Community involvement as a pathway for school improvement
Date of Award
8-1-2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Education (M. Ed.)
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
School improvement is a process which requires various factors to be put in place. Community involvement is one of them. The study was conducted in a community secondary school run by the local community and Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKES, P) jointly in the context of Gilgit-Baltistan, Exploratory qualitative method was used to investigate the research question. This study aimed to explore how community involvement is used as a pathway for school improvement. Specifically, the inquiry focused on the stakeholders' perceptions about the experiences of school-community partnerships and the effect of this partnership on school improvement. The strategies and practices that facilitate community involvement, the challenges in involvement of community, and the strategies stakeholders use to overcome these challenges were investigated. The findings of the study revealed that there is a general belief among parents, community, teachers and students that the school is functioning well according to its set goals, due to community involvement. The findings also suggest that community members extend their support to school improvement efforts through various ways and means. The community members not only provide material support to the school but also contribute in terms of creating opportunities for students' enhanced learning. Moreover, this study identifies a variety of factors that motivate parents and other community members to extend their assistance and support towards school improvement. The school uses a variety of strategies to involve individual parents as well and the wider community in school improvement. The findings also indicated some of the challenges that the school and its community face in effort to build a strong working relationships towards school improvement. The study's findings have important implications for the school and the community. These implications emphasize the need for better understanding of the ways in which community involvement could be used as a path way for school improvement.
Recommended Citation
Shah, G. (2010). Community involvement as a pathway for school improvement (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.