School‐community Relations

Citation

Meza‐Villalobos, E. (2010), "School‐community Relations", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 270-272. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231011027914

An inescapable fact in the education realm is that schools have changed. One way that schools have changed is in their relationships with the many publics that they serve. Long gone are the days when people accessed information about a school from the local community. Communication in this regard flowed in one direction: from the school leaders to the community. Today, technology has armed people with the tools to get virtually any information they may need. For this reason, a school‐community relations plan that fosters a two‐way communication is needed. For example, information flowing from the public to the school and from the school to the public. When a plan of two‐way communication is in place, communities become part of the schools, and thus if schools are to succeed, the community is needed to achieve total success. In the bestselling book, School‐community Relations Douglas Fiore, a former teacher, principal, and college professor discusses the essential elements of a successful school‐community relations plan for all schools (Fiore, 2006). Fiore encourages aspiring and practicing school administrators to include school‐community relations on the agenda as top priorities. Organized around 13 chapters Fiore showcases best practices on how to build productive and positive school community relations by demonstrating how to prepare a successful school‐community relations plan, how to read the pulse of your community, how communicate effectively and how plan for and deal with crisis situations. Each chapter contains a case study on how to apply the information learned.

The first chapter, “Paying attention to public opinion”, focuses on the ways that school leaders understand how the public (school community) feels about their schools. This is crucial because the public tends to rate their local schools either high or low. In addition to rating their local schools, the public also wants to have their voices heard in the decisions made at the school. According to Fiore, in order to be aware of public opinion, schools leaders must develop a plan that involves the community in order develop a true school‐community relationship. The three types of school‐community relation plans emphasized in the book are: coordinated, centralized, and decentralized. The coordinated plan involves a strong cooperation between the central office administrators and the administrators at the school building level. The centralized plan allows for the superintendent to be the best‐known public figure in the school system. Finally, the decentralized plan places most of the responsibility on the principal. This in return results in a personal relationship between the school and the community.

In chapter 2, “Reading the pulse of the community”, Fiore presents strategies that show how school administrators get to know the school community. One way in which they can get to know the community is to pay attention to the subgroups in the community and form relationships with leaders of such subgroups. Fiore claims that once this has been initiated, that school administrators can then present such community leaders to the school community. This, in return, allows for school leaders to reach out to parents for support.

In the chapter titled “Communicating effectively: everybody's job” Fiore discusses the importance of communicating effectively. Often times school leaders communicate through nonverbal means. Thus, the ability to realize one's own nonverbal demeanor becomes crucial. Perception checking allows one to ascertain the extent to which one is successful in reading another person's nonverbal messages. Other issues that need critical attention include native languages, cultural issues and physical disabilities. These issues must be understood as one evaluates one's own communication plan.

In addition to communicating effectively Fiore presents a chapter titled “Embracing your external publics”. Successful school leaders must identify all the various groups within the school community. One group that should be acknowledged is the parents. Parental involvement has a tremendous impact on student achievement. However, if parents do not feel welcome, they cannot become involved at school. In the same vein that parents require regular, purposeful communication, so do other external public groups.

In chapter 7 “Improving media relations”, Fiore asserts that too often the media is seen as only communicating negative news about school issues. However, he further asserts that school leaders must begin to see the media as allies. One way to do so, is to send information about one's school to the media. This way, the school would be able to receive increased press coverage about school events. In addition to the news, school leaders can communicate to the community via radio. An effective school leader must be proactive in dealing with the media, to become a successful interviewee.

Another chapter of particular interest is titled “Putting it all on paper”. In this chapter Fiore introduces ways to communicate effectively and reach out to the public in writing. It is imperative that school leaders know the different types of readers likely to receive their writing. The 20‐second reader will only view headings, pictures, titles and the like. Therefore, to reach out to these readers, school leaders must convey essential information at a glance. Another type of reader is the newspaper reader. This reader will look at titles and read all or part of the information. Lastly, the novel reader will take the time to read all the information written. Teachers and school leaders should maintain communication via school newsletters at all times possible.

The final chapter of the book titled “Evaluating effectiveness and building confidence – the future”, entails methods school leaders can use to measure school success. Fiore includes a myriad of methods such as questionnaires, rating scales, and telephone surveys. These methods can attempt to ascertain public opinion regarding a school. Nevertheless focusing on the students' and the school's climate should be the main focus when assessing school success.

Overall, the book offers valuable and necessary information to those in the education arena and particularly for those seeking school administrative roles. Those who are enrolled in leadership development and preparation programs should read the book because of the necessary information and the essential skills needed to become an effective communicator. Unlike other books that just provide information, this book in particular contains case studies, so that readers can apply the concepts to real life situations. Fiore's goal is that through this book, school leaders can understand how to deal with the public and the school community served by their school.