The Computer Learning Foundation's philosophy has always been one of partnering. We partner with state and provincial departments of education, corporations, small businesses, and other non-profit organizations. We try never to compete, but to collaborate in our efforts to improve the quality of children's learning through the use of technology. Because we've been told the Foundation epitomizes the concept of partnerships, we want to focus on what partnership means and offer suggestions on how you can develop partnerships to help children learn.
What is a Partnership?
If you look up the word "partner" in the dictionary, you'll find several definitions. One definition of a partner is an individual in a couple or marriage. The key ingredients for a successful school partnership are very similar to those of a good marriage.
Another definition refers to a legal business relationship--an individual or organization contractually associated with another in a joint venture. In certain situations, this may apply to school partnerships; for example, a business and a school may contractually commit to co-develop a program or project. However, in most cases, a school partnership is far less formal than a business partnership.
Our favorite definition of a partner best describes school partners: "one who plays on the same team with another."1 What better way to view schools, parents, businesses and communities joining forces to provide the best possible education for our children than as all players on the same team? We are all different with different perspectives and different strengths, and when we all pull together as a team, our children win!
What Makes a Good Partnership?
A partnership, to be successful, assumes that each partner develops an understanding of, and respect for, the other partner's needs in the partnership. The partners need to have similar values and shared goals. They need to make time for each other and be committed to the partnership. In a good partnership, both parties benefit equally; i.e., neither partner gives nor takes in a substantially greater amount than the other. A healthy partnership also requires good communication--the ability to listen to what the other is saying, to understand and respect differences in perspectives and opinions, and to be open to alternative ways of doing things and/or resolving differences.
Recognize that many partnerships with schools have not truly been what we consider a "partnership." Too often, a school's perspective of a "business partnership" or "community partnership" has really been as a "donor relationship," i.e., how can the school get more funding from businesses or the community, with little thought to how the school might offer specific benefits to businesses or the community in return. And too often the corporate view of a "school partnership" has been "how can we give to schools in a way that benefits ourselves?" In both of these scenarios, the focus is on one partner's needs without understanding or respecting the other partner's needs. Either "partner" might gain in the short-term; however, in the long-term, these short-sighted partnerships usually flounder and quietly die.
Keep in mind that good communication is critical to developing and maintaining successful partnerships. It's important for schools to develop a communications program which keeps people informed of their needs and communicates ways they can help others in their community. For example, schools might offer training to business people on a new software program or offer classes for members of the comunity and communicate this information in a newsletter that is distributed to all households in the community (not just parents) or in a regular column in a local newspaper. By offering benefits to the community and becoming a community resource, schools may be pleasantly surprised to find businesses and others in the community who have never worked with the school before coming forward to help them. The result: the beginning of new partnerships. Once partnerships begin forming, it is critical to keep partners informed of how things are going.
Understanding Differences Among Partners
In forming partnerships with businesses and schools, we must keep in mind that schools and businesses are fundamentally very different. Incentives are different. Their cultures and operating methods are different. Methods of measuring results and time frames in which results are obtained are different. With increased attention to understanding, respecting and responding to these differences, many schools and businesses can form successful and growing partnerships.
Investing in the future by providing substantial donations and grant monies to education is hard for most American businesses to justify in their culture. Whether the individuals care about education is not the issue. American business people are motivated and measured by quantitative, tangible results in the short term--the job of every CEO is to maximize shareholders' wealth; i.e., maximize profits today. Business investments are based on Return On Investment (ROI); i.e., how many dollars will be returned for every dollar invested and during what period of time. Therefore, grants and donations are difficult to justify since they negatively impact profits today and their ROI to the company is difficult to measure. While many people believe the short-term performance emphasis of American business is detrimental to the long-term performance of companies, American business people nonetheless have disincentives for investing in future products for their companies, let alone the future of our children.
In contrast, investing in the future is almost a definition of education--our educators and schools are expected to do things today that will result in educated people tomorrow. Education must be long-term focused because children are being prepared for what the world will be 10 to 15 years from now. Furthermore, education is motivated by less tangible, and far more difficult to measure, results, i.e., creating productive, educated individuals with positive values and self-esteem. Investments in education frequently are decided based on whether something works or is needed or on more qualitative information, rather than based on a cost-benefit analysis or quantitative evaluation like ROI.
Another real difference involves the methods in which schools and businesses obtain funds for operating. Business has to earn every dollar it needs or it ceases to operate, and successful businesses know they must give something to get what they need. Innovation, taking risks, and trying new approaches is the only way a company stays in business. Some things work, some don't, but new things must be tried constantly or the company eventually loses out to it's competitors. Business also knows the importance of communicating with individuals and organizations in order to be successful and assigns this important function to staff.
By contrast, schools are neither used to earning the dollars they receive nor giving something to get the funds they need. They are accustomed to receiving at least a minimum to keep their doors open, regardless. And schools are very slow to embrace new approaches, as they are concerned this might be experimenting with children. With the exception of very large or wealthy schools, most schools don't have anyone assigned to the responsibility of developing community relations and communicating with individuals and organizations who are important to the school's success.
These are some of the dramatic differences we see, and we're sure there are more. The important point is not that we become the same, but that we understand the very different nature of partners in school partnerships to try to respond to their needs. Only with this understanding can we ensure that both partners benefit from the partnership in ways that are of value to them, and over time, the partnership will survive and grow. In the end, if we truly play on the same team, our children will win.
Forming Successful School Partnerships
Businesses need to remember that the education of our children is their responsibility, too. Partnering with local schools is not only a socially responsible thing to do--it is an investment in the future of their company through a better educated workforce. It is also an investment in their community today and the families of their current employees. Businesses also need to be sensitive to the differences in cultures, incentives and perspectives between schools and businesses and take the time to learn about the issues schools face and their needs.
Schools need to look to businesses and the community as more than donors who are willing to give without expecting anything in return. Giving can benefit a business partner and the more tangible the benefit, the greater the company can justify giving. For example, if a school gives a tangible benefit, such as training for the business' employees or access to the school's technology equipment, increased financial support of the school's technology program from local businesses might result. Making school facilities open to community members without children and offering the school as a community learning resource may also bring greater support for the school.
Marketing dollars far exceed donation dollars, as they are easier to justify, so providing marketing benefits to a company can offer significant benefits to a school. For example, a school might provide greater visibility for a company or their products by letting people in their community know about a company's support. A school might provide testing and research on products by serving as a test marketing site or provide directly measurable sales through label collection or percentage of sales donation programs.
Schools need to differentiate between recognition of partners and commercialism. Doesn't a business that supports local schools with funding, people resources or other forms of support deserve public recognition? If a business is supportive of schools, shouldn't schools be supportive of that business? At the same time, businesses need to be sensitive to fact that schools are places of learning, so they should be responsible in their marketing expectations of schools.
Schools need to communicate with businesses in the language that business understands; i.e., proposals with clearly stated objectives, budgets tied to expected results, and historical examples with tangible results and quantitative data where possible.
While many businesses may not be able to provide cash funding in school partnerships, they may be able to offer schools support in other ways. Non-cash resources are far more abundant than cash resources and can be just as valuable in a partnership. For example, a local business might provide employees as volunteers, guest lecturers or trainers on technology or job skills or offer practical work experience or internships for students. In addition, businesses and others in the community can be of valuable assistance in advocacy and policy matters, including defining skills needed by youth for the workplace. And many businesses will gladly make donations of goods and services to support their local school.
In summary, partnerships among schools, businesses and others in the community offer valuable benefits for our children. We must take the time to understand each other's needs and potential roles in our school/business-community partnerships and continuously strive to maintain mutually-beneficial relationships.
To help you on your way, the Computer Learning Foundation is offering several new resource materials (see page 18), a new community partnership program to provide technology products for schools (see page 4), and several competitions that emphasize planning and developing partnerships and communicating with partners. We hope you'll join us in our efforts to work together to help our children learn.
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