“It Takes a Village”: Approaching the Development of School-Family-Community Partnerships through Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological Perspectives

Abstract

Improving student learning and development requires a constant exploration of practical collaboration methods with families and educational service providers. Using Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological systems theory can help stakeholders understand how internal and external factors affect a student’s overall performance and raise families’ and educational service providers’ awareness of their roles. The application of this theory encourages stakeholders to extend the existing dual capacity framework between families and schools to the quadruple partnership that further involves communities and universities. When families and educators become more aware of the complexities of the factors and make intentional efforts, they are more likely to create an effective partnership for facilitating student learning and development. Our article utilizes Bronfenbrenner’s theory to address the quadruple partnership of families, schools, communities, and universities. This article summarizes Bronfenbrenner’s theory and discusses how the idea can be applied to quadruple partnerships to improve the collaboration among stakeholders. Implications for practitioners and researchers are further discussed.