Exploring stakeholders’ perceptions of family and community involvement in the education of pupils of Black Caribbean origin.

There are many reasons for developing school-family-community partnerships. Partnerships can improve school programs, provide services to families, increase parents’ skills, connect families and most importantly, improve and enhance pupils’ academic performance and learning experiences. This study explores stakeholders’ perceptions of family and community involvement in the education of pupils of Black Caribbean origin. It was conducted at one primary school in inner London and focused exclusively on the perceptions of stakeholders of the Black Caribbean community. The basic tenet underlying the study is that all knowledge is constructed. It therefore adopts a constructivist epistemological perspective and utilises semi-structured interviews and a focus group. This study examines why school-family-community partnerships are necessary and the challenges faced in establishing, developing and sustaining them, specifically with this group of learners, many of whom are underachieving not only in British schools but at schools worldwide. The relative underachievement of this group of pupils has been a cause for concern not only for their parents and families but for educators as well, both at the local and national levels. The research highlights that in order to give these learners the best educational outcomes; families and the community should play a key role in supporting them. The findings reveal that the school has put a number of measures in place but needs to consider how it can harness the available resources from families and from within the community to support not only this group of learners but for all learners at the school.