April 29, 2022 | By Kimberly Smith
If there is one opportunity that emerged from the political, racial, and pandemic-centered strife of the past two years, it is the recognition that communities are the heartbeat of our education ecosystem.
While schools are embedded in communities, the education that occurs within communities has largely been framed as separate from school—after-school, out-of-school, and informal learning. The pandemic challenged the distinction by connecting the classroom directly to the community – the parents, families and organizations that support students outside of the school building.
Examples include:
School and Home
Home became an extension of school
Classrooms and Families
Families structured learning spaces and time in the home
Teachers and Parents
Parents supported the facilitation of learning
Buildings and Neighborhoods
Learning experiences occurred within communities
School and Home
Home became an extension of school
Classrooms and Families
Families structured learning spaces and time in the home
Teachers and Parents
Parents supported the facilitation of learning
Buildings and Neighborhoods
Learning experiences occurred within communities
Education is a shared responsibility of schools and the communities in which schools exist. As such, it is important to move beyond simply inviting families, parents and students in for “community engagement,” to creating the space for communities to be partners in the design of social, emotional, and academic learning.
We can begin by evolving our own mental models for how we value communities within the context of learning:
In our work at Digital Promise’s Center for Inclusive Innovation, we are learning alongside systems leaders, educators, families, community advocates, and students about how to support the research and design (R&D) of learning by collaborating with districts and communities on a number of topics including Secondary Writing, Data Equity, Mental Health and Trauma, and Classroom Discourse.
The Inclusive Innovation approach is rooted in communities as necessary and valuable collaborators in transforming education through R&D and is guided by a set of equity-centered tenets. The process pushes beyond simply inviting community input or feedback.
Communities are deeply engaged as designers and decision-makers in the process:
Co-Leadership
The work is co-led by stakeholders who are reflective of the diversity of communities and schools to ensure mutual benefit
Co-Research and Design
The education challenges are co-researched and co-designed to address issues the community deems important and build on what is already working within communities and schools
Honor Context
Context and context expertise is prioritized to center the history, culture, and perspectives of those with lived experiences relevant to the education challenge
Center Equity
The solutions are designed to address the systemic inequities that impact students – poverty, race, language, learning differences – and their intersections
Re-Imagine Progress
Progress measures must be multi-dimensional – access, participation and benefit – in recognition of the needs of the whole child
Build Capacity
The process resources communities to sustain the capacity for equity-centered R&D into the future
Co-Leadership
The work is co-led by stakeholders who are reflective of the diversity of communities and schools to ensure mutual benefit
Co-Research and Design
The education challenges are co-researched and co-designed to address issues the community deems important and build on what is already working within communities and schools
Honor Context
Context and context expertise is prioritized to center the history, culture, and perspectives of those with lived experiences relevant to the education challenge
Center Equity
The solutions are designed to address the systemic inequities that impact students – poverty, race, language, learning differences – and their intersections
Re-Imagine Progress
Progress measures must be multi-dimensional – access, participation and benefit – in recognition of the needs of the whole child
Build Capacity
The process resources communities to sustain the capacity for equity-centered R&D into the future
Community members at the table with districts, researchers, and designers are enabling new and differentiated solutions to emerge that are reflective of the voices, perspectives and imaginations of those who are most impacted. Education innovation with, not for, communities is the key to unlocking the future of learning.
