Empowering Schools Through Community Voices

Focus groups are a valuable strategy for gathering evidence and nurturing community. Here's how:

Successful focus groups give stakeholders space to share their lived experiences and perspectives. They allow facilitators to collect valuable data for responding to community needs. Focus groups also give neighbors and colleagues the opportunity to connect over common goals. And yet, community building only happens when all voices are valued. To create genuine community engagement, here are 3 pillars for supporting successful outcomes.

Start with structured goals.

Decide what you hope to learn. Why do you want to invite your community to share their experiences and thoughts with you? What is the purpose of creating these events? Your goals should inform the groups you create and the questions you ask.

Create an environment that is safe and welcoming to diverse perspectives and experiences.

Your community starts with stakeholders who share a common interest, such as the well-being of local school-age children.

Say you are the Principal of a PreK – 5th grade school and you want to learn why families in the neighborhood are hesitant to enroll in your PreK or K program (your application numbers are much lower than the PreK-5th grade school 3 blocks away).

You may want to hear from parents whose children are currently enrolled in your PreK and K programs. Their voices can provide tips and insights. Their experiences as school "insiders" may differ from the neighborhood parents making first-time enrollment decisions. Hosting a focus group for each sub-group of parents would contribute to more focused discussions, yielding insights that could strengthen outreach and enrollment strategies.

Be willing to commit to action.

We all resent being invited to share our expert opinions, or our honesty in describing our needs only to have them ignored. If you are seeking feedback from stakeholders so you can check off a box, please don’t. Time is valuable – respect the time that stakeholders donate to share their lived experiences and honest feedback. Of course, some requests or demands for change may be impractical. Building consensus is also an important part of community building. But at the very least, enter the community conversations with open mind and willingness to listen, learn and consider what’s possible.