SCHOOL AND

ENVIRONMENT

THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN SCHOOL AND
THE COMMUNITY

INTRODUCTION
School is the social foundation where designed

learning experiences are provided with the

objectives of achieving a social aim at large,
over a period of time. School is also defined as a
subsystem of the larger system of the society.
The community in this case refers to the
stakeholders involved in the schools system for
example parents ,the religious groups ,the
government .

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL AND

ENVIRONMENT / COMMUNITY
Many author and researchers commonly agree
that the relationship between the community
and the school starts from the family(home)
Berger (1987:25) emphasises that the prime
educators where the family even before school
were developed.

4 CATEGORIES OF THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN SCHOOL AND THE
ENVIRONMENT

Parent
Teachers
Learners
Religious community

PARENT
The

childs first teacher is a parent

Parent with positive attitude towards school their children attend:
I )Make teachers jobs as professional become easier.
ii)Improve childrens enjoyment and chances of doing well
Parental involvement enhances academic performance. The more intensely
the parent is involved, the greater chance of academic success.
Parental involvement leads to better classroom behaviour.
A parents interest/encouragement can affect a childs attitude towards
school, classroom conduct, self-esteem, and motivation.
Parental involvement lifts teacher morale.
Parental involvement benefits both children and parents. Parents will gain a
better understanding of school curriculum and activities and communicate
better with their children.

Nobody wants his or her child to feel frustrated.

No parent wishes that. But sometimes it is hard to
help at home. You dont know how the teacher
does it. I always hear from my grandson, Thats
not how my teacher wants me to do it. I want to
help him at home the way hes doing in school,
but its not easy.Parent

WHY DO SCHOOL TRY TO INVOLVE PARENT

IN THEIR CHILDRENS EDUCATION ?

keeping parent informed about how and what their

children are learning i.e. the curriculum, teaching
methods, tests and exams, and changes to the
education system.

keeping parent informed about their childrens

individual progress

TEACHERS
Regardless of the position held in a school, teachers have certain
responsibilities towards the community.
The teacher-community relation according to Kindred (1994-70) are:
i) Do good job in carrying out daily work

ii) Know the school system

iii) Know the community

LEARNER

The most constituents of the school are learners.

The community builds the school for them to receive good education.
The community are interested in what happen to these investment.
The school should therefore develop a satisfactory relation with the
learner.

Way on how school develop a satisfactory relation with

learner.
Handling of discipline.
Understand the normal behaviour of high school learners at different
stages of growth and their development.
Prevent situations from arising that would call for disciplinary action.

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

Church play an important role if allowed to

participate in decision-making process by
reinstating the culture of respect for authority
according to the Bible.
The school in order to have an effective
relationship with community should
accommodate an equal basis different beliefs
and practises of different denomination

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

SCHOOL AND SOCIETY

Community schools that align schools and community

resources are a promising strategy for improving student
outcomes by providing wraparound services that meet the
social, physical, cognitive, and economic needs of both
students and families. In general, family involvement in
schooling is associated with many benefits for student
that are the kinds of benefits desired by educators.
Parents are the essential link to improving education and
schools have to do a better job of reaching out to them.
Sending home a report card is not enough. Parents want
to help their children succeed in school, and often need
guidance on how to be most effective. By Richard Riley of
U.S office of education.

LEARNERS OUTCOMES OF A POSITIVE

RELATIONDHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL AND
SOCIETY.
Improve grade and test scores.
Parents and the community aimed at improving
learners academic achievement and other
outcomes .

Parents and community leadership improve low

performing schools both in urban and rural area.

They have contributed to changes in policy,

resources, personnel, and school culture and
education programs.

By this learners improve academically and

increase their passing rate.

schoolwork and work

completion.
Parental involvement in school
activities was significantly related to
time on homework. Learners will
complete their schoolwork on time
with the help of a teacher and
parents.

Teachers try their level best to help

student out. Learners will have
positive attitude toward their
schoolwork and they will come up
with new ideas.

 Positive

behaviour
Learners will respect both parents, teachers
and each other.

Learners will listen in class and be well

motivated.

Good manner will reduced bullying and

avoid misbehaving.

 Increase

participations in classroom
activities
Student will involve themselves more on school
activities rather than risking themselves into
drugs and sexual transmitted diseases.

 Increase

attendance
School attendance data provide the number of
days students were presents at school as well as
the number of days absent each year. Learners
turn to love going to school every day with no
worries. They will be happy attending school and
proud to be part and parcel of the school.

 Reduced

Dropping out
It will reduce learners from
dropping out of school because
there is a positive relationship and
learners will know the important
of school and they will continue
studying to achieve their goals.

THE EFFECTS/OUTCOMES OF A NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

SCHOOL AND THE ENVIRONMENT
aninverserelationshipbetweentwovariables.Asonevariableincreases,t
heotherdecreases.
When there is no good relationship between the school and the society,
certain things happen e.g. a student might not be able to do good at his
education when his parents for certain bad reasons they do not talk to his
teachers. Therefore a student is forced to get himself involved in bad
activities like Bullying and gang violence, Drugs abuse, alcohol abuse,
which might have negative effects on his Academic performance, his
Health, and his education.

When a student is experiencing some sort of

problems from home like they are being abused,
they might start Bullying other students

Bulling is unwanted, aggressive behaviour

among school aged children that involves a
real or perceived power imbalance.
The behaviour is repeated, or has the
potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids
who are bullied and who bully others may
haveserious, lasting problems.
Bullying can affect everyone those who are
bullied, those who bully, and those who
witness bullying. Bullying is linked to many
negative outcomes including impacts on
mental health, substance use, and suicide. It
is important to talk to kids to determine
whether bullying or something else is a

Bullying leads to:

Kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, school,

and mental health issues. Kids who are bullied are more likely to
experience:
Depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and
loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of
interest in activities they used to enjoy. These issues may persist
into adulthood.
Health complaints
Decreased academic achievement GPA and standardized test
scores and school participation. They are more likely to miss,
skip, or drop out of school.

Drug abuse example Marijuana

Children

who uses drugs are likely to perform poor academically as compared

to those that dont. And some if not most of them end up dropping out of
school
This leads to reduced educational attainment (i.e. reduced chances of
graduating

They also have a much higher chance of later developing dependence, using
other drugs, and attempting suicide.

Several studies have also linked heavy marijuana use to lower income, greater
welfare dependence, unemployment, criminal behaviour, and lower life
satisfaction.

Teenage Pregnancy
If there is a negative relationship
between
school and the society, there is a high
chance
that female adolescents tend to behave
in
a bad way which might result in
teenage
pregnancies.
There is no one to advice them on
matters like that, they want to do what
their friends are doing (peer pressure).

HOW TO BUILD A POSITIVE

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
SCHOOL AND SOCIETY

The school and society need to build a

strong and positive relationship .
The two parties have to create a sense of
security, safety and trust amongst the
involved parties namely the learners.

Marketing the school in a form of good

publicity.
Host

parent -Teacher functions and

meetings.

Create

various student groups e.g. a

buddies program.
Community building activities e.g.
police talks at the school, scout
campings, hospital staff visits etc.
Introduce the school staff, students
and stakeholders to the various
government bodies and parties
responsible for education

CONCLUSION
THE RIGHT HAND WASHES THE
LEFT HAND ..!!!!!!!!!

AN AFRICAN
PROVERB

The school will not succeed without the assistance of the society
,thus the society will not develop without the assistance of the
school therefore the school and the society need to have and
develop a positive relationship and avoid a negative relationship
.The society can help with the rehabilitation of learners (society
includes rehabilitation centers ,hospitals ,police ,religious groups
etc.). The school educates the learners with skills and also about
various social and important issues including the dangers of drugs
and alcohol abuse, unprotected sex leading to teenage pregnancy
and sometimes new HIV and AIDS infections, crime thus decreasing
the chances of students taking part in risky activities which might
lead to social problems eventually.

The society can also address issues such as

divorce, poverty etc. with the assistance of the
government as this problems may cause
learners to be less productive and more
resistant/rebellious at school, which will lead to
a high dropout rate causing more uneducated
people in the society placing a burden on the
government and justice system as unemployed
individuals are most likely to turn to crime.

The government , the school (teachers and learners ) , parents

,stakeholders and the community members in to work hand-inhand to shape human motivation and produce educated,
hardworking ,independent and productive young citizens to
build a better society .Happy learners are academically
motivated learners .