and extended families. Such communities are an especially active force in private education in urban areas, where populations are more heterogeneous and ties to a geographic community are often weaker than in rural areas (p. 11).

 

• Communities of "Limited Liability:" More ad hoc and flexible than the first two definitions. They can expand and contract according to need, and are more explicitly based on self-interest than the communities that people are born into. They can cut across identities - but also coincide (p. 11).

 

Be sure to discuss the differences among these three communities, and ask participants to share the names of communities in which they come from from each of these three definitions (for example, the town or village they are from, their ethnic or religious community, and any additional communities they are members of (special committees or town organizations). Make sure participants understand the differences between the three communities.

 

Next, if possible, have participants organize themselves by the communities in which they come from (either geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious, or "limited liability," depending on the diversity among participants, and then have them think of some defining characteristics of their community (or the community in which they all teach). Have participants write these characteristics on a large piece of paper (this should only take two to three minutes). Then have all groups post their pieces of paper and compare the different characteristics. 

 

Tell participants that although communities can be different, they are all important and necessary in aiding in the education of the community's children, and therefore also play a role in creating and maintaining child-friendly schools/spaces.

 

3.  Members of a Community.  (20 minutes) As a group, make a comprehensive list of the members of their community (or a typical community). These members are important, as the role-play activity later on in the day will have participants acting the roles of these members.

 

Examples of community members: mayor, teachers, doctors, priest/rabbi/reverend/etc., parents, police, students, elders, government workers, farmers, NGOs (NGO workers - including foreigners), etc.

 

Have groups share members, and make one large list of all members. 

___________

 

Tell participants that today they are going to discuss and examine how these community members can support and affect child-friendly schools, in two different contexts. These contexts will help answer the two guiding questions of the session:

 

1. How do Child-Friendly Schools affect/change communitites?

2. How can communities support or work with Child-Friendly Schools?

 

Another large component that will be examined through this portion of the training is the challenges that teachers and schools will face is involving parents and the community in creating, working with, or maintaining Child-Friendly Schools.

 

 

Session 3.2: Communities and Schools Working Together
RATIONALE: Communities offer a wealth of information and practical knowledge that educators can use to improve teaching and promote children’s

learning. In order for this to happen, teachers and administrators need to be aware of their communities, who is available from the community to help achieve child-friendly schools, and where these people are located. They must also be aware of what relationships the schools already have with community members, and how these relationships already impact the education imparted to students. 

 

Session Goals:

• Participants will be able to critically think about and answer the five questions, thinking about their personally experiences, schools, and communities
• Participants will be able to create maps of their communities, and explain what parts of these maps are important in creating child-friendly schools and spaces 

 

 

Outline and Timing: 

Timing	Activity
40 min	Group Discussion: Community and Child-Friendly Schools
40 min	Community Map Activity: Identifying People and Places
Total timing: 1 hour 20 minutes

 

Materials:

Copies of 5 discussion questions (enough for one copy for each group), large pieces of paper for community map activity, crayons, markers and pencils for community map activity, tape to display maps.

 

Preparing for the Session:

Make sure that you are familiar with the questions asked in the Group Discussion, and have some examples of answers to offer the group. Also, having a community map example that you draw from your community will help participants understand the activity.

 

Facilitating the Session:

 

1.  Group Discussion: Community and Child-Friendly Schools.  (60 minutes)  Break the participants into groups and have them discuss the following questions for 20 minutes in small groups. Make sure they take notes to share with the entire group once the discussion is complete.

 

(Questions adapted from UNESCO's Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-riendly environments):

 

1. In what ways do you believe the community is involved in developing an a child-friendly environment schools?
2. In what ways does your community already help your school to maintain an child-friendly environment?
3. In what other ways could your community help your school to maintain an child-friendly environment?
4. Who from the community can act as a leader (or leaders) to create and maintain a child-friendly environment, outside of people already in school leadership positions (principals, school administrators, etc.)?
5. What can you do to encourage your community to help maintain a child-friendly environment in your school?

 

 

Once the 20 minutes are complete, regroup as a class and ask one person from each group to share their answer to the first question with the larger group. Ask participants to note similarities and differences in answers. When differences occur, ask groups if this is because they discussed different kinds of communities, or maybe thought of additional resources that other groups hadn't thought about. Remind the group that there are no wrong answers, and that all answers should be viewed as learning experiences for all participants to think about and try in their schools with the different communities. The larger group conversation should take no longer than 20 minutes.

 

2.  Community Map Activity: Identifying People and Places.  (40 minutes)  Have participants form groups so that they are with people from the same school/village/community/city/etc. Distribute large pieces of paper and crayons/markers/pencils to the groups. Tell them that they should draw a map of their community. Do not give them any guidelines or make recommendations of places to include.

 

After everyone finishes their map, have them present it to the group. Take note of places that some groups included and that others didn't, and ask if this is because they forgot to include it, chose not to include it, or does not exist in their community. Also take note about the sizes that people made some places as opposed to others (for example, they might have drawn the school as a very large building and the mayor's office smaller, when in reality the mayor's office is actually bigger). Ask groups why they drew some buildings larger than others.

 

These maps represent how participants view their communities, as well as the importance they weigh on some places in comparison to others. Ask participants how the places they drew on the map can help in creating a child-friendly environment in their community. Ask how the large places they drew can contribute, in comparison to small places on the map. If teachers drew restaurants, bars, or pool halls, ask how these places can contribute or hinder the creation of a child-friendly community.

 

LUNCH

 

Session 3.3: Understanding Community Roles
RATIONALE: One of the most effective ways of learning is "learning by doing." Although identifying community members is important, actually working through a meeting or challenging time with community members is essential. As this is a training and actual community members are not available, a role play is. Role playing is important because it not only gives people experience in acting through a situation, but it also makes participants think about the values and points of views of people they will work with. This will also help participants prioritize their next steps upon completing this training.

 

Session Goals:

• Participants will be able to work through real-life situations with other participants in order to realize potential challenges when working with a community to develop child-friendly school
• Participants will be able to list three realistic goals that they will be able to set forth to achieve involving their coworkers, schools, and communities in order to create child-friendly schools and spaces 

 

 

Outline and Timing: 

Timing	Activity
90 min	Role Play: Community Involvement
30 min	Take Aways: What Will I Do Next?
Total timing: 2 hours

 

Materials:

Small slips of paper for the different roles of the role play (one slip for each participant, make sure to create an amount of slips that would be representative of a real community), the five questions for the role play written on a large piece of paper or on the board, pieces of paper and pens for participants to write their goals.

 

Preparing for the Session:

Arrange the seating for the role play in a large circle. Have participants make name tags for themselves so that the other participants can see who they are playing any time during the role play. It may be helpful to do background research on how to perform role plays with groups for additional advice on suggestions on how to make it a successful activity.

 

Facilitating the Session:

 

1.  Role Play: Community Involvement.  (120 minutes)  Explain to participants that they are all going to be assigned a certain community member role, and that for the remainder of this activity they have to act out this role, only expressing the beliefs and opinions of their new persona. Assign however many roles as necessary so that all participants have a role (more than one person can have the same role - try to keep it representative of what could be an actual community).

 

ROLES:

 

• Teacher trying to create a Child-Friendly Environment in the school: You are a new teacher in your school, working to create a more child-centered, inclusive approach to education in your classroom. You have sought out help from other teachers in the school, and would like to learn more about how to do this, as well as seek help from the school and community.
• Teacher afraid of change/not willing to adapt to a Child-Friendly environment in the school: You have been a teacher for 15 years and are satisfied with your job and how your students behave. You don't understand why you need to change anything in your school.
• Parent involved in their child's education: You have a young child in elementary school, and are supportive of his or her education. You visit the school and talk to the teacher, help with your student's homework, and volunteer to help at school events (although you cannot offer monetary help as you do not have much extra money).
• Single parent that works two jobs: You have three children in school, one in elementary school and two in secondary school. You send them to school and then go to work in the morning, and do not arrive at home until after your children. They usually help cook and clean, but many times when you arrive home you still have to cook your family dinner. After dinner you are always exhausted and do not want to be bothered.
• Illiterate, uneducated parent: You have two children in school, and know that education is very important, but as you never received an education or learned to read, you are shy about meeting with teachers or arriving at the school. You are unsure how to help your children and the school.
• School principal: You have been the principal of the schools for seven years. Some of the new, younger teachers would like to change 
• Community religious leader: You are always trying to promote parent involvement in children's lives, whether it be education, health, etc.

 

SCENARIO: One teacher in a school is trying to create a more child-friendly environment, and is seeking support of the community in order to maintain this child-friendly atmosphere outside of the classroom when students leave. The teacher has identified the following tasks in order to achieve his or her goal:

 

1. Communicate regularly with the parents and guardians of enrolled students about the students' progress in learning and achievement.
2. To work with community leaders to find out which children are not in school and why, and devise ways to bring them to school.
3. To explain the purpose of implementing child-friendly practices to parents.
4. To prepare his/her students to interact with the community as part of the curriculum, through field trips and special activities/events.
5. To invite parents and members of the community to be involved in the classroom.

 

Explain to participants that they are going to role-play each of the five tasks, acting in role and presenting realistic challenges, problems, and successes that can take place in each situation. As a moderator, take notes of what you see during the role-plays in order to lead the debriefing discussion at the end of each role-play (you can debrief at the end of each task, or at the end of all five tasks, depending on the energy in the room and what you think participants would best appreciate).

 

2.  Take Aways: What Will I Do Next?  (30 minutes)  Review and reflect on what has been learned during today's sessions. Now ask participants to individually list three goals that they have for themselves after leaving the training. These goals should incorporate using the community in order to develop child friendly spaces and schools. Remind participants that no goal is too small.

 

Examples of goals:

 

 

• Work with head teacher to explain what child-friendly schools are and why they are important
• Create a Child-Friendly Schools Committee within the school
• Create a Child-Friendly Schools Committee outside of the school involving community leaders
• Prepare school brochures or newsletters about child-friendly schools and spaces
• Create a public service announcement with your school telling parents about the need for schooling, as well as parent involvement in schools (or community involvement in schools)
• Hold your own workshop or training session on child-friendly schools 
• Create a parent-teacher committee to increase parental involvement in school and in their child's learning at home

 

Ask participants to each share one of their goals. When they share a goal, ask them how they will do this, or what the first step is to complete their goal. This is important in getting participants to think in the actual steps it will take to achieve their goal. You want participants to work towards their list, and the only way they will do so is if they think through the process necessary in order to achieve their goals. 

 

 

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