How Community School Members Discuss Power: A Case Study

Abstract

School communities have been shut out of many of the more critical decision-making processes impacting local public schools. Decisions are mostly made as top-down actions from federal mandates, general assemblies, state departments, districts, and school level administration teams, isolating the school communities they are tasked to serve. To better understand the ways members of the school community can engage in decision making power, a critical discourse analysis was used to examine how school community members talk about power, who has power, and shifts in power as their schools undergo a community school implementation process. Using an updated public school model that is technically over a century old, some schools are using their communities to shift power through a community school model. Interviews and elicitation devices revealed that some school community members were beginning to understand their power through decision making. To continue this momentum, I recommend that community schools continue the discourse, make better distinctions between students and their data, and create parent liaison positions. In addition, community schools should look at ways to better engage parents, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, instructional assistants, and other classified staff to draw upon their expertise and knowledge. Finally, I urge districts and governance groups to consider the sustainability of their community schools and the actions they can take to ensure these schools have the time, funding, and power to make lasting, measurable changes.