Schools as Centres - A New Approach
Schools as Centres - The Importance
When it comes to the idea of “schools as centres”, we like what Margot Welch has to say:
“[The schools-as-centres model is] a proactive response to our new understanding about what all children need. We can no longer separate the child at school from the child after school and from the child at home. The well-being of the whole child is tied to the well-being of the whole community.” (Knitting together fragmented services: For service and community schools. Harvard Graduate School of Education)
Welch’s idea of schools as something more than academic institutions has been advanced by a number of other researchers including Reginald Clark, Joy Dryfoos and John Gardner.
Schools as Centres - More Thoughts
The Public Education Network had this to say about schools as centres:
- Schools that offer access to a wide range of programs and supports are better able to fill their core academic mandate of student achievement. Faculty members can concentrate on teaching and learning when they have community partners to help children and their families overcome the many non-academic barriers to learning.
- Schools need to be part of community wide coalitions that seek strong connections among community members, service and program providers, and community organisations to address academic and non-academic barriers to students success. With schools at the centre of a coordinated effort to help children and youth become academically and socially successful, the fabric of community life is strengthened.
- A broad range of community stakeholders must be involved in assessing students and community needs and in determining how those needs should be addressed. The community has a rightful role in shaping schools as centres of community life; organisations and individuals — including non-traditional, often marginalised voices — must be engaged in community wide strategic planning efforts to determine what programs and support should be available at school, for whom, and how they should be delivered.
Schools as Centres - The How To
At GSA, we don’t know a better way of achieving all this than the approach called Future Search which global education expert Michael Fullen described as “exciting and inspiring”. More on this approach to creating Schools as Centres.
-
School Parents
-
Case Studies
-
Testimonials
“I can now honestly say that I have never seen such an approach produce such positive outcomes, goodwill and energy.”
– Deidre Anderson, CEO, U@MQ, Macquarie University
“An exciting and inspiring approach to tackling deeper systems transformation.”
– Professor Michael Fullan
“The Future Search conference encouraged me to take risks. When I heard about TIMMS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study), I went back to my colleagues and said, “I think we can do something with this. We finished 1st in Science and 6th in Maths.”
– Pat Franzen, Science Teacher, Naperville Community School District
“These exemplary principles for facilitating group process have helped us create the space where individuals can take responsibility for their own learning and act upon the decisions they make.”
– Deborah B Reeve EdD, Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Elementary School Principals
"The average scores for youth apprenticeship students went up 200 points on the Statewide standardised tests and enrolments increased by 300%. Today there is a waiting list!"
– Mike Erwin, Principal, North Montgomery County Technical Career School
“I was very impressed with the Future Search approach and have used aspects of it in my own school.”
– Richard Morgan, Principal, The Pittwater House Schools