This is only the concept, so more an outline of the issues and problems than a plan of attack, but the beginning of my project nonetheless.
Kindergarten is a time of great change and transition for children and their families. In inner city schools, Kindergarten is also, specifically marginalized groups, new immigrants, and struggling families, the first time parents and children come in contact with an institutional system. This first and formative year of school is an excellent opportunity to embrace parents and siblings, alongside their kindergarten aged child in learning, yet sadly schools are often not equipped to do so. At the kindergarten level it is so apparent that “every system that touches the lives of children offers an opportunity to strengthen the foundations and capacities that makes lifelong healthy development possible” (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, p. 21), but unfortunately elementary schools have limited abilities to engage students and their families on matters greater than general school readiness such as literacy and numeracy.
Effective health education, however, has the power to support, engage, and foster better health and happier lives for individuals and families.
“[this idea] presents a compelling rationale for fundamentally rethinking the health dimensions of early childhood policy. Science tells us that meeting the developmental needs of young children is as much about building a strong foundation for physical and mental health as it is about enhancing readiness to succeed in school. (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, p.3)
Yes literacy and numeracy are important, but if kindergarten aged students and their families are not having their most basic health needs met, the possibility for academic success is extremely limited. If students and families were supported and educated in making healthy choices, accessing healthcare and health programs, and finding and utilizing tools and agencies to find safe housing and access to good quality food - the effectiveness of quality academic programs would be greatly improved. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try; teachers and schools cannot provide all of this to our students. Due to our close proximity and daily contact with families we have the ability to play a pivotal role in our students lives – but we can’t do it alone. In order to serve the whole child, schools and teachers need to access supports for our students and their families. Research shows that an effective way to do this is to build school-family-community partnerships with agencies and organizations that can foster and educate families’ health and well-being.
Partnerships are not new to schools. Many are currently in practice in most elementary schools such as School Liaison Officers, Public Health Nurses, BC Fruit and Vegetable programs and numerous others are examples of the facility and effectiveness of reaching children and family through schools. While frequent and helpful, these programs tend to be in place as reactionary or stop-gap measures, unable to address the health concerns, problems, or lack of awareness of health issues at their source.
If school-family-community liaison programs are meant to support and foster lifelong health in our students and their families, programs need to move from a reactionary and stopgap perspective to a skilling perspective. A skilling perspective, in essence, is equipping and empowering children and families with the skills needed to live healthy lives in a world where the deskilling of common practices such as cooking and food preparation, physical activity, and community involvement and integration has disabled individuals and families from obtaining and retaining good health and health practices. Most current school-community health liaisons focus on disseminating information to parents and checking on the health of students, and making referrals when necessary. By creating school-family-community liaison programs that aim to skill both children and parents, there is far greater potential to improve health. Effective school-family-community liaisons must strive to go beyond disseminating information and making appropriate referrals if necessary, but to also teach and support families in learning and using the skills required to build and maintain good health.
Effective school-family-community liaisons require collaboration and strong communication between the school and community group/agency. Unfortunately, collaborations often fail to meet the needs of the students because of a mismatch between the community group’s or representative’s skill set, experience, or interest. Liaisons between kindergarten classrooms and community members are especially challenging due to the difficulty of approaching material and learning outcomes in a way that is engaging, developmentally appropriate, and feasible for a 4 and 5 year old child. As a kindergarten teacher it is extremely frustrating to watch a well-intentioned, expert in their field, community member too nervous to engage students in activities or discussion, or hurriedly “talk over their heads”, loosing their attention or interest by using vocabulary or presenting concepts in a way that students are unable to follow. This disconnect between community member and school/student needs can create a discouraging view of and experience with of school-family-community liaisons for both partners.
To move from a reactionary measure to a skilling tool the needs and abilities of students and their families must be the focus in the creation and continuation of school-family-community liaisons. For this to happen, programs must be designed to identify the greatest needs and effective ways of teaching to the specific age group targeted. For effective skilling to take place at the kindergarten child and family level, it is essential for the classroom teacher to not only open their classroom doors to the community, but to work hand in hand with liaising groups and individuals to create specific outcomes and model developmentally appropriate ways to engage and skill students.
While this may seem like obvious good practice, a framework is currently lacking for the development of a teacher driven, skill based, health education programs at the kindergarten level. After connecting and discussing teacher supported, skill based focused programs with current school-community liaison workers such as our School Liaison Officer (New Westminster Police Department), a New Westminster Fire Fighter, and a Fraser Health Registered Dietician it became clear that community members see the value in creating effective and powerful liaisons as much as I do as a classroom teacher. Teacher input and modeling of developmentally appropriate skills, presentation ideas, and ways to engage kindergarten aged children and their family members was immensely well received by these liaising individuals. It quickly became clear the want to improve and expand upon liaisons exists on both sides of the current partnerships.
For effective and engaging programs to exist and be accessible to students and families it is essential that experts and those that know the target audience best, such as a classroom teacher, work together to have the greatest impact on the health and well being of our community’s families. By creating positive and memorable skilling experiences for kindergarten students and their families, they will be able to build strong and positive ties with their school and community, furthering their abilities to live healthier and happier lives. The development and fostering of current liaison practices provides a vehicle for health education and promotion of families by mentoring, supporting and connecting those who strive to create an inclusive and obtainable vision of health their community.
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