This paper draws upon several years of our observations and experiences as teachers in Newfoundland schools and communities. In it we describe many ways some schools in this province have attempted to build positive family, community and school relations by involving parents in several school related activities. In doing so, we briefly (1) highlight the importance of the notion of producing local knowledge and local theories to educational change processes, (2) review literature on the benefit of parental and community involvement in education, (3) list 50 ways parents can help schools, (4) reflect on what local education reform means to parents and why parents believe that the school reform initiated by school boards will affect the culture of their schools in negative ways, and (5) suggest what needs to be done to avoid possible negative impact of school restructuring on the culture of the school.

Many writers recognize the importance of local knowledge and local theorizing. This form of knowledge and theorizing helps people to enhance their well-being in the concrete context in which they work and live. In the context of school-family-community relation, local knowledge and theories produced by teachers, parents, student and others help them to focus on the concrete relationship on which their daily lives depend (Geertz, 1983; Schibeci & Grundy, 1987; Tripp, 1987; Smyth, 1989).

Much information exists on the complex nature of the classroom in which teachers work with their students. Similarly, there is a dearth of literature on why and how parents want to get involved in their children's education in school, and how and why the school should encourage parents to get involved with their children's school.

There exist two sets of debates on the complexity of the classroom and on the partnership among schools, family and community. One discourse is "objective" and the other is "subjective". Both are important to fully understand the above relationships. The difference between the two debates, however, is that the objective discourse is generally perceived as a scientific discourse - meaning research based debates. In contrast, the discussions of the real classroom realities and the real relationship which the partnership among school, family and community builds upon makes different assumptions. These discourses maintain that the reflective observations of many stakeholders (students, parents, grandparents, principal, counsellors, members of the business communities, church people, politicians and other school personnel) and the intuitions of experienced teachers are the major considerations for understanding the complex classroom relationship and family-school-community relationships.

In the context of the education change process, the debate of the real implies that sharing of local knowledge with others and reflecting on it critically is a necessary and useful practice, because it helps fine-tune the objective knowledge often used to initiate education reform. In this way, it is believed, using local knowledge will make education reform more effective and relevant in a given concrete community-school-family context.

We make no attempt to review the massive literature in this area. Suffice it to mention that there is both a need and a demand for increased parental and community involvement in public education. While in the past evident mainly in private schools, parental involvement and the involvement of the community is growing in public education as well. Henderson (1981, 1987, 1994) has reviewed a total of 125 research studies which examine evidence regarding the effect of parental involvement on student academic achievement and the performance of schools. Schools that work well with families show improved morale, produce higher ratings of teachers by parents, and have better reputations in the community (Henderson, 1994).

Over the past thirty years many research studies have focussed on the recognition given to the crucial role parents play and have put emphasis on the rights and responsibilities of parents to influence educational programs (Henderson & Beria, 1994; Olmstead & Rubin, 1983). One of the most important findings which the research overwhelmingly indicates is:

Epstein (1983) reports that when teachers were committed to increasing parent involvement, the parents "...felt that they [the parents] should help their children at home; ....understood more about what their child was being taught in school; ....were more positive about the teacher's interpersonal skills, and rated the teacher higher in overall teaching ability..." This change in parents' perceptions is true even after socioeconomic status and student ability are taken into account (Epstein, 1983; Eagle, 1989). Furthermore, if increased parental involvement creates the perception that the school is more effective, it is likely that student achievement will increase (Caplan, Choy, & Whitmore, 1992).

    Henderson (1987) points out seven key research facts we should know, based on some of the most important research findings about parent involvement. These are:

It should be kept in mind that not all types of parental involvement lead to improved performance. As Epstein and Connors (1992) state: "Research is needed that provides information on the effects of specific practices so that schools can more purposely choose practices to help them obtain specific benefits from their involvements in school and family connections" (p. 13). Henderson (1988) states, "...parents involvement works better when parents are given a variety of roles to play" (p. 150) and "For the wheel to turn, parents must play all the roles. The conclusion of this series of studies is that the better planned, the more comprehensive, and the longer lasting the parent involvement, the more effective the schools in the community become" (p. 151). Becher (1984) agrees that "all forms of parent involvement strategies seems to be useful. However, those ...that offer more types of roles for parents to play, and occur over an extended period of time appear to be more effective" (p. 18).

Henderson and Epstein have developed several models of classification of parental involvement. Henderson (1987) mentions three, namely (1) improving the parent-child relationship in the context of the family; (2) integrating parents into school programs; and, (3) building strong relationships between school, family, and the larger community. Epstein (1994) notes six types of parent involvement, namely (i) school help for families in the area of basic family responsibilities; (ii) school-home communication (e.g. basic obligations of schools for communication from school to home); (iii) family help for schools (involvement of parents to assist teacher); (iv) involvement in learning activities at home (homework, etc.); (v) involvement in governance, decision making, and advocacy (school improvement or school site councils, etc.); and, (vi) collaboration and exchanges with the community (support services, etc.).

The parents can help schools and students in following the 50 ways:

From personal observations and based on local knowledge we provide examples of programs offered in some urban schools in this province. Many of these programs have been quite successful in connecting schools, families and communities.

Time constraints make it difficult for teachers and staff to complete many clerical tasks demanded in the delivery of programs. Community volunteers provide supports to allow staff the time to focus on the academic needs of children.

Fundraising efforts have become an integral part of the school organization. The financial limitations placed on schools and the services they are able to provide dictate the necessity for community involvement in terms of providing financial assistance and supports to the school. The level of support provided determines the extent to which the school can effectively provide programs and initiatives to enhance the educational environment within our schools. Some schools conduct many activities throughout the year while others direct their focus and energy to one or two larger activities. There are a number of suggestions and ideas for community and school participation that have proven to be effective means of conducting fundraising efforts.

The integration of students at varying academic levels, as well as the methods by which curriculum must be delivered, have changed during the past several years. This makes it difficult for teachers to give the amount of individual instructional time students need. To enhance educational opportunities, volunteers support the programs in a variety of ways.

Many extra-curricular activities would not be implemented in schools without the support of parents. School spirit is an important aspect of the everyday running of a school. It builds a sense of ownership and commitment to the goals and overall creation of a positive environment for the school. The following list provides ideas and suggestions by which parents can be involved in building school spirit.

Many schools offer various supports to students so that they can become more involved in school activities. Due to restrictions placed on parents in today's society, some students' basic needs are not being met in the home environment. Schools have taken the initiative to provide supports so that these students reach their potential. These include school wide programs and specific initiatives to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn in a positive and productive environment.

Parenting is the most important job given to individuals in today's society. Parents face many complex issues each day. Many parents are lacking appropriate skills to help them face these challenges. Schools have recognized this need and have undertaken the initiative to offer services to parents, such as the ones listed below. Parents become more confident in taking an active role and providing a commitment to the education process.

What does education reform mean to parents, students, and communities in this province? How does it affect them? We reflect on these questions and provide an analysis of the education reform scene in this province as it relates to parental involvement in schools. We have already described in this paper how parents are involved in some schools in this province. But in addition to this information, we looked at the comments made by parents and students about education reform in the local newspapers, mainly The Telegram, in the last several months.

We also listened to comments parents made during school council and town hall meetings. It is our impression that many parents perceive that the current plans adopted by school boards in this province to restructure schools will negatively affect the school culture, which in turn will have an adverse impact on students and on school-family-community relations. We start with a brief description of education reform in this province, (Newfoundland, 1992).

Historically schools in Newfoundland and Labrador had been organized on religious denominational lines and were funded by the government. This has now changed. It is an historic change. Starting in September 1998, there was no publically funded denominational school system in this province. This change has taken place against the will of many parents who cherished the traditional denominational school system in this province. As a result of this, efforts are being made to establish private denominational schools in this province.

Furthermore, the provincial government and school boards wanted to rationalize the educational system as well. This has led to the policy of downsizing. This in turn, has triggered school and program closure, as well as cuts in teaching positions in many parts of the province. Also, school boards have implemented a new neighborhood attendance zone policy. For this purpose new neighborhood boundaries were created by using GIS computer program.

Many parents consistently protested against this restructuring plan for their neighborhood schools for many reasons. Inspite of these protests, the school boards have restructured the neighborhood school boundaries, effective September 1999.

To be sure, school reform is nothing new in this province and elsewhere in the world. The school system everywhere has undergone numerous changes in policy and procedure in the past two centuries. It is true that although the basic structure of education has changed very little, reforms have had an influence on the direction of education in North America, including in this province. For example, historically schools have seen the introduction of the lesson plan, learning objectives, and student goal setting. At present, many school reforms are driven by the idea that students need to be more competitive. The schools must prepare all students to be productive in the world market place. Universities want applicants who do not lack skills and competencies needed to succeed in a tough program of study. Business leaders are concerned about the future of the workforce in a highly competitive global economy. Students are expected to have a good understanding of the core academic subjects. They must also be able to solve problems, make decisions, and be prepared for responsible global citizenship. Students are expected to prepare for productive employment in our province's and nation's modern economy.

There is no doubt that parents realize that education reform is needed and that it will affect parents and their children in many ways. It will depend on the type of changes that are made in their distinct, neighborhood and communities. If reform is related to the subject area, it would mean that their children may be introduced to new content, materials, standards, and ways of learning and teaching. These changes are usually made as a result of a particular education goal or objective adopted by their schools or the school board. On the other hand, if reform is related to the administrative process, they and their children may not even notice it. If a decision is made to close their schools, it will affect their communities in a fundamental way.

Finally, many parents have noted that school reform in this province may also affect school-family-community relationship. As mentioned earlier, a sizeable number of parents in this province believe that restructuring plan adopted by school boards, and endorsed by the provincial government, will negatively affect the culture of their schools. In their views, and we are paraphrasing here, schools develop pervasive cultures which include shared attitudes and beliefs about the families of children who attend them. These beliefs, in turn, shape the school's patterns of interaction with families and children. Parents realize that it takes a long and persistent effort to build school-family relationship. It is a long term process. The current school restructuring plan adopted by school boards requires moving of hundreds of students from one school to another and from one neighborhood to another within a very short period of time. It will also require new bussing arrangements. Parents see moving their children from one school to another as having negative impact on them - academically, socially and culturally. They see the whole process as demoralizing for themselves as well for many reasons.

They feel that, as parents, they have worked hard to establish friendly working relationship among themselves and school personnel. This warm relationship made it possible, according to them, to equip their schools with needed resources and programs. Most of these things, if not all, will be lost during the fast-paced school restructuring process.

Also, as mentioned earlier, parents see their involvement in schools as a cultural work through which they have been able to build a particular school culture to their liking and the liking of their children and school personnel. Now they perceive that school restructuring, which they oppose, will negatively affect the school culture, which in turn will affect students achievement, aspiration and expectation - occupational and educational. They also believe that many other aspects of school restructuring, for example crowed classrooms, will adversely impact their children's social relations, self-esteem and well-being.

To conclude, we believe it is necessary to monitor the impact of school reform on the culture of the school. If the impact is going to be negative, as so many parents believe, the challenge is to ask ourselves what can families, schools and communities learn from this experience? What would it take to rebuild a new form of positive school culture? How would parents, children and school personnel be motivated to re-establish friendly and warm relationships? Hope and despair are nothing but two sides of the same coin. We must build on the hope side, taking into account the despair side.