The Multiple Impacts that Schools Have on Communities
When you think of a school, what definition can you come up with to clearly describe the purpose of what it is? Is there a “one size fits all” version of that answer — or do we judge them and rate them with metrics and state level assessments as if there is?
The fact is, the definition of a school revolves around the needs of the community — and if that connection is real and validated as thematically ground into the fabric of that school, they will find successes. If the point behind the school is to pass everyone and have great statistics, that school is only serving it’s own best interests, or of those that run it.
The impact of a school should directly affect the community needs, and the following are the ways in which if done correctly, can improve life for not just those that attend it, but for everyone that lives around it in the community as well.
Perhaps the single most profound impact that a school has on the community, is fostering confidence.
People are not born with confidence, they develop it over time. There is a difference between being confident and arrogant, and that really can be pinpointed to having the knowledge and preparation to find confidence instead of just going out there and doing/saying whatever.
A school should focus on personal and professional skills that students need, to function in the real world.
We’re not talking resumes and interviews, or eye contact and attire, but how to interact, why being polite is necessary, how to be kind, how to be considerate, and how to show care without waiting to get it first.
I used to hear the kids in New York City say,
“I’m not going to respect that person because they don’t respect me first.”
That’s what students say about their teachers. When you think about that, you can see a root of why relationships with students are so important. In that neighborhood specifically with high crime rates, high poverty rates, and high unemployment rates, those students are rarely experiencing respectful environments. Schools are responsible for fixing that. Schools are responsible for showing how to correct that, and offering the skills so students will drive that force of change.
This is why “relationships” are the key to a successful teacher, to a successful student, and a successful school from the perspective of the community.
Relationships are at the root of all productivity in education.
We should never assume we have established them, and should revisit how to strengthen them at all times and in all situations. Caring, having empathy, developing an understanding for other perspectives to the point where respect is fostered — this is where students begin to trust the teacher. Learning comes when students trust the source.
To expect that a student is respectful prior to coming to school, is fictitious at best.
I’m not suggesting parents are bad at raising their kids — but in a pandemic when schools are shut down for a year — students miss out on the true elements of education that make them be able to function better in society because of the exposure to learning as much as possible — all day long.
Kids don’t learn only when they are in class.
They learn when walking in the halls. They learn when eating lunch and socializing. They are sponges during physical education, during outside of school events, during clubs, and the list goes on. Learning isn’t just from a lesson plan in class, that may make up only half of what they endure.
Schools should also focus on community needs, and have that drive pathways within that school.
For example, if your school is located in an agricultural type community, where General Mills and Horizon maybe located — there better be an agriculture program that offers contemporary, safe, and sustainable means of preparing students for those industries, which can lead to a more skilled labor force, an advancement of the company because of an eventual return of investment in students, and lower unemployment rates, etc.
If the crime rate is high in a neighborhood, schools should have the popular “Explorers” club for students who are interested in criminal justice. Schools should have regular student exposure to career options, early college awareness, and social justice seminars, which educate and prepare students to understand the world around them, and develop their own place within it peacefully. The exposure to any of the above is invaluable to a high school student, because it offers another way than the one that they live in.
Schools foster an open mind and therefore stimulate creativity.
That very process of mentally exposing a student to another way of thinking, to new information, to different means of inquiry, thought, perspective, and therefore choice of words and actions when interacting in real life. If all students know, is what they are exposed to at their homes, they are only hearing a closed minded perspective because it’s only coming from one source.
Chances are, a high school student may not know that a community has certain companies or job opportunities. Chances are, students may not be aware that they are even interested in the companies within the community, and schools are to make that connection.
Schools educate parents in so many ways, it’s wild.
Everything from early college awareness, to walking families through a FAFSA process, to assistance with health care, financial assistance, parenting skills, and employment assistance.
For the noneducational reader, I’ll be as clear as possible — school teachers change the style of how they deliver their instruction in a variety of ways, so students can develop skills necessary for the learning process to even exist.
Some students struggle with processing, some with language, some with listening, some only learn if they do and some only learn if they see. Skills such as organization, writing, speaking, emailing, using technology, interacting with others, measurement and math, handling difficult situations, and creative problem solving — are fused into every lesson, every day.
These are the tools that any student needs to exist in the world around them, let alone their immediate community. Unless we foster the fundamentals, we can’t progress into more advanced means of knowledge, because that has the opposite effect — so, “No, you can’t replace a school with a laptop.” Technology will never replace a teacher. This is why we are all struggling with virtual learning and yearn for in-person instruction even when it’s not safe to do so.
