Editorial: Enhancing collaboration between school professionals and local communities

The idea for this special issue was developed within the 3P network at the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI). ICSEI is an international community of scholars and practitioners focused on analysing school effectiveness and identifying strategies for school improvement. The 3P network engages politicians, policymakers and professionals in strategizing institutional and systemic educational development. Since 2007, the 3P network has engaged in thought leadership around deepening collaboration between schools and local communities, presented at international conferences and produced publications, such as the “ICSEI Dialogic” 2023 issue dedicated to “Problematising the relationship between schools, families and communities”.This special issue explores new and emerging evidence in a frontier area of educational research, policy and practice generally called “community schooling”. Important groundwork in this field has been laid over the past few decades. Epstein’s (2014) work remains a reference point for scholars and practitioners interested building positive relationships between schools, families and communities. Furthermore, research has highlighted that family engagement in students’ learning is an important factor for promoting academic achievement (Boonk et al., 2018). In this regard, Goodall and Montgomery (2013) explored how schools can shift from traditional parental involvement to family engagement with children’s learning, with a focus on parental agency and family-led discussion on learning and teaching.Notwithstanding the rich literature on family engagement, practitioners are often unable to respond to the challenges of changing contexts, diversity, trust and power (Deslandes et al., 2015). Urban education studies have problematised the relationship between schools, families and communities in low-income urban communities, highlighting the need to build trust and long-term relationships and involve community partners (Riley, 2013). More broadly, in recent years, issues of equity, social justice and inclusive practice have become central to the education policy debate at international, national and local levels (Ainscow, 2020). A broader understanding of power relationships is central for school professionals. For Baquedano-López et al. (2013), such an understanding fosters empowerment approaches and more equitable practices with parents from non-dominant backgrounds. That said, deficit discourses are still widely present in schools. Problems with student learning outcomes are often blamed on the “lack” of knowledge, practices or resources at home or in the community (Phillips and Luke, 2017). In this regard, race, class and immigration are increasingly recognised as key factors hindering community-school collaboration.A related aspect, often subtle as it can involve unconscious assumptions about people and groups, is the phenomenon of othering, which occurs when individuals or groups are defined and labelled as not fitting within the norms of a social group (Dervin, 2015; Cherry, 2025). The issue of othering students and parents (Borrero et al., 2012; Kollender, 2021) by education professionals in the global North and South (Oyinloye, 2023; Mezzenzana and Scheidecker, 2025) needs to be addressed in order to advance family and community engagement based on equity, parity, respect and genuine partnership.Studies carried out in low- and lower-middle-income countries show that parents and community members, when engaged authentically, effectively and respectfully, have proven to be reliable allies in supporting efforts to promote quality education. In her 2004 seminal work, The pedagogy of empowerment: Community schools as a social movement in Egypt, Zaalouk (2004) highlights parental involvement as a key lever in the success of community schools in disadvantaged areas. Community engagement in this case included the provision of spaces for schooling, support for girls’ education and active participation in school activities in ways that strengthened the relevance and meaning of the curriculum to the parents, families and the community at large. In Morocco, Klein and Kadaoui (2024) highlight the Tamkeen approach (“empowerment” in Arabic) as a view of community self-development that recognises and nurtures the inherent transformative potential in individuals and communities. One other example of community and parent engagement in Morocco is Medersat.com (medersat means “your school” in Arabic). Celebrating and teaching in the mother tongue is one of the ways the program fosters parent and community belonging. School staff celebrate the cultural heritage of students by engaging parents, grandparents and community members in showcasing their stories and artefacts in ways that anchor learning activities in an authentic understanding of students’ cultural identity. The positive dynamics of parent and community engagement in Egypt and Morocco are grounded in beliefs, policies and practices that are deliberate about fostering trust between parents and schools. These dynamics, according to Elmeski (2012) should be rooted in trust, commitment, successful coordination, quality communication and effective conflict resolution strategies.Other noteworthy experiences of self-improving school systems (Ainscow, 2015) and place-based school partnerships (Ainscow et al., 2023) demonstrate how parent–community–school partnerships can enhance the quality of education for all as well as promote whole system well-being. These include collaboration within, among and between schools, the local government, community partners and families. These studies tell us that under the right conditions schools can be instrumental in creating coherent well-being systems across their localities which involve publicly funded agencies.The role of schools and headteachers/principals in particular, acting as key agents for system change is an emerging phenomenon that extends school leadership well beyond the confines of classrooms and into systemic policy domains. In these situations, schools become what we would call “system shapers”. This requires the development of new professional capital in schools with a specific focus on developing both institutional and personal cultures of listening to local needs and working with stakeholders to build community resilience (Florek, 2024). Building on a conversation that began in this journal a few years ago, we intend to contribute to the discussion about how teachers can enhance their own professional capital by extending their networks into the community that surrounds them (Malone, 2017).In summary, in this special issue we aim to facilitate an international conversation about how schools might enhance community involvement in the education of children and young people. The articles explore how collaboration between school professionals and local communities takes place in different contexts and countries, with a focus on inclusive policies and practices for minorities and marginalised communities. They expand the geographic and cultural breadth of research on building partnerships with parents and local communities in the Global South.We have organised this issue around three overarching themes: the role of schools in spanning boundaries with parents and communities, the centrality of professional capital as a driver of quality outreach programmes and the need for supportive policies that provide the legal and regulatory framework to nurture collaboration between parents, communities and schools. Taken together, these themes encompass important aspects of parent–community–school partnership in the Global North and South.Below is a summary of the five papers.In “Teacher–Community Nexus and Rural Schools as Community Knowledge Hubs: A Program Implementation in Western Nigeria”, Olayinka and Deniran (2025) focus on building trust and dialogue with the local communities in rural areas. In implementing an international project in the Kwara State, Nigeria, local teachers identified topics and practical activities relevant to the life of the local community and invited professionals to run workshops. This approach reinforced community learning through non-formal education and developed intra-community networks. Schools acted as information hubs, presenting positive role models of collaboration through tailored interventions and participatory strategies. The paper also outlines some tensions that undermined trust between teachers and the local community, highlighting the need to prepare new teachers for rural contexts and the importance of state support in strengthening teacher–community engagement.In their paper on “Multicultural Educational Leadership with Indigenous Communities. A Literature Review”, Queupil and Álvarez-Figueroa (2025) focus on multicultural education, conceptualised as supporting diversity, recognising and addressing structural inequalities and promoting systemic change. Their literature review highlights effective multicultural approaches and leadership collaboration strategies, such as promoting the inclusion of indigenous communities within the school, embedding ancestral knowledge into teaching practices and community partnerships, including health and well-being initiatives. The actors involved in these processes include indigenous leaders, school principals, teachers, parents, elders, experts, academics, policy makers and community members. Implications for policymakers include considering community leadership beyond the school walls, fostering initiatives in connection with indigenous communities and avoiding an assistance-oriented approach.The paper by Okoko and Campbell-Chudoba (2025), “The Role of Inter-Organizational Collaborations and Partnerships in Leading K-12 Education of Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Newcomers”, presents the integration system in place in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, focussing on the experience of newcomer parents with schools and other organisations providing services for foreign families. Local school divisions have created newcomer centres that assess students and settle them in schools, exchanging information and collaborating with settlement agencies (governmental agencies offering services for newcomer families). In addition, schools collaborate with other partners, such as school community councils, community associations and post-secondary institutions. Explicit and implicit partnerships are presented and an overall picture of the types of partnerships that foster school leadership in the region is provided. The authors’ recommendation for building trust and creating more inclusive schools is that system-level time should be allocated for school leaders and teachers to engage with newcomer families.The paper “Inclusive artistic space: A professional development environment based on collaboration between schools and artistic institutions,” by Miquel et al. (2025), presents an experience of collaboration among local educational institutions in Barcelona, Spain. Such collaboration promotes inclusive education and learning opportunities for students with disabilities and for all students, as well as professional development for school professionals. The paper highlights the potential of collaboration between artistic institutions and schools in creating social learning spaces. These settings make it possible to learn through social interaction, develop social and emotional skills and make social inclusion a reality. It describes three projects involving partnerships between secondary schools, institutions for special education or special schools and artistic institutions. The findings show that teachers had opportunities for professional development working in an inclusive artistic space, such as implementing inclusive methodologies, enhancing self-reflection, collaborating with other professionals and developing supportive attitudes.In “Parents, Schools and Community Collaboration for Improvement: Insights from the Evaluation Processes” Giampietro and Romiti (2025) explore how school self-evaluation (SSE) in Italy can function as a structured space for promoting meaningful collaboration between schools, parents and the wider community. The authors argue that when SSE is integrated into school development planning with an emphasis on inclusive participation, it has the potential to reconfigure school-community relations and strengthen educational processes. Throughout the SSE process, parents and community actors were engaged as contributors to school reflection and development, recognising their co-responsibility in educational decision-making. SSE thus served as a dialogic tool for integrating diverse perspectives in formal school planning processes. Furthermore, SSE encouraged a move away from individualised notions of professional development toward more collective, school-wide learning, supporting evidence-informed practices. In this regard, SSE helped the reframing of professional learning. The paper concludes that collaborative practices can lead to more meaningful educational outcomes when two conditions are fulfilled: (1) SSE should be approached as a participatory process that fosters equity rather than compliance; and (2) external evaluation should be positioned as a supportive and dialogic partner.These five articles reveal some best practice guidelines for school professionals and policymakers interested in enhancing collaboration between schools and local communities:The findings emerging from this special section add more cultural and geographical granularity to the knowledge base on professional capital in schools. It shines a light on the invaluable role of school professionals in supporting the development of learning partnerships with local experts and stakeholders, helping the community to flourish. To reach this goal, pre-service training and CPD must be redesigned to include a focus on skills for interacting with the local community and collaborating with professionals from other institutions.In addition to professional development, the professional capital of teachers and school leaders stands to gain from willingness to see assets and possibilities where the prevalent temptation is to “fix them”. Professional capital that promotes parent and community engagement is characterised by a growth mind-set that is mindful of the assistance-oriented bias and capable of embracing collaboration with multicultural communities based on rights respecting relational approaches. This mindset gains in authenticity and effectiveness when school professionals use SSE to foster self-reflection, organisational learning and more inclusive approaches to engaging local stakeholders in developing meaningful improvement plans with all the students, needs, capabilities and backgrounds in mind.The themes covered here provide important insights into professional learning and professional capital as they apply to enhancing collaboration between school professionals and local communities. They also underscore the importance of the sense of belonging and active citizenship as critical competences in the education of current and future generations. This is especially relevant in our present times.With the rising sense of volatility, uncertainty complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) and against a looming backdrop of a new and unsettling global order, the temptation to scurry to ethnocentric and othering views of us against them fuels the rise of protectionism, chauvinism and neonationalism. It can, thus, disrupt the protective guard rails of the social contract and eventually weaken the societal fabric that form the backbone of living together. We believe that the stakes are particularly compelling for schools uphold a just and inclusive social contract through practices that foster belonging via parent and community engagement.In this regard, these times of permanent turbulence call for a radical reappraisal and clarification of the purpose of schooling in this century, moving beyond traditional knowledge transfer and knowledge building (which is still the prevalent model) to one which better prepares our children and young people to become caring, contributing global citizens.Our collected papers suggest that schools can play an active role in community cohesion acting as mediators of community needs and growth. Across the case studies, the school’s mission is a place where personal values and beliefs are accepted, student, family and community agency is pursued, critical thinking is encouraged and responsible citizenship is promoted.Finally, in terms of initial teacher training and continuing professional development, the institutionalised ways of preparing teachers appear to be no longer appropriate. The public school was created as an instrument to honour the social contract; however, we believe that the schooling process no longer meets the needs of students and their communities. A new role for school principals and teachers within the community is emerging. In this regard, achieving quality education for all through equity, invitational education and invitational leadership, and restorative models of schooling (and belonging could provide a sound basis for shaping a new generation of school professionals.

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