The Role of Community in Boosting Engagement and Learning
The school day has ended and the hallways of Roosevelt Elementary are empty of students – but there is a buzz of anticipation in the air as schoolteachers, TAF staff, and volunteers prepare for their Presentation of Learning.
The hallways and classrooms are decorated with colorful self-portraits, poems, and the documented process each student took to get to the final art piece. The approach per classroom is a bit different for each grade but the theme remains the same: self-actualization, the role community plays, and the cyclical nature of how one drives and supports the other.
The Power of Self and Building Community
When you walk into Ms. Willy’s first grade class, the desks are arranged with students’ construction paper portraits and the photos they used for reference. Next to their photos is a statement each first grader wrote on how they plan to achieve a big goal with the power of “yet”. One student writes that although they can’t ride a bike, they will someday with the power of “yet”! Through the lens of self-reflection and empowerment by understanding where they come from, students are building the foundations of social emotional learning and meeting the core standards of writing and grammar – all driven by TAF’s project-based learning model.
As Ms. Willy adds the finishing touches to her classroom, students quickly fill the hallways with their families in tow — excited to show their moms, dads, and siblings the entire process of work they have completed over the past few weeks
Among these students is Elizabeth, a fourth grader in Mrs. Bently’s class, who shared the process of how she and her classmates worked together on brainstorming the reasons why they matter and what they personally liked about themselves with her mom. In Elizabeth’s classroom, the whiteboard is covered with large posters leading the brainstorming process of discovering who their classmates are and how this plays a role in understanding and building their classroom community. The brainstorming process starts by asking students why they matter. Answers range from community of origin: “I matter because I’m Black, Mexican, Filipino…”, to talents and strengths: “I’m smart, I’m positive, I persevere”.
When asked what one of the main takeaways from this experience was, Elizabeth mentions how the exercise helped her connect deeper with her teammates allowing her to engage in group projects with a more intentional and empathetic lens.
As an outsider looking in, it appears like a proud showcase of work from beginning to end. However, a key part to the project-based learning model is the role community plays as a subject of student projects, as a partner to support student projects, and as a witness to the progress students are making in their learning journey.
A Thriving Life Starts Here
The importance of involving community at every step in the project learning model shows students the real impact they can drive in their world outside the classroom. It makes their education and learning relevant to them, showing students at all grade levels the power they possess to enact change within their immediate surroundings, within their families, and neighborhoods. This also creates a cyclical feedback loop, where students begin to recognize how their community shapes their worldview, experiences, and how this can be a superpower.
Within this cyclical process of learning, the foundation for creative thinking, a team-oriented mentality, empathy, and confidence is created over time — soft skills that are imperative to thriving and successful lives far beyond Roosevelt Elementary, especially for BIPOC children and their families.
This is what TAF strives to provide to partner schools like Roosevelt Elementary: community support for our students like Elizabeth and our teachers like Ms. Willy and Mrs. Bently through our STEMbyTAF model. Read more about how an approach rooted in community relationships supports students and teachers of color to be their best.
