Engaging families in school-related programs, such as family literacy programs, has been promoted as an effective strategy to assist students who might otherwise fail to achieve success in school. The authors in this article report on an action research initiative with an urban Australian government community school in a relatively…

The human condition in the post-modern world is increasingly nomadic. A sense of displacement and alienation is pervasive. Schools emphasize abstracted knowledge removed from the experience of students. Many people feel detached from the places where they live and have no particular sense of belonging or responsibility toward their communities.…

The identity work engaged in by Indigenous teachers in school settings is highlighted in a study of Australian Indigenous teachers. The construction of identity in home and community relationships intersects with and can counteract the take up of a preferred identity in the workplace. In this paper we analyse data from interviews with Indigenous…

To creatively and competently utilize community resources and to work successfully for the benefit of all students requires that educational leaders develop positive diversity dispositions. This study explores the effect of school community relations instruction in enhancing educational administration candidates' skills, beliefs, and connections…

Dr. Norman Drachler, former Detroit Superintendent of Schools, went to Washington in 1971 to establish an Institute for Educational Leadership for the Ford Foundation in association with George Washington University. (Author/MB)

A brief account of the advantages gained by the cooperation of the instructional resources office with the community relations office of a junior college district. (LS)

Benjamin Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania as a secular institution with the pragmatic aim of instilling in its students the inclination and ability to serve humankind in both the civic and mercantile realms. On this, the three hundredth anniversary of his birth (1706-2006), Franklin's ideal of a democratic, engaged university has…

Today museum educators are playing expanded roles that contribute to institutional change. At the heart of museum education are the core values of accessibility, relevancy, and inclusiveness, which are critical for developing the museum's civic engagement endeavors. As educators practice these values in their work and pursue community engagement…

Tips for the teacher on how to establish rapport with parents are given. (DB)

Although much of the community development work undertaken by women in Northern Ireland could be described as community relations, women's reluctance to use that label has led to neglect of their significant contributions. A more inclusive definition of community relations is needed. (SK)

Interviews 18 public-relations professionals to provide grounding and refinement of the contingency theory of accommodation in public relations. Supports a continuum from pure accommodation to pure advocacy and a matrix of variables affecting the continuum. Concludes that the practitioners' view of their communication world offers validity to the…

It is essential for a school public relations professional to be familiar with disability competency as it relates to counseling programs within the schools and community. This article is an introduction to disability competency in such settings. The initial discussion highlights a historical perspective of the treatment of persons with…

Rural intentional communities withdraw from mainstream urban space, rejecting its materialism and consumption. In creating their own places in the countryside, they produce new spaces of rurality. Constructions of rurality by intentional communities can be perceived as "out of place" by local populations. This article draws on a wider…

This article provides a community relations professional the rationale and background regarding the use of Universal Instructional Design in classrooms. It also provides community relations specialists with a communication plan for educating the public on Universal Instructional Design via a teaching and modeling approach. Results of a recent…