Teachers' activities supporting a partnership among family, school, and community: Schools' role as an anchor point in the community

Abstract

The present study used a theoretical framework in which the function of the school is as an anchor point (Koizumi, 2000; in Japanese) from which a partnership among family, school, and community is promoted, and in which teachers' anchor point activities are defined as an active role in providing opportunities for children to relate to others in their community. The purposes of the present study were to develop a scale to assess teachers' anchor point activities, to investigate the factor structure of the scale, and to identify relevant variables. Elementary school teachers(N = 236) completed a self-rating questionnaire that included questions about their anchor point activities,their trust in the parents of their students and their neighborhood,and whether or not the area where their school was located was their hometown. Factor analysis yielded 3 factors of teachers' anchor point activities: encouraging children to make friends, uniting children with the neighborhood, and supporting children's safe lives. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the degree of teachers' sense of trust in the parents of their students or the neighborhood positively and significantly predicted the teachers' anchor point activities; these relations were moderated by the teachers' age or the historical relationship between the teachers and their school area(e. g., whether the teachers originally came from that area). The findings were discussed in terms of situations in which teachers' anchor point activities were enhanced.