Local Community Perceptions of their Participation in Community Primary Schools Sustainability in Kinkiizi West Constituency, Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v8i3p94Keywords:
Community Participation, Perceptions, Community Primary Schools, SustainabilityAbstract
The main purpose of this study was to explore community perceptions of their participation in sustaining community primary community schools. A qualitative study, framed within an interpretivist paradigm, drawn on a multiple case study design was used. Two community primary schools, namely, Karangara and Buhoma community primary schools were purposively chosen as cases of study. The theory of Action of Talcott Parsons guided this research. The data was generated using focus group discussions and interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 28 participants who are community members (parents and non-parents), community leaders, head teachers, and the District Education Officer. Findings reveal that community members are willing to develop and maintain their primary schools as expressed in their perceptions of offering labour and resources to the school, Inter-linkages and dependencies between community and School. These findings are of great importance to the Ministry of Education, teachers, communities, parents, and students, as it will guide policy formulation that improves the levels of community participation and sustainability of community schools in Uganda. Structure and guidelines should be developed by the Ministry of Education to assist in strengthening school-community collaborations to enhance community participation in education.
References
Adam, F. (2005). Community participation in school development: Understanding participation in basic school performance in the Nanumba district of Ghana.
Anaxagorou, G. (2007). Teachers’ and community stakeholders’ perceptions on school-community relations in Cyprus. International Journal about Parents in Education, 1(0), 53–58.
Aref, A. (2011). Community participation for educational planning and development. Nature and Science, 9(1), 68–71.
Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544–559.
Bwana, A. H. A., & Orodho, J. A. (2014). The school–community partnership: What are the nature, type and challenges of the partnership on the development of education in Lamu East District, Kenya?
Castrechini, S., & London, R. A. (2012). Positive student outcomes in community schools. Center for American Progress.
Creswell, J. W., Hanson, W. E., Clark Plano, V. L., & Morales, A. (2007). Qualitative research designs: Selection and implementation. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(2), 236-264.
Dove, M. K., Zorotovich, J., & Gregg, K. (2018). School Community Connectedness and Family Participation at School. World Journal of Education, 8(1), 49.
Durston, S., & Nashire, N. (2001). Rethinking poverty and education: An attempt by an education programme in Malawi to have an impact on poverty. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 31(1), 75-91.
Essuman, A., & Akyeampong, K. (2011). Decentralisation policy and practice in Ghana: The promise and reality of community participation in education in rural communities. Journal of Education policy, 26(4), 513-527.
Frankl, E. (2016). Community schools: Transforming struggling schools into thriving schools. Brooklyn, NY: Center for Popular Democracy. Retrieved from https://Populardemocracy.Org/News/Publications/Community-Schools-Transforming- Struggling schools-Thriving-Schools.
Glassman, D., Naidoo, J., Wood, F., Helmore, K., & O’Gara, C. (2007). Community schools in Africa. New York.
Gordon, M. F., & Louis, K. S. (2009). Linking parent and community involvement with student achievement: Comparing principal and teacher perceptions of stakeholder influence. American Journal of Education, 116(1), 1–31.
Heers, M., Van Klaveren, C., Groot, W., & Maassen van den Brink, H. (2016). Community schools: What we know and what we need to know. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1016-1051.
Kintz, M. 2011. First principles: Community engagement in Education program classrooms- school-communities. USAID: American institutes for research.
Koliba, C. (2000). Democracy and education, schools and communities initiative: Conceptual framework and preliminary findings.
Mfum-Mensah, O., & Friedson-Ridenour, S. (2014). Whose voices are being heard? Mechanisms for community participation in education in northern Ghana. Prospects, 44(3), 351-365.
Miller-Grandvaux, Y., & Yoder, K. (2002). A literature review of community schools in Africa.
Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports. (2017). Educational statistical abstract. Kampala: Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
Mkhabela, I. (2012). The role of community in education: A practitioner’s reflection. Focus, 56, 62–65.
Msila, V., & Netshitangani, T. (2015). poor rural parents and school management: exploring african models in enhancing parental involvement. Journal of Educational & Instructional Studies in the World, 5(1).
Ngalawa, A. A., Simmt, E., & Glanfield, F. (2015). Exploring the emergence of community support for school and encouragement of innovation for improving rural school performance: Lessons learned at Kitamburo in Tanzania. Global Education Review, 2(4).
Oakes, J., Maier, A., & Daniel, J. (2017). Community schools: An evidence-based strategy for equitable school improvement. National Education Policy Center.
Ocan, B. (2017). Impact of community level engagement in primary education: A case study of Oyam District, Northern Uganda, Uganda, East Africa.
Pailwar, V. K., & Mahajan, V. (2005a). Janshala in Jharkhand: An experiment with community involvement in education. International Education Journal, 6(3), 373–385.
Russell, K. A. (2009). Community participation in schools in developing countries: Characteristics, methods and outcomes. Online Submission.
Thanh, N. C., & Thanh, T. (2015). The interconnection between interpretivist paradigm and qualitative methods in Education. American Journal of Educational Science, 1(2), 24–27.
Valli, L., Stefanski, A., & Jacobson, R. (2016). Typologizing school–community partnerships: A framework for analysis and action. Urban Education, 51(7), 719-747
Wheeler, L., Guevara, J. R., & Smith, J.-A. (2018). School–community learning partnerships for sustainability: Recommended best practice and reality. International Review of Education, 1-25.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies
International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies applies the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Licence (CC BY-NC 2.0)
