School–community links: supporting learning in the middle years

Abstract

This paper reports on research into how schools, parents and local communities work together to support students’ learning during the transition from primary to secondary schools in what is referred to as the middle years of schooling. The research was conducted in four Australian schools within one urban school district. These schools were located in low‐income communities and had high numbers of bilingual students. We mapped existing school–community links that support student learning by identifying key participants and describing how they perceive these links—particularly in relation to improving students’ engagement in learning. Our approach was qualitative in nature, utilizing interviews and focus groups. We found that students, families and teachers commonly expressed the view that learning is limited to schooling; that contacts between schools and communities about learning are difficult to negotiate and are heavily mediated by school principals; and we describe a lack of consensus about the nature of communities and the potential of school community links to contribute to enhancing student learning outcomes.

Keywords:

• Disadvantage
• Disengagement
• Middle years
• School–community

Notes

1. The research was commissioned by the Youth Assistance Strategies Section, NSW Department of Education and Training. The final report Beyond the school fence: school–community links in the middle years is published by the Centre for Popular Education at the University of Technology, Sydney.

2. The collaboration was funded by the Priority Schools Funding Program (PSFP) and the Granville District Office of the NSW Department of Education and Training under its Linkages program that targeted middle years initiatives.