BRIDGING THE GAP - A COMMUNITY-BASED, OPEN-SYSTEMS APPROACH TO SCHOOLAND NEIGHBORHOOD CONSULTATION

In this article we describe an approach to neighborhood-based consulta tion that emphasizes collaboration with and advocacy for local citizen s. Our primary goal is to facilitate involvement of families and other citizens in collective action. The school, viewed as an open system s ituated in a neighborhood context, is seen as an important location fo r collective action and citizen empowerment by creation of a range of opportunities for meaningful participation. Practice involves assessme nt of direct interests as defined by participants, development of brid ge-building activities between school and citizens, small wins over ti me, and long-range commitment to creation of organizational structures that connect the culture of the school and the interests of the neigh borhood. Practice is based on several principal tenets of community ps ychology: the value of democratic participation and citizen empowermen t, the power of collective action, attention to strengths and resource s as well as stakeholder interests, ecological analysis and identifica tion of interdependencies, and system adaptations. We elaborate on how the theoretical underpinnings of this approach suggest roles for psyc hologists and other professionals as consultants who can help to bridg e the gap between schools and economically disadvantaged communities. The real educators of the young are the grownup generation.... Society at large must be regarded as a vast normal school in which the whole active, doing, and driving generation of the day are pupils qualifying themselves to educate the young. (Brownson, 1839/1971) The movement f or greater community participation in the policy process in American c ities extends beyond school reform. It represents the hope of a large segment of the population that has been alienated from the institution s of society. (Gittell, 1968/1971) The political principle justifying parental involvement is that when decisions are made affecting you or your possessions, you should have a role, a voice in the process of de cision making.... It is quite fashionable to proclaim the necessity an d desirability of parent involvement in our public schools... the fact is that it is too often empty rhetoric. (Sarason, 1995).