Case Study – Attaining Advocacy

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TOC o “1-3” h z u Working Title PAGEREF _Toc72630407 h 21.0 Problem Statement PAGEREF _Toc72630408 h 22.0 Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc72630409 h 33.0 Research Questions PAGEREF _Toc72630410 h 84.0 Methodology PAGEREF _Toc72630411 h 84.1 Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc72630412 h 84.2 Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc72630413 h 94.3 Using Findings to Inform Future Quality Improvement PAGEREF _Toc72630414 h 9References PAGEREF _Toc72630415 h 10

Working Title: Importance of Family and Community Involvement in Curriculum Growth in Yielding Positive Contribution to Education Programs

1.0 Problem StatementEducation has a vital position in a society because, as a social institution, it allows societal members to acquire important knowledge, cultural values and norms, essential skills, and basic facts that are important for creating civility and awareness. Education is used to improve individual livelihoods and help societies to attain order. To achieve a good education structure, curriculum development is required. Curriculum forms the backbone of the education sector because it provides an exoskeleton through which the education sector forms and attains a credible framework. Curriculum development is one of the most important elements of the education sector in Australia. Apart from establishing shared goals and objectives between learners and teachers, Waniganayake et al. (2017) found that curriculum is responsible for standardizing learning goals for an entire institution and offering a clear path for all students in their development. Curriculum includes specific elements such as lessons, learning standards, materials, and assignments as well as evaluation measures that are used to organize teaching for a specific program. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (n.d.) further define curriculum as a steady and organized path, including a series of learning outcomes and activities goals relating to a program, and, also, describes it as an essential map that outlines where a program intends to reach and how. It marks progress and common goals, which are vital aspects of the learning and teaching process. As the world continues to change in so many aspects, Cairney (2000) advocates for more involvement from education sector stakeholders in contributing to curriculum development. Curriculum supports education, and the latter is an important pillar of any society, one that cannot be ignored or done without care.

Having seen the importance of curriculum development in relation to education, it is then important to mention that a good structure for the same requires the input of every major stakeholder in the education system. Therefore, parents, families, and communities must be involved in ensuring the best outcomes for learners (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, 2017). As education aims to have a positive influence and impact on society, the society itself must play a participative and facilitative role to support better outcomes. According to a recent research by Pather et al. (2020), children tend to perform better in a system that is collaborative between families and school management. The same applies in curriculum development. Penney and Jess (2004) opine that when parents and teachers, families and schools, and institutions and the community work together, the outcomes for the teaching and learning processes are smoother and sustainable in the long term. The inclusion of a community and families in directing the direction of the education format through the curriculum is important because it means that all entities are part of a team with shared goals and objectives. As expected, such arrangements lead to better learner and education outcomes.

On the basis of the above, the current paper expounds on the significance of family and community involvement in curriculum development. Specifically, the issue under investigation is whether this participation leads to positive outcomes or acts as a hindrance to attaining student success through better curriculum in relation to their education. Some studies have shown that the active participation of players outside of the education profession may complicate the teaching and learning processes (Sumsion et al., 2009). As such, there is a need to conduct research with an intention to find out whether family and community involvement in curriculum growth yields positive contribution to education programs. Despite being the first social and educational setting, a family’s involvement in establishing curriculum goals and objectives may not always be positive. Partnerships and collaborative working amongst stakeholders (family, community, and school, as well as educational institutions) is required to ensure that there is progress in the process of teaching and learning. One way to achieve this is through consultative efforts in curriculum development.

2.0 Literature ReviewIn defining curriculum, Cairney (2002) termed it as all elements interactions and experiences as well as routines, events, and experiences including lessons, learning standards, materials, and assignments as well as evaluation measures that are used to organize teaching for a specific program designed to foster learning and development. From this definition, Mapp and Kuttner (2013) observe that there is a large portion of curriculum development that relies on elements external to the educational settings in a classroom, such as interactions between learning materials and assignments that require help outside of the conventional teaching modes. Sheldon and Van Voorhis (2004) identify a relationship between curriculum growth and the involvement of the community and the family. In other studies, Haswell-Elkins et al. (2009) and Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (2017) found a lot of significance and importance of community and family involvement in shaping the direction that a curriculum takes. Therefore, while there is no absolute consensus on the matter of whether family and community involvement yields positive outcomes for curriculum development, scholars agree that there are tangible benefits to learners wherever there is support of their learning environment from home and in their communities. Ultimately, family and community support the growth of curriculum, ensuring better relations between stakeholders and ensuring that the needs of every group are well represented.

In curriculum development and better learning outcomes for learners, there is no separating family and communities as individual contributors because the two entities have aligned and converging goals and objectives in the education scene. As such, this literature review will look at the issue of their involvement as intertwined. According to Hudson and Hudson (2011), family and communities have a significant role to play in ensuring that learners have the best outcomes and the education sector is improved in a way that equips young people in a society with the right tools to be better contributors to the family and societal positions. Every family wants to see their children having the best in terms of their education. Similarly, the community has the best intentions for the local education system and development therein, as evidenced by their demands for better quality and more involvement from governments and state organs (Epstein & Sanders, 2002). Having established the parallel intentions of these two key stakeholder groups, it is vital that their involvement and participation in influencing the direction of curriculum be further investigated. Overall, the two groups aim for development and better learning outcomes for learners, and a major way to attain this would be through being a part of curriculum development.

Families and communities are noted by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.) to be some of the most effective learning areas for young children, even before one can begin to attend school. For example, the family is the first true learning environment (Sumsion et al., 2009). It teaches children how to communicate, basic relationship building, interactions, participation, and so on. The community has the same role including allowing children to interact with a larger pool of individuals from different family settings. Having established the importance of family and community, it follows that without the involvement of these two entities in curriculum development, maintaining positive growth and outcomes would be unsuccessful (Miller, Ziaian, & Esterman, 2018). To vindicate this assertion, Pather et al. (2020) concluded that interventions in the education sector are likely to be more successful with the involvement of the family unit and the community. Family and community involvement serves as a supporting participation because learners are already familiar with these institutions. Therefore, it is important that curriculum development factors in the position of family and community in ensuring positive outcomes for learners because these entities have the best interests at heart for children in their different learning stages.

Family and community assume variant and specific roles in their involvement in the learning and teaching processes for children. For example, some of the roles may be facilitative such as supporting different initiatives through community involvement or participatory roles including directly volunteering in learning activities in classrooms. Literature analysis reveals that there are several overarching involvements created for the implementation and development of family and community participation programs (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority, 2017). Every one of these roles can be actualized differently in various relationships in school districts, classrooms, at home, or in schools. For example, families are a primary resource in regards to the education of children (Waniganayake et al., 2017). Such a relationship is exemplified through the concept of home learning, involving several activities and sets of activities that family members engage in with the intention of helping children to be successful academically (Sheldon & Van Voorhis, 2004). The partnership role observed between schools and families may yield positive impact on the academic achievement of children. In another realm, community members, and families included, play an advocacy and supportive role for the education of children facilitating curriculum development by way of site-based restructuring of schools (Cairney, 2000). Community involvement in the learning outcomes for children is unmatched, in that it enables the restructuring of schools with an aim to create community and aren’t partnerships to focus on the best outcomes for learners. The community is involved directly in the best academic outcomes of children through aching activities to suit new learning demands, forging relationships between schools, state organs, other communities, and families, implementation of innovative learning strategies for extra curricula activities, and any other form of involvement that supports learning. Therefore, the variant and specific roles that family and community assume in their involvement in the learning and teaching processes for children are important for the overall development of learning for children, both in the academic and other related fronts.

Community and family participation in the education sector incorporates a wider vision in creating lasting partnerships between schools and learning institutions and the populations served. For example, district-wide programs are intended to offer the right avenue for community members such as parents and families to be directly involved in different roles that go beyond immediate effects to an individual learner to impact all children in a community or district (Sumsion et al., 2009). In line with these findings, Pather et al. (2020) found that the role of communities and families in ensuring the best outcomes for learners is participative and facilitative. Family and communities can be involved in a number of program elements or strategies specific to an issue designed and implemented to improve partnerships and such roles with schools. Successful initiatives between these partners (family, schools, and communities) consider different strategies and elements of a program in order to ensure the best possible outcome for the teaching and learning environment (Mapp and Kuttner, 2013). For instance, Penney and Jess (2004) define home learning as a participatory and supportive role with key elements that enhance partnerships and the agenda to have the best learning outcome for children. Home learning is a support program that ensures well-developed practices, willingness of parents and teachers to build on each other’s strengths, multiple approaches to ensure a conducive learning environment at home, effective methodologies that enhance home learning, and a home learning environment that directly supports classroom learning. Notably, home learning becomes an extension of the classroom, ensuring that the curriculum needs are met at home as well as they are in schools through a critical partnership with schools and teachers (Hudson & Hudson, 2011). Therefore, creating lasting partnerships between schools and learning institutions and the populations served is a part of ensuring that curriculum development and success through learning outcomes are achieved whether at home or in schools.

Community and family involvement in education of children takes different routes that are all aimed at ensuring that the curriculum is well implemented, not just in schools but also outside of the classroom in homes and the community. For example, Epstein and Sanders (2002) note that school restructuring practices done in communities emphasizes on quality of education, site-based management, and the participation of families in education. Likewise, the participation of parents, teachers, community leaders, and other interested entities includes the implementation and development of policies, embracing diversity of communities and families, and a notable focus on the linkage with other agencies in the community to ensure children welfare in learning (Sumsion et al., 2009). Families and communities ensure that there is continued communication, resource development, and a supportive environment for the betterment of curriculum and other education assets.

One notable role of family and community is ensuring that while every child will be most likely exposed to the same curriculum, their individual differences, learning abilities, capabilities, and strengths are exploited individually through other initiatives that support learning. In light of this, evidence points out that wherever communities and families are directly and indirectly involved in supporting education initiatives, children tend to perform better in their academics and other education requirements (Cairney, 2002). Family participation is also noted by Epstein and Sanders (2002) to be of key importance including simple participation such as volunteering in school activities, attending key activities that support learning, helping children with school work, reviewing performance, and encouraging young learners to stay focused. Community members, made up of teachers, volunteers, school workers, support personnel, and other key professionals, also support learning outcomes (Mapp and Kuttner, 2013). While learning and teaching processes primarily focus on the role of the teacher in ensuring that curriculum and other objectives are met, it is important to introduce the benefits created through community and family participation in the process. According to Waniganayake et al. (2017), a reciprocal relationship that ensures best learning outcomes for children between community and families and the school environment is essential in creating curriculum development and other important expectations. The learning process is very complex and it would be unwise to think that it could only happen in schools with the involvement of teachers alone both in the teaching process and in curriculum development. Therefore, with this knowledge, Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (2017) call for increased involvement and participation of critical stakeholders such as families and community members to ensure that education policies and the direction of the curriculum is setup in a way that provides a room for them to impact learning in the best way possible. Overall, individual differences, learning abilities, capabilities, and strengths of individual children are exploited independently through other initiatives that support learning and are a part of the role that families and communities play in ensuring positive outcomes and curriculum development.

To sum up the literature review, curriculum is responsible for standardizing learning goals for an entire institution and offering a clear path for all students in their development, as well as establishing shared goals and objectives between learners, teachers, and other important stakeholders. Different scholars point to the very critical role of family and community in an active participatory function to ensure that children can access learning both at home and in schools. The literature expounds on the significance of family and community involvement in curriculum development investigating whether this participation leads to positive outcomes or acts as a hindrance to attaining student success through better curriculum in relation to their education. The above discussion exposes the importance of family and community involvement in curriculum growth by showing how these two entities are a critical part of the learning process. Different scholars found that there can be no learning only in schools without the proper initiatives at home and within the larger community. Some studies have shown that the active participation of players outside of the education profession may complicate the teaching and learning processes. However, a majority of others provide a positive review of the need and significance to get families and communities involved in curriculum development.

3.0 Research QuestionsThe main research question for this paper is:

Does family and community participation lead to positive outcomes to attaining student success through better curriculum development?

Other important sub-questions that will inform the direction of the research paper are as follows:

Are there instances where the involvement of family and community in curriculum growth acts as a hindrance to the entire process?

What are the immediate impacts of family and community participation in curriculum growth?

Would learning outcomes for children be better if there was no involvement from family and community?

4.0 Methodology4.1 Data CollectionThe current paper will use online administered questionnaires to collect data from a sample of schools, community members, and families in the Darwin suburbs. The reason for choosing this approach is because the paper wants to achieve a description of opinions from various stakeholders on the subject under investigation. Structured questionnaires will be used to investigate the issues discussed earlier. Online questionnaire administration is chosen for the convenience it offers ad for the sake of safety for both participants and the researcher due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary data will also be used to supplement the research findings and to provide a base to determine whether the primary information collected is congruent with scholarly findings from the recent past.

4.2 Data AnalysisThe study will employ a qualitative approach in data analysis. The reason this approach is chosen is because of how it makes it possible to collect information on attitudes of participants on a particular matter. The approach is also effective in creating content that is relevant to the study. A qualitative approach will make it easier to collect information using an open-ended approach, allowing participants to provide insights specific to the education sector and specifically on their role in ensuring curriculum development. Lastly, the approach is chosen because it incorporates the human experience (Kalu & Bwalya, 2017). By using the qualitative approach, primary data collected through questionnaires will be synthesized and checked for reliability and applicability, observing emerging patterns, major themes, and other core concepts that will add to the research findings.

4.3 Using Findings to Inform Future Quality ImprovementThe findings of the current paper will be used to inform future quality improvements in the reciprocal relationship between partners in the education sector. Specifically, the findings will be applied in ensuring that family and community are more involved in ensuring curriculum growth through providing the right assistance needed to ensure positive learning outcomes. By looking at the findings versus what has already been established in the literature review, the research will also help to identify gaps in methodology and research for the benefit of future studies and learning outcomes.

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