Teaching of Braille and Computer Application
Unit 1: Introduction to School Community Collaboration
⦁ School Community Collaboration (SCC)
⦁ School Community Collaboration:
A school-community partnership/collaboration involves "the connections between schools and community individuals, organizations, and businesses which are formed to promote students' social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development" (Saunders, 2001).
⦁ Need for SCC:
⦁ School not survive in Isolation:
Schools do not exist in isolation and they cannot go alone. The social, economic, and family needs, as well as academic needs of students must be met to keep them in school. They need the support and help of the whole community for the purpose.
⦁ Whole Village Raise a Child:
The often heard statement is very true that “It takes a village to raise a child”. Thus SCC helps to raise the child effectively. Whole village (doctors, teachers, shopkeepers, donors, industrialists etc.) raise the child.
⦁ Volunteers and funding:
Volunteers and funding are two major ways through which communities support their schools. Volunteers help to resolve educational problems and provide free of cost support to improve educational environment. Funding of community also contributes accordingly.
⦁ Collaboration Initiatives:
Some of the initiatives that promote school community collaboration are:
1) School-to-work transition programs (vocational rehabilitation of students etc.)
2) Drug abuse prevention programs (especially in college/university level)
3) After-school centers (sewing center, technical training program to generate funding)
4) Parental involvement programs (SMC/Parent Teacher Meeting/Seminar to resolve school problems etc.).
⦁ Benefits of SCC:
Schargel & Smink (2001) elaborated following benefits:
⦁ Improve student performance: It improves reading and math performance.
⦁ Increase student attendance: It increases student attendance rates.
⦁ Decrease student suspension: It helps to decrease student suspension rates.
⦁ Decrease student dropout: It helps to decrease student dropout rates.
⦁ At-Risk Student Awareness: It increases awareness about problems of at-risk students.
⦁ Develop School Based Information System: It develops rich school-based information systems.
⦁ Initiate Dialogue b/w school leaders & community: It initiates a dialogue among schools leaders and community representatives.
Nageswaran (2023) demonstrated following benefits:
⦁ Connect people within the school community (sense of belonging, school pride/motivation)
SCC connects people within school community such as students, parents and teachers, as well as other school members. The members feel connected, there is a greater sense of belonging, school pride and motivation to teach and learn.
⦁ Promote shared learning goals and collaboration enhance accountability
SCC promotes shared learning goals and enhances accountability across the whole school community.
⦁ Digital learning environment increase learning opportunities for students
The provision of digital learning environment increases learning opportunities for students. Students can collaborate with different stakeholders, share their problems and resolve their issues more effectively.
⦁ Create an inclusive learning community (benefit from diverse knowledge/skills)
SCC creates an inclusive learning community. All the members of SCC have diverse knowledge/skills (carpenter, blacksmith, teaching etc.) which is valued and helps to benefit the whole community including schools.
⦁ Support personalized student learning journeys
Not every student learns the same way or at the same pace as others. School community collaboration enhances student engagement and creates personalized learning journeys for each and every student.
⦁ Encourage shared responsibility
All school community members play their role in problem solving and improving student learning. School community collaboration encourages shared responsibility.
REFERENCES
Nageswaran, K. (2023). 6 Benefits of a Connected School Community. Retrieved from https://schoolbox.com.au/blog/6-benefits-of-a-connected-school-community/
Schargel, F. P., & Smink, J. (2001). Strategies to Help Solve Our School Dropout Problem. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
The National Assembly of National Voluntary Health and Social Welfare Organizations. (1991). The community collaboration manual. Washington, DC: Author.
Definition and Concept of Community:
⦁ Literal Meaning of Community:
The word community “is derived from the Latin word communitas which means “the same”. Communitas was derived from word communis which means ‘Common’.
⦁ Technical Meaning of Community:
A community is a social unit or a group of living things with common attributes such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Community may share a place situated in a geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighbourhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms.
⦁ Socrates Saying:
He said about the person who is independent of his fellow beings and is unable to live in community or society is either Beast or God.
⦁ Basic Characteristics of Community:
These are as follows (Chavis & Lee, 2015):
⦁ What Community Not:
Community is not a place, a building, or an organization; nor is it an exchange of information over the Internet.
⦁ What Community is:
Community is both a feeling and a set of relationships among people. People form communities to meet common needs.
⦁ Community Members socially affect each other:
Community members have a sense of trust, belonging, safety, and caring for each other.
⦁ Community Members influence environment:
Community members have individual and collective responsibilities (doctors, engineers, teacher, farmer, shopkeeper) and they serve and influence their environments and each other.
⦁ Community – Planting more trees in Park:
An example of a community working together is planting more trees in the park. Planting one tree is a big job, so imagine how much work planting 100 trees would be! If a community works together, they are like the paper. Your community is stronger when they work together. It can plant a lot more trees and get the job done much faster.
⦁ Help to resolve problems:
Community helps to resolve the problems of others. Single person cannot live in isolation.
⦁ Benefits of Community:
Wooll (2021) has demonstrated following benefits of community:
⦁ A support network (sharing problems and seeking advice)
As a member of a community, you have access to a support network of peers. Whether you turn to your community to commiserate, seek advice, or simply share your story, having a supportive group in your life can have a powerful effect on your overall well-being.
⦁ Professional development (educate people, develop internal leaders, mutual learning)
Members of a profession-based community can help drive growth and performance. It helps to develop internal leaders, educate employees, and have a positive impact on retention for members of underrepresented groups.
⦁ Sense of purpose
With a secure sense of belonging comes a sense of purpose, something people are increasingly searching for due to the pandemic. Belonging and purpose can help increase feelings of solidarity and fulfillment, which can be important both personally and professionally. And a strong sense of purpose can even help you live longer.
⦁ Alleviate stress
Communities can be a source of joy! Coming together physically or virtually, finding points of connection with others, and enjoying moments of celebration and camaraderie can leave us feeling engaged and refreshed. Those positive feelings may help lower stress and anxiety.
⦁ New inspiration and ideas
Immersing yourself in a group of individuals exposes you to a diversity of ideas, viewpoints, and personalities. There’s bound to be something new to learn or an unexpected thought to appreciate from your fellow members.
⦁ Empowered decision-making
An empowering environment comes out of mutual trust and respect, which speaks to the importance of community development. In a strong community, where people have opportunities to build each other up and develop trust, people feel greater confidence and engagement within the organization and on an individual level.
⦁ Better communication skills
Effective communication requires connecting to others, a key pillar of a community. Developing relationships with fellow community members is an exercise in listening and building meaningful rapport.
⦁ Greater resilience
Resiliency is a quality impacting the way people respond to and manage change. Community helps to cope with problems and stresses and support to manage them effectively.
REFERENCES
Chavis, D. M., & Lee, K. (2015). What Is Community Anyway? Retrieved from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_is_community_anyway
Wooll, M. (2021). Community for the win — how collective solutions help individual problems. Retrieved from https://www.betterup.com/blog/importance-of-community
⦁ Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR):
⦁ CBR:
⦁ Community based rehabilitation is a set of low cost approaches to provide rehabilitation services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, prosthetics, and assistive devices for people with disabilities in developing countries. It also aims to minimize stigmatization of people with disability (PWDs) and to support inclusive education and integration of PWDs into society. WHO and other organization promote community based models to provide rehabilitation services to PWDs in poor-resource settings (Institute for Medicine Committee on Nervous System Disorders in Developing Countries, 2001).
⦁ International Labour Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and WHO (ILO, UNESCO, WHO, 2004):
CBR is provided in general community for:
⦁ Rehabilitation PWDs,
⦁ Equalization of opportunities for PWDs
⦁ Poverty reduction of PWDs
⦁ Social inclusion of all PWDs.
⦁ CBR Service Providers:
CBR is implemented through the combined efforts of PWDs themselves, their families, organizations and communities, and the relevant governmental and non-governmental services (health, social, education and vocational etc.).
⦁ Important Functions of CBR (WHO, 2010):
⦁ Identify needs through basic assessment
Before making a rehabilitation plan and starting activities, it is important for CBR personnel to carry out a basic assessment with an individual and his/her family members to identify their needs and priorities. Following areas may be considered:
⦁ Activities which are possible (e.g. education, doctors etc.).
⦁ Activities which are needed (e.g. prosthetics, specialist doctors, professionals).
⦁ Problems being faced students (e.g. transportation, poverty etc.)
⦁ Affected areas (body, mind, senses, communication, behavior)
⦁ Home and community situation of PWDs (level of education people, poor/rich etc.)
⦁ Sources of information (reviewing past medical records, observing the individual, performing a basic physical examination, discussion with family and individual and health professionals.
⦁ Facilitate referral and provide follow-up services
CBR should identify the need and facilitate referral services by considering following:
⦁ Identify available referral services: Identify rehabilitation referral services available at all levels of the health system (physiotherapy, occupational-therapy, audiology, speech therapy).
⦁ Provide information regarding referral services: Provide information regarding referral services to PWDs & their families, including location, possible benefits and costs.
⦁ Encourage PWDs and families to share problems regarding referral: Encourage PWDs and their families to express concerns and ask questions about referral services. Help them to seek additional information if required. Links can be made with other people in the community who experience similar problems and have benefited from the same or similar services.
⦁ Get Informed consent: Ensure PWDs and their family members give informed consent before any referral is made.
⦁ Regular contact after referral: Once a referral is made, maintain regular contact with the services and individuals involved to ensure that appointments have been made and attended.
⦁ Follow-up after appointment: Provide follow-up after appointments to assess whether ongoing support is needed, e.g. rehabilitation activities may need to be continued at home.
⦁ Provide early intervention activities for child development
⦁ CBR should provide early intervention services at risk children for major areas of child development include: cognitive development, physical development, socio-emotional development and speech / language development, when there is delay in important milestones.
⦁ CBR should provide home-based early intervention services for rehabilitation of PWDs.
⦁ Parents can also be encouraged to share their ideas/experiences with other parents to rehabilitate their children.
⦁ Encourage functional independence
⦁ Functional interventions aim to improve an individual's level of independence in daily living skills, e.g. mobility, communication, bathing, toileting, dressing, eating, drinking, cooking, housework.
⦁ Interventions are dependent on a person's age, gender and local environment and will change over time as she/he makes a transition from one life stage to another.
⦁ CBR personnel should provide training to PWDs and their families for independent living skills development including use of assistive devices, muscle and balance improvement.
⦁ Facilitate environmental modifications
CBR personal may help to provide environmental modifications to improve the functional independence of PWDs at home e.g.:
⦁ Ramps for wheelchair access
⦁ Handrails near steps/Reeling
⦁ Toilet adaptations (handles fixing near etc.)
⦁ Widening doorways
⦁ Modification of the school environment
⦁ Modification of public buildings
⦁ Modifications of work places
⦁ Link to self-help groups
CBR programs promote self-help groups where people with similar impairments or similar rehabilitation needs come together to share information, ideas and experiences. CBR programs can encourage interactions between these groups and rehabilitation professionals to enable mutual understanding and collaboration.
⦁ Develop and distribute resource materials
⦁ Disability booklets and manuals can be a useful tool for rehabilitation. These resources should be used by CBR personnel and by PWDs and their family members to guide rehabilitation, particularly where access to rehabilitation professionals is limited.
⦁ These resources may also provide valuable information for the wider community as well as the many different services and sectors involved in rehabilitation activities.
⦁ Provide training to CBR Personnel
⦁ CBR personnel need training to ensure they are able to facilitate access to rehabilitation services and provide appropriate services at community level.
⦁ Many organizations have developed suitable training programmes.
⦁ CBR personnel require a good understanding of the role of rehabilitation personnel, e.g. physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, audiologists, mobility trainers, prosthetists/orthotists, medical and paramedical personnel and of how they can be of benefit to PWDs.
REFERENCES
WHO (2010). Community Based Rehabilitation; CBR Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310933/
⦁ Components of CBR/CBR Matrix:
The five components of CBR matrix are: health, education, livelihood, social and empowerment. The following table shows the components of the matrix along with it's element:
⦁ Health: Health component includes five elements e.g. health promotion, prevention, medical care, rehabilitation and assistive devices.
⦁ Education: It includes elements e.g. early childhood, primary education, secondary & higher education, nor-formal education and lifelong learning.
⦁ Livelihood: It includes elements e.g. skills development, self-employment, wage employment, financial services and social protection.
⦁ Social: It includes elements e.g. personal assistance, relationship; marriage & family, culture & arts, recreation, leisure and activities, justice.
⦁ Empowerment: It includes elements e.g. advocacy & communication, community mobilization, political participation, self-help groups, and disabled people organization.
⦁ Principles of CBR:
The principles of CBR are based on the principles of the CRPD. The principles are:
⦁ Respect Inherent values:
Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons
⦁ Non-discrimination:
CBR provide services without any discrimination to persons with disabilities.
⦁ Inclusion in society:
Full and effective participation and inclusion in society
⦁ Respect Diversity:
Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity
⦁ Equality of opportunity:
CBR should provide equal opportunities to PWDs.
⦁ Accessibility:
CBR should provide accessibility to PWDs in their mobility, functionality, learning activities etc.
⦁ Gender based equality:
CBR should ensure equality between men and women.
⦁ Respect for right of PWDs:
Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.
World Health Organization. (2000). Introductory Booklet. Community Based Rehabilitation CBR Guidelines. Switzerland: WHO Press.
⦁ Characteristics of Successful Collaboration:
The Community Collaboration Manual (The National Assembly, 1991) lists seven characteristics of successful collaborations:
⦁ Shared vision
⦁ Skilled leadership
⦁ Process orientation
⦁ Cultural diversity
⦁ Membership-driven agenda
⦁ Multiple sector representatives
⦁ Accountability