development of a community-school partnership in a Brazilian elementary school: A case study

This case study focused on describing the perspectives of educators and community members involved in a school-community partnership in an elementary public school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their perspectives included what they saw as the partnership's history, influence of the Friends of the School Project, benefits, conflicts, processes, and future expectations. This research was significant because community involvement in Brazilian public schools has been growing recently. The researcher was a participant observer in the school, observing activities, interviewing adults, and collecting documents related to the partnership. The result was a holistic narrative of the case study from the triangulation of the methods of data collection and the views of participants. The research revealed a divided community, a previous abusive use of the school by the community, and a school open to constructive partnerships. The Friends of the School had a complementary role in the development of partnerships. The school had positive pedagogy, culture, and participation of parents and volunteers. The partnerships brought resources to the school and enriched the lives of people, particularly the children and the volunteers. There was an unequal distribution of partner activities per grade level and the roles of the citizens, educational professionals, and the state were questioned. Matching interests and respecting school's routines were important in the process of developing partnerships. Participants expected more participation from partners, more efficiency from the state, and better public schools. Their vision was of the children growing to be happy, critical, and able to compete in the world. The conclusions were that the public school was important in the fight against inequalities; the relationship between the school and the community could improve; the Friends of the School helped to make the partnerships official and brought more citizens in to participate in the school; the partnerships enriched the lives of children, parents, educators, and partners; Brazilians needed to demand their rights as stated in the Guidelines and Basis Law of the National Education (1996); and the volunteer action needed to be more organized.