critical place of community development in school transformation: The story of the Vaughn family center and Pacoima urban village, The

Teacher Education Quarterly, Fall 1999 by Oppenheim, Matt

In an effort to support children, many urban schools are beginning to address the social barriers to education, attempting to resolve issues that affect the family (Dryfoos, 1994: Jehl & Kirst, 1993: Smrekar, 1993). These include problems of health, lack of employment and family support services, and community safety (Dryfoos, 1994; Koppich & Kirst, 1993). Many believe that as these problems abate, children are better prepared to succeed in school. For that purpose hundreds of school-based parent and family centers are sprouting at school sites in urban areas. In converted classrooms, these centers have become supportive environments and "one stop shops, " where parents receive an array of services, from counseling to healthcare; parenting classes to free food, and are drawn into participation. From these centers parents may become involved as classroom assistants, playground monitors, and they sometimes participate on school governance committees. Often, parents are hired as paraprofessionals and help advocate for other parents.

In working with the school community, two approaches have emerged as ways of addressing the social barriers to education. One emphasizes a service provision approach (Dryfoos, 1994; Koppich & Kirst, 1993), in which community deficits are identified, and families are treated as clients and consumers of service. A second approach supports a community development process, in which the community is understood to have inherent strengths and capacities. In this approach residents become the primary agents of community change, as their expertise is acknowledged and they emerge as leaders in directing thefuture of their communities (Chang, 1993; Chaskin & Richman, 1993; Keith, 1996).

While publications proliferate in support of each approach, there is a lack of empirical research supporting either model and the debate remains largely theoretical. Some argue that the community development approach offers a sustainable future for communities and their schools, whereas the service provision model continues a cycle of dependency (Keith, 1996). Thus another critical social barrier to success occurs when schools fail to support community strengths, capacities, and indigenous leadership. In this regard, there is a growing acknowledgment that sustainable communities must be grounded in a process that is immersed within and emerges from the community itself (Batten, 1967; Goodenough, 1963; van Willigen, 1993: 91). Family centers as community development projects represent an emergent professional development setting, demanding the same critical attention that teacher professional development and school transformation now receive. In the process of understanding this emergent developmental setting, the voices of parents and community residents must take center stage.

This article tells the story of transformation of the well known Vaughn Family Center (Chang, 1993: 216; Dryfoos, 1994: 159), which is affiliated with a charter school; the Vaughn Next Center Learning Center. As parents became empowered, tensions arose with the School Principal. Many of the parents departed from the School and formed their own nonprofit organization, the Pacoima Urban Village, which has now blossomed into a vital and resilient movement for community transformation and self-reliance.

The story of transformation in the Vaughn Family Center and Pacoima Urban Village (These two projects will often be referred to jointly as the Center) is derived from formal ethnographic research undertaken between February and October of 1996, and subsequent informal ethnographic observations, as the author became involved with the Pacoima Urban Village as a program coordinator. The paper begins with a discussion of the argument for community development, followed by the theoretical framework and ethnographic methodology. The development of the Vaughn Family Center and the emergence of the Pacoima Urban Village are narrated. The themes of community development that were discovered through ethnographic research are then presented and analyzed in terms of learning organization dynamics. Finally, recommendations for collaboration between schools and their communities are offered.

The Community Development Argument

Keith (1996) presents a persuasive argument for a shift in attention from service provision to community development in school restructuring. She believes that while many existing schools are forging partnerships with parents and community organizations, the reasons for this may be highly biased: "The prevailing orientation belongs to a traditional social welfare approach; although recognizing the wider ramifications of social problems, this approach emphasizes service provision to the poor and 'disabled' and ultimately constructs service recipients as the problem" (1996: 240). Parents and community members are said to be cast in the perpetual role of service recipients and are the "objects of change rather than change agents" (1996: 241).