Fostering Partnership Learning Communities: The Impact of Utilising International Student Field Trips to Facilitate and Co-Create Pedagogic Community Collaborations

Abstract

This article seeks to evaluate the impact of an International partnership, between De Montfort University (DMU), a UK based Higher Education (HE) institution, and Evans High School, a Community Partnership SchoolTM, located in the US state of Florida. Informed by the application of Maslow’s hierarchy of need, the success of Evans High School is illustrated in statistical reports conveyed by the school during DMU’s biannual study visits to the campus. The range of external providers has addressed many of the needs of students who otherwise would refrain from engaging in the learning process due to health, socio-economic, emotional, and cultural barriers. Thus, a disempowered, disadvantaged community has been encouraged to participate in their children’s education. The study visit has furnished ample evidence of the efficacy of the methodologies employed in this partnership initiative. However, the authors contend this success could be further enhanced by extending the partnership to embrace the approach and techniques of informal education, effectively utilised by Hope Community Centre in Apopka, especially in their “Sin Fronteras” project. This approach could be of significant benefit in building self-esteem and self-confidence in Evans’ students, enhancing extra-curricular activities, whilst delivering a co-created curriculum in a fun and engaging manner, drawing those at risk of marginalisation, academic failure, or under-achievement back into the mainstream. This utilisation of Freirean informal education praxis, based around empowering students, would prepare students for a post-school environment which lacks the meritocratic opportunities they may have been socialised to expect, whilst extending Evans’ impact far beyond the parameters of educational attainment.