Urban School-Community Leadership Platform
Establishing school-community relations is crucial for the survival of the school. Our school relations course examined the school as “the place of hope and restoration” (winterbourne). Urban schools confront many obstacles as they work to serve the public. Schools are community hospitals working to heal traumas and areas of marginalization. For the community leadership platform, I want to unpack three core beliefs building relationships, strengthening student learning, and advocacy. These values connect to the NELP standard 5 and will be addressed in practice.
Relationships
When we nurture relationships, it informs our practices and demands excellence. We develop an understanding of the community's needs. Leaders must know their staff members as individuals and not their profession. “Adults first need to take care of their own needs before looking to the care of their immediate group members (students).” (Lerra, 2016, p40) When we acknowledge teachers as humans, we can progress to coaching and developing great practitioners.
Make yourself visible as a leader. Stop by and check in on your staff each morning before the morning bell. During staff meetings, carve out time for team building. Be intentional about establishing office hours before, after, and during school for teachers and staff to come and talk. In my practicum, I was able to foster relationships with teachers by bringing in snacks, food, and serving as a listening ear. I was intentional about stopping by during their prep to talk about things outside of their job title.
Student Learning
“The community is as much of the curriculum as the curriculum is as much what's happening inside the school. (Green)” Leaders are intentional about utilizing the assets within a community to inform and strengthen student learning. Instruction should be adapted to ensure every student succeeds regardless of race, ability, language, socioeconomic status, and intersectionalities. NELP 5.1 states that leaders should engage diverse families in strengthening student learning. This means we interrogate our curriculum and determine the who, what, and why we learn.
Throughout my years in teaching I have anchored my instruction on the Gloria Ladson-Billing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. Ladson-Billings encourages us to promote academic success, cultural competency, and critical consciousness. As we work to accomplish these tenets it is crucial we bring in the community, parents, and students. As a black female, whose class was 99% African American, I was intentional on building in black history into our daily routine. Students began to learn to read and sing black poetry, songs, and books. Students began to connect and identify inspirational black figures. Families were invited into the learning space to share their black owned business and skills. Our class was able to find inspiration in every content area.
Advocacy
“The fates of urban schools and communities are linked, yet school reformers and community builders typically act as if they are not” (Green, p.113). As community leaders, we must actively participate in community discussion forums, policies, events, crime watch, and more. You should be a well-respected face within the community you serve. Showing up and advocating for community development is critical in the urban environment. Many of the urban schools I have been to are located in food deserts. Families need basic survival needs. Know the needs of your community.
Many urban schools hold food pantries and clothing pantries to meet the needs of their communities. NELP standard 5.2 states how we must collaborate with the community to ensure school improvement and student development. This is why many schools have community partnerships that offer a variety of services. As a leader, you must know which partners support your school's improvement and student development mission. Schools can tend to be tight on money, this is why partnering with your local churches, neighborhood development teams, district rep, business and more are crucial to fulfilling the mission.