Appreciation to Gail Robinson at the American Association of Community College, and Joshua Young at Miami Dade Community College for the use of their material. A special thank you to the Community College National Center for Community Engagement and the Corporation for National Service for funding and support for this workshop. Updated 1/5/07
Workshop Outcomes
Nuts and bolts of service-learning (S-L)
Reflection
What is civic responsibility? (CR)
Focus on importance of CR in higher education
Understand how to incorporate CR into syllabi
Learn how to incorporate CR into reflection exercises
Lets design a new syllabus with CR and S-L
Answer your questions
Self Reflection
Why did you become an educator?
Why do you work (or plan to work) in
service-learning?
Why have you integrated, or are thinking about integrating, service-learning into your courses or agency?
Why are you interested in civic responsibility?
GROWING SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Community Challenges
School drop out crisis
Gang violence
Break down of the family unit
The homeless
Domestic Violence
The elderly
Over burdened public safety
1980s loss of social responsibility
Decline in students finding “themselves”
The “me too” generation
The “me too” generation
Values changed to getting “ahead” in life
60% wanted to make money
20% wanted to make a lot of money!
“Value” system that included a great lifestyle
Idea of Social Responsibility
MCC Mission Statement
The mission of Mesa Community College is to promote excellence in teaching and learning, preparing individuals for active citizenship in a diverse global society. The College is a community resource for transfer education, career preparation, developmental education, economic development and continuous learning. Our ultimate purpose is to improve the quality life in the community we serve.
Accreditation The Higher Learning Commission
Criterion Five: Engagement and Service
As called for by its mission, the organization identifies its constituencies and serves them in ways both value.
WHAT DOES YOUR ACCREDITATING BODY LOOK FOR?
Service-Learning A National Movement in Higher Education
Service-Learning A National Movement in Higher Education
“My idea of citizenship has changed as a result of service-learning. Before this assignment, I believed that citizenship was only about voting and abiding by laws. We need to endorse our political efficacy… A civil society lacking active citizens possesses no enrichment, diversity, or meaning.”
service-learning student,
Miami-Dade College
Facts about Service-Learning
National movement
Proven effective
Academically rigorous
Tremendous benefits
Extensive resources available
Important & “the right thing to do”
Not expensive
Early Years
Skepticism
“Another Fad”
Should this be part of Higher Education?
Reliance on grant funding
On margins of institution
Unfamiliarity
Confusion about nuts and bolts
No infrastructure
Current Status
College-wide Centers
Internally funded and institutionalized (Annual budgets)
Full –Time Staff
Faculty Coordinators
Community Service FWS Student Coordinators
HOW DO YOU LIKE TO LEARN?
What is
What is
Service-Learning?
“Tell me and I’ll forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will understand.”
Old Chinese Proverb
SERVICE-LEARNING IS:
SERVICE-LEARNING IS:
The process of integrating thoughtfully organized service experiences with guided reflection to enhance student learning of course materials.
Service-learning is the combination of community service and classroom instruction, with a focus on critical, reflective thinking as well as personal and civic responsibility.
How can we enhance student learning of course material?
How can we serve & collaborate with our community?
How can we foster our students’ sense of civic responsibility & commitment to the common good?
How can we reinvigorate teaching?
How can we fulfill our mission?
KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF SERVICE-LEARNING
Students are involved in course-relevant service which benefits the community
Offers a continuum of possibilities -- from single day service events to several hours a week for an entire semester
Structured opportunities are provided for students to reflect critically on their experience through a mix of writing, reading, speaking, listening, and group discussions
Structured opportunities are provided for students to reflect critically on their experience through a mix of writing, reading, speaking, listening, and group discussions
Service-learning gives academic credit for demonstrating learning achieved through the service, not just for putting in hours.
Encourages a greater understanding of social issues, civic responsibility, and a sense of caring for others
Goals
Goals
To enhance student learning of existing course competencies
To meet community needs
To foster civic responsibility
Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2001)
Academic Service-Learning
Relevant, meaningful service
Enhanced academic learning
Purposeful civic learning
--Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Summer 2002
How is service-learning different from volunteerism, internships, community service….?
How is service-learning different from volunteerism, internships, community service….?
The service recipient or the person providing the service?
Volunteerism vs. Internships
Distinctions Among Service Programs
Is the focus on service or on learning?
Volunteerism vs. Internships
Service-Learning
An experiential education teaching strategy where ...
SERVICE-LEARNING - service & learning goals of equal weight and each enhances the other.
Service-Learning Examples
Marketing students create and implement a marking plan for a non-profit
Accounting students serve in the business offices of non-profits
Business students study minority entrepreneurs, create a publication and coloring book, and present to low-income school children
History students complete oral histories with senior citizens, create booklet, and hold event to celebrate the participants
Service-Learning Examples (cont.)
English composition students help non-profit write manuals/brochures; organize writing contest on civic responsibility for high school students; chose an issue, serve, and do all their writing about that issue and their service…
Nursing students adopt a homeless shelter and provide health care services once a week, every week
Environmental Science students teach school children lessons about protecting the environment.
Intro to Computers students help teach at a local technology center
Service and the
Service and the
Charity / Social Justice
Continuum
CHARITY
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Charity = social service
Provides direct services like food, clothing, shelter
Justice = social change
Promotes social change in institutions or political structures
Responds to immediate needs
Responds to long-term needs
Directed at the effects of injustice and its symptoms
Tries to ensure the problems don’t exist in the first place
Private, individual acts
Public, collective actions
Examples of charity:
Homeless shelters
Food pantries
Clothing drives
Emergency services
Examples of social justice:
Legislative advocacy
Changing policies and practices
Political action
Education about an issue
How do you define civic responsibility?
AACC’s Definition of Civic Responsibility
Active participation in the public life of a community in an informed, committed, and constructive manner, with a focus on the common good.
Exercise 3.9 (Page 34)
Higher Education’s Role in Promoting Citizenship
“We [higher education] educate a large proportion of the citizens who bother to vote, not to mention most of the politicians, journalists, and news commentators. We also educate all the school administrators and teachers, who in turn educate everyone at the pre-college level. And we do much to shape the pre-college curriculum through what we require of our college applicants. In short, not only have we helped create the problems that plague American democracy, but we are also in a position to begin doing something about them. If higher education doesn’t start giving citizenship and democracy much greater priority, who will?” (Astin 1995)
Breakout 1
Exercise 3.9 (Page 34)
Higher Education’s Role in Promoting Citizenship
Reflection Questions
Do you think that our educational institutions are preparing students for a life of engaged, democratic citizenship?
How does service learning play a role in giving citizenship and democracy greater priority?
What specifically can higher education do to give citizenship and democracy greater priority?
Will involvement in service learning necessarily foster civic responsibility in students?
How can we create a culture of civic engagement that results in a more humane and just society?
How can service learning and civic responsibility relate to institutional accreditation standards?
Breakout 1
Making the Case for Service-Learning
Too many of us have become passive and disengaged. Too many of us lack confidence in our capacity to make basic moral and civic judgments, to join with our neighbors to do the work of community, to make a difference. Never have we had so many opportunities for participation, yet rarely have we felt so powerless. In a time that cries out for civic action, we are in danger of becoming a nation of spectators.
Too many of us have become passive and disengaged. Too many of us lack confidence in our capacity to make basic moral and civic judgments, to join with our neighbors to do the work of community, to make a difference. Never have we had so many opportunities for participation, yet rarely have we felt so powerless. In a time that cries out for civic action, we are in danger of becoming a nation of spectators.
--National Commission on Civic Renewal, 1998
Citizens must be engaged in both thought and action
Citizens must be engaged in both thought and action
Education is the key to civic engagement
Institutions of learning must prepare students for such activities
--John Dewey, 1916
We challenge you to assure that the next year’s entering students will graduate as individuals of character more sensitive to the needs of community, more competent to contribute to society, and more civil in habits of thought, speech, and action.
--Wingspread Group Report on Higher Education, 1993
If there is a crisis in education in the United States today, it is less that test scores have declined than it is that we have failed to provide the education for citizenship that is still the most significant responsibility of the nation’s schools and colleges.
If there is a crisis in education in the United States today, it is less that test scores have declined than it is that we have failed to provide the education for citizenship that is still the most significant responsibility of the nation’s schools and colleges.
--Frank Newman, 1985. Higher Education and the American Resurgence
What are you seeing, hearing, observing while at your service site?
Experiences or incidents that support or refute ideas disused in class
Your own thoughts, feelings or values from your service
“Today I got to the nursing home at 2:00pm Talked to some ladies.
Passed out popcorn at the movie.
Went home at 4:00pm.”
From a student’s journal
“Working at the Homeless Shelter was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had.
I have learned so mush about becoming a nurse and how to care for patients. I can’t wait to graduate and really serve our community in the health field.”
From a student’s journal
What can the agency supervisor do to help students reflect/learn?
What can the agency supervisor do to help students reflect/learn?
Reflection Ideas for Agency Supervisors
Mission statement
Learning objectives/goals
Articles about your agency/clients/social problems
Exit interviews/questionnaires
“Mini research project”
Processing meetings
Written reflective assignments
Critical thinking questions
Agencies and the Students
Why do you want to do your service here?
What class are you doing this for?
May I see your syllabus?
Why did you choose this option?
Agency Responsibilities
Orientation
Training/Preparation
Supervision
Reflection
Communication with faculty
Recognition
Evaluation
Turning Challenges into Solutions
Table 2 (Page 48)
Service-Learning Activities
Service activities that address community needs
Related courses
Reflection components
Activities that foster civic responsibility skills
Assessment
Breakout 2
Exercise 4.1 (Page 53)
Syllabus and Course Analysis
What specific course material relates to CR?
Which learning outcomes directly relate to CR? Are they explicit in the syllabus?
Does the syllabus include a description of service learning projects and their relation to CR?
What are the specific opportunities for deliberate connections among your academic content, the value of CR, and community-based service experience?
How will the service experience be assessed? How will it relate to the learning of course material?
Information about service site selection or assignments
Course expectations (competencies, objectives, hours, dates and deadlines, reflection, grading or evaluation)
Consistent and frequent reference to service learning and civic responsibility
Breakout 3
Establishing Academic Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Results oriented
Timely
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Which course learning objectives are related to service?
What do you want your students to gain from the experience?
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Action – what types of service are appropriate for your course?
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Preparation – how will you prepare your students for the s-l experience?
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Reflection – what techniques will you use to guide/ensure student learning and successful service?
Reflective Assignments
Have students do a “research” paper on civic responsibility.
Have students research the characteristics of a good citizen.
Have students identify someone who is a good citizen and write an essay that describes the skills, attitudes, knowledge and behaviors that makes this person a good citizen.
Have students interview a “servant leader” in the community and write a report/essay on that.
Have students write about the connection between service, civic responsibility, and living in a democratic society.
Have students do a report/paper on the issue that their service project addresses.
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Course Integration – required, option, extra credit, number of hours, etc…
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Assessment – how will you evaluate/ assess/grade service-learning?
Assess learning demonstrated NOT
service completed
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Civic Responsibility – how will you ensure that students can articulate and understand civic responsibility, and develop the skills necessary to be a good citizen
S-L Course Development Worksheet
Recognition – how will you recognize and celebrate your students?
