Early Education and the Community (2)

Two key statements about early education and the community are selected from Hughes' paper (above) and are discussed here: his assertion that school-community links are much less strong than home-community links and his concern that schools are becoming isolated from the communities they serve.The meaning of 'community' is extended and the paper considers some of the practical reasons why schools may not fulfil their community role adequately.It concludes by agreeing with Hughes that it is important to find ways in which teachers can relate to children's learning in the community, but adds that it is equally important to find ways in which parents can share their children's learning in school.Martin Hughes has presented early education with a major challengehow to rethink its community role in relation to children's learning.At one level, the findings he outlines and his conclusions are non-controv.ersial.Few, for example, would deny his point that much of children's learning before they go to school i's embedded in the network of people and their purposes and interests that make up the community.