School family and community collaboration in managing experiential activities in private primary schools

Abstract

Managing experiential activities requires schools to coordinate educational responsibilities with the knowledge and resources of families and community organizations. This article examines how collaboration can sustain pupils’ participation when partners have unequal resources and different expectations. A conceptual synthesis of collaborative governance, network organization, relational trust and children’s participation is used to develop four mechanisms: communicating educational purposes through concrete learning tasks, defining decision rights, providing accessible channels for concerns, and separating core learning opportunities from optional contributions. The analysis shows why participation counts and satisfaction reports alone provide an incomplete basis for evaluating partnerships. Attention must also be given to who influences decisions, how disagreements are resolved and which pupils undertake substantive work. Four propositions connect these mechanisms to partnership practice and provide a basis for empirical investigation. The discussion considers the implications for private primary schools, where professional responsibilities may intersect with parental expectations and dependence on external resources. The framework contributes an account of collaboration that links educational purpose with authority, trust and access. Its applicability across different school contexts remains a question for empirical research.