A Study on School, Family, and Community Partnership Focusing on the Impact on Children

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how school, family, and community partnership has an impact on children and to consider what constitutes the impact. The study is conducted by fieldwork at an elementary school in Osaka. In the first part of this paper, the definition of partnership and community are discussed. Partnership between school, family, and community develops by step by step through connection, cooperation, and collaboration. Community is built through formation of the community sentiment, not exist beforehand. From this viewpoint, partnership between school, family, and community in an elementary school in Osaka is identified and elucidated. The points that have become clear by the above fieldwork are as follows. 1. Community is built as the partnership develops. 2. Community sentiment among the parents and the residents is formed through the cooperative and collaborative community building. 3. School, family and community partnership has an impact on children both directly and indirectly. The indirect impact includes change of recognition about children among the parents and the residents, which leads to the change of attitude and behavior of the children. The direct impact means a growth and expansion of a variety of experiences engaged by children through partnership activities. 4. When we consider the impact on children of school, family and community partnership, we should bring more the indirect process of impact into focus than the direct impact.