ERIC Number: EJ915886
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1056-7879
EISSN: N/A
In Patience and Hope: A 20-Year Narrative Study of a Family, School, and Community Partnership
Higgins, Ann; Deegan, James G.
International Journal of Educational Reform, v18 n4 p270-282 Fall 2009
This case study describes a 20-year journey of educational transformation from 1985 to 2005 in a bellwether, or highly developed, instance of one school, family, and community partnership--the Kileely Community Project--situated in a large social housing project in Limerick City in the Midwestern region of the Republic of Ireland. The study is a narrative account of how a declining elementary school struggled against the odds to become a vibrant community learning center. Guided by a mix of feminist emancipatory research and socioecological and social capital theories, the study yielded findings on the hidden potential of patience combined with hope as a catalyst for changing the ways that learners learn and teachers teach, for building commitment to sustainable learning, for working for change in community teams through collective intelligence, for building a capacity for change and risk, and for fostering trust and respect in relationships. Implications are discussed for the development, growth, and sustainability of family, school, and community partnerships. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)
Descriptors: School Community Relationship, Foreign Countries, Social Capital, Case Studies, Educational Change, Longitudinal Studies, Elementary Schools, Change Strategies, Partnerships in Education, Social Change, Economically Disadvantaged, Teaching Methods, Learning Strategies, Sustainable Development, Teamwork, Trust (Psychology), Educational History, Adult Education, Community Schools, Interviews, After School Programs, Urban Areas
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ireland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A