The improvement of community participation in school with interactive groups

Abstract

The review of scientific readings on the participation of the community in schools has demonstrated its benefits in the climate of schools and in the level of learning of their students. However, the real and effective participation of the community is still a pending issue in the majority of schools. This article explores the possibilities of increasing such participation in schools from a specific strategy in the classroom: interactive groups. This practice has been identified by European research as an effective way to improve student learning and coexistence. The article presents a case study in Spain that examines the increase of community participation when it is associated with the practice of direct learning support. The results confirm that interactive groups eliminate barriers to the participation of the community in learning spaces in schools and have a “snowball” effect, because they increase the participation in other school areas. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study for future research.