THE WORLD OF SERVICE LEARNING:From Definitions, History, Theory, Principles, Practice, and Partnerships to Social Justice, Critical Engagement and Collaboration, and

Uneasy Institutionalization

Definitions 1. Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates

meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDAQDg56VDs

2. Community-Based Learning is similar to service learning but with two important caveats.

A. Community Based Learning includes Research and promotes various forms of Community Based Research (CBR) ranging from consultant-type relationships to Participatory Action research (PAR).

B. A greater focus on collaborative partnerships and integrated learning opportunities with community leadership. The community drives project selection and participates in course design, evaluation, etc.

Community-Based Learning is a form of intellectual and practical engagement [Praxis] in which students, faculty, service providers, service recipients, and a vast array of community members work to fulfill immediate needs while trying to develop the knowledge and strategy necessary to understand and address the root causes of social problems.

History 1: The Origins of Teaching Sociology in The U.S.

Hull House vs. The University of Chicago

Jane Addams and Florence Kelley’s book, Hull House Maps and Papers, set precedents for the use of mapping as a statistical technique to reveal patterns of social groups; emphasis on the city as a major factor structuring daily lives; the analysis of immigrant groups and their disorganization in the city, primarily as a function of debilitating economic conditions; and a directly linked the work of Hull-House residents and sociologists at Chicago (Mary Jo Deegan, 1988)

“there were occasional rumblings about the old maids downtown who were wet-nursing social reformers. ..the greatest damage done to the City of Chicago was not the product of corrupt politicians or criminals but the women reformers.”

Experiential and Engaged Pedagogy

* John Dewey and Guided Reflection* Jane Addams--community based learning and

research

Educated young people are seeking an outlet for that sentiment of universal brotherhood, which the best spirit of our times is forcing from an emotion into a motive.” They feel a fatal want of harmony between their theory and their lives, a lack of coordination between thought and action… These young men and women, longing to socialize their democracy, are animated by certain hopes which may be thus loosely formulated; that if in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave; that it is difficult to see how the notion of a higher civic life can be fostered save through common intercourse; that the blessings which we associate with a life of refinement and cultivation can be made universal and must be made universal if they are to be permanent; that the good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in mid-air, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.

Educated young people are seeking an outlet for that sentiment of universal brotherhood, which the best spirit of our times is forcing from an emotion into a motive.” They feel a fatal want of harmony between their theory and their lives, a lack of coordination between thought and action… These young men and women, longing to socialize their democracy, are animated by certain hopes which may be thus loosely formulated; that if in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave; that it is difficult to see how the notion of a higher civic life can be fostered save through common intercourse; that the blessings which we associate with a life of refinement and cultivation can be made universal and must be made universal if they are to be permanent; that the good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, is floating in mid-air, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.

History 2: Engaged Pedagogy Outside the Mainstream

university.

1. History of Experiential Education and various forms of religious education—particularly Quaker Schools—Labor Colleges, Highlander Folk School, etc.

Myles Horton, Founder, Highlander Folk School

“What you must do is go back, get a simple place, move in and you are there. The situation is there. You start with this and you let it grow. You know your goal. It will build its own structure and take on its own form. You can go to school your whole life and never figure it out because you are trying to get an answer that can only come from the people in the life situation.”

Myles Horton, The Long Haul: An Autobiography, Teachers College Press, 1990. Myles Horton and Paulo Freire, We Make the Road by Walking, Temple University Press, 1990. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSyaZAWIr1I

History 3: Conservatism and Its Discontents

The Ironies of McCarthyism—the Rise of the 1960sA response to conservatism and the malaise of

suburbia. A response to Isolation, and “en loco parentis”

From Ella Baker to Chuck McDew From Rosa Parks to Bob Zellner. “The sit-ins have given us an

opportunity for “the word to become flesh. They have inspired us to build a new image of ourselves in our own minds.”

When we asked my sociology professor why we were expelled he said that he never intended for us to speak to civil rights activists, ‘I just wanted you to go to the library.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-nG7WByqY

History 4: Institutionalization

1. 1970s and the movement from streets back to the classroomNational Organizations and Conferences:

a. National Society for Experiential Education (1971)b. Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs

(1974)c. National Center for Service Learning (1979)

2. Continued National Organizing of Groups and Conferences—1980s and 1990s

a. Campus Outreach Opportunity League (1984)b. National Campus Compact (1985)

c. Americorps and Corporation for National Service (1993)d. Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research

University (1999)

The challenges facing higher education go beyond the need to add more service-learning experiences or to reward faculty for community-oriented research. As important as these objectives are, the more fundamental task is to renew our great mission as the agents of democracy.

A trajectory for service and community-based learning in

contemporary setting

Theory 1: Ernst Boyer’s Scholarship of Engagement

"The scholarship of engagement means connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic and ethical problems, to our children, to our schools, to our teachers and to our cities...“

discovery

integration

application

teaching

engagement

Theory 2: Range of Experiential Pedagogy

Theory 3: The Depth and Breadth of Community Based Learning

Theory 4: The Debate over Discipline versus Pedagogy

Dan Butin: “The possibilities for service-learning lie in embracing it as an academic discipline with the ability to control its knowledge production functions by internally debating and determining what issues are worthy of study, by what modes of inquiry, and to what ends. This approach assumes a plurality of perspectives of what service-learning is and should be. It assumes that the scholarship surrounding service-learning is not solely centripetal or convergent in focus.”

Comparison to Women’s Studies and the impact of institutionalization

Raymond Williams: There is a conservative and professionalizing force to institutionalization that suggests the formation takes precedence over the project. “But there remains the problem of forgetting the real project.” He continues to explain the political and practical issues related to the process of publishing and teaching around texts.

Theory 5: Service Learning at the Crossroads

The definitions of such things as service and community based learning will be determined by the ways in which practitioners struggle with the historical trajectory, institutional and social conditions, and the political battles and objectives of partners and opponents.

Mavis Morton, Corey Dolgon, Tim Maher and Jim Pennell,“Civic Engagement and Public Sociology: Two “Movements” in Search of a Mission.” Journal of Applied Social Science, Spring 2012.

Principles of Service Learning

Bob Sigmon’s 3 principles of service learning

1. Those being served control the service(s) provided

2. Those being served become better able to serve and be served

3. Those who serve also are learners and have control over what is expected to be learned

From Charity and Reciprocity to Collaboration and Transformation

Academic credit is for learning, not for service

In traditional courses academic credit and grades are assigned based on students' demonstration of academic learning as measured by the instructor.

It is no different in service-learning courses.

In service-learning courses we evaluate students' learning from traditional resources, from the community service, and from the blending of the two.

Do not compromise academic rigor

Widespread perception in academic circles that community service is a "soft" learning resource, temptation is to compromise academic rigor in service-learning courses.

But s-l students must not only master academic material, but also learn how to learn from unstructured and ill-structured community experiences, merging experiential learning with other course resources.

Furthermore, while in traditional courses students must satisfy only academic learning objectives, in s-l courses students must satisfy both academic and civic learning objectives.

Prepare students for learning from the community

Most students lack experience with both extracting and making meaning from experience, and in merging it with other academic and civic course learning strategies; and they rarely know much about the history and diversity of the communities they engage. Therefore, even an exemplary reflection journal assignment will

yield, without sufficient support, uneven responses.

Faculty can provide: (1) Learning supports such as opportunities to acquire skills for

learning from the service context ( e.g., participant-observer skills);

(2) Examples of how to successfully complete assignments (e.g., past exemplary student papers and reflection journals, etc.;

(3) Give students history tours, lectures, materials as well as diversity training and recognition of structural inequality.

Best Practices?

John Reiff , Director, Office of Community Service Learning Commonwealth College,University of Massachusetts Amherst and former scholar-in-Residence for the Massachusetts Campus Compact

Reflection

*Begin Process of Reflection in Class

*Discuss Reflection and Action as ongoing process and the dynamic of Praxis

*Consider ways to integrate partner into reflective process

*Early Data on Learning Outcomes suggests more often and more substantive reflection the stronger the outcomes

Evaluation

Learning Outcomes & Community Impact• Standard Measures—qualitative & quantitative• New means for measuring local impact• Unheard Voices and unethical data• All Players should be heard who have stake in the

projects and the assessment—returning to original principles of Bob Sigmon.

PartnershipsCCPH’s 10 principles

1. Partnerships form to serve a specific purpose, may take on new goals over time 2. Agreed upon mission, values, goals, & measurable outcomes for partnership.

3. Relationship has mutual trust, respect, genuineness, & commitment.

4. Builds on identified strengths & assets, but addresses areas for improvement.  5. Balances power among partners & enables resources to be shared.  6. There is clear, open communication—listening, common language, terms validated & clarified

7. Roles, norms, & processes for the partnership established collaboratively by the partners.

8. Feedback to, among, & from stakeholders to improve partnership & outcome.

9. Partners share the credit for the partnership's accomplishments.

10. Partnerships take time to develop and evolve over time.

Hugh Sockett’s 4 Stages of Partnerships

1. Service2. Exchange3. Cooperative4. Systemic/Transformative---------------------------------------------------------------Hollander & Dolgon 3 Levels of Partnerships

1.Immediate or Transactional Projects2.Sustainable Relationship3.Transformative Strategies

What is Social Justice?

Take just a minute or two and write down your definition or description of what social justice is or should be.

Definitions of Social Justice"The goal of social justice education is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs. Social justice includes a vision of society that is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure." Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice: A Sourcebook. Edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin.

“concepts of “fairness” and “equality” as the key components… respondents focused on the distribution of resources and fairness in the way society treats people. The concept of equality was referred to almost as much as fairness and often in conjunction with it. Most common were references to equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes. Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, www.futuresforcivilsociety.org

Social Justice is a set of principles and a process that govern humans’ behavior to one another and the natural world. Social justice is based on the premises that society is characterized by inequalities in resources and influence, and that individual and collective actions can and will transform society. Social justice promotes awareness of inequalities, action to redress inequalities, and ongoing habits of mind and actions that continue to redress inequalities. Social justice seeks transformation of society at global and local levels and the liberation of creation from every oppressive situation.

Saint Mary’s College Bonner Foundation

Visiting Couple Saves Baby from Drowning in Taunton RiverOnly hours after tying the knot at memorial UnitedMethodist Church in Taunton, newlyweds James and Joan Dean found themselves pulling an identifiedbaby out of the Taunton River.

The Deans had come to Taunton to be married by their Long-time friend and Church elder reverend Rev Jane

Simms Lawrence. Following the ceremony and reception, Baby being pulled from water by James Dean the couple decided to take a leisurely stroll down by the riverside when they noticed baby floating down stream. James, certified in CPR as a former EMT driver, jumped into the

river to save the young child while Joan ran back into town to alert authorities and call an ambulance. Emergency medical personnel were on the scene in minutes and helped pull both Dean and the young baby to safety. No

one has as of yet come forward to identify the baby , but local social services are taking care of the child and a list of potential foster parents is being created.

After all of the excitement, the young couple was hoping to return to their hotel and continue their honeymoon in a more traditional style. There is another festive occasion—a Sunday brunch scheduled for today. Mrs. Dean says they will try to repeat a “romantic” walk later in the day

Visiting Couple Saves Baby from Drowning in Taunton River, Again!One Day after pulling an unidentified baby from the banks of the Tanton River near Weir Village, James and Joan dean were once again called on by fortune or fate to repeat theirHeroic deed.

Only minutes after leaving a nearby restaurant where they celebrated their nuptials with a family brunch, the couple once again sought a romantic, mid-day walk along the River. SecondBaby pulled from water by James Dean Moments later they spied a baby, once again floating downstream. Once again, James splashed into the water to rescue the young child and Joan ran for help.

The Deans had come to Taunton to be married by their Long-time friend and Church elder reverend Rev Jane Simms Lawrence. Following the ceremony and reception. Yesterday, the couple noticed a baby baby floating down

stream. James, certified in CPR as a former EMT driver, jumped into the river to save the young child while Joan ran back into town to alert authorities and call an ambulance. In both cases, Emergency medical personnel were on the scene in minutes and helped pull both Dean and the young baby to safety. No one has as of yet come forward to identify either baby , but local social services are taking care of the child and a list of potential foster parents is being created.

Taunton police officials have decided to extend the local police beat to have officers patrol the river every half hour just as a precaution against the possibility or more floating babies.

What is he Saying?

Non-Profits and Service-Learning—

Good!

…but…

Critical Engagement Not Just Civic Engagement

Non Profits– “the question of service has to be framed by critically engaging mission & purpose, methods & outcomes.”

Community-Based Learning– “are our students being given a curriculum along with their projects that encourages historical and political and global perspectives on problems and their causes. Does it inspire the big questions of our students, their education, our community partners, policy makers, institutions and social structures as a whole.”

Challenging Practice in 3 Important Ways

1.      The complexity of the issues-the big picture of politics and economics and how these dynamics and conditions shape the problems and issues our projects address.

2.      The complexity of the goal-what are our big picture hopes and dreams for our communities and societies. What kind of world do we want to live in and how might we get there?

3. What is Social Justice?

Community-Based Learning, Community Partnerships, and Tilling the Fields

Together

“As partners, we must think through together the relationship between theory and strategy; between practice and relationships, between reflection, evaluation, revision and fundamental change.”

What Does This Mean?

1. All players must be willing to engage with each other and ask difficult questions and challenge conventions;

2. [For faculty] We have to be prepared to rethink our syllabi and rethink our research, how we teach and how we know;

3. [For Non-Profits] We need to rethink how we serve, what we serve, and with whom we serve.

4. We must all raise our standards and expectations for what we will accept from our students, our clients, our political and economic leaders, and ourselves.

Critical Engagement Map

Community Organization

Strategies for Change Services/Research 

  Community Goals Higher Ed. Goals

Curriculum Project (Theory & Method)

Campus Partnership

Mapping a Case Study

Community Organization—Dismas House

Mapping a Case Study

Campus Partner—Worcester State College

SO305—Introduction to Community-Based Research

WSC Center for Service learning and Civic Engagement

“The mission of the Center is to challenge students and faculty to investigate social problems by examining their root causes in the classroom while simultaneously addressing them in the community”

Mapping a Case Study

Community Goals:1. Increase Low-Income Housing 2. Decrease Local Nimby Campaigns

Mapping a Case Study

Service/Research & Project (theory, method, design & time)

What will project entail and how will it meet community goals and learning outcomes (Reciprocity)

1. Meet with Partner to Determine Issues, Scope, Questions, etc.A. Nimby Claims: Property Values, Crime, Views of Neighborhood QualityB. Identify Neighborhoods and so-called “Saturation Points”C. What work will students do:

1. designing tools2. explaining design and methods3. Collecting data and analyzing data

4. Reporting to Community Organization

Mapping a Case Study

Strategies for Change & CurriculumPresentations and Reflections

1. Presenting Data to Community2. Reflecting on Impact on Change3. Evaluating Learning Outcomes and Limits4. Developing New Projects, Strategies &

Curriculum

Corey Dolgon, chair of the Worcester State College Department of Sociology has been and activist and researcher on issues of homelessness and poverty for many years. Corey and his students conducted the department's "Mending Fences" study showing that group homes and social service agencies do not have a negative impact on Worcester's communities.

Critical Map (completed) Community Organization Dismas House

Strategies for Change Services/Research  Publicizing findings and impacting local debate stats on prop. Values, crime & QOL

perception

  Community Goals Higher Ed. Goals More Housing/Less Nimby Course Outcomes & Center Publicity

Curriculum Project (Theory & Method)Evaluating learning outcomes statistical research & neighborhood survey

Campus Partnership

Worcester State (SO 305 and CSLCE)

Evaluation and Action

1. Conversation with Dismas: what were successes and limitations of the research?

2. Next steps: more research vs. changing political landscape.

3. Organizing and Registering Homeless voters

4. Candidates Night at PIP ShelterWorcester Telegram &Gazette [10-11-07]

WORCESTER - A City Council candidates night at the People in Peril homeless shelter last night proved to be the largest forum by far in this year's election campaign, with organizers counting more than 140 people in attendance.

Dr. Eric Garcia, who treats PIP shelter residents, asked the candidates whether they support the "Housing First" concept. Even Ms. Haller, a frequent critic of the social service agencies that espouse that concept of ensuring stable housing for people who need it regardless of their readiness to accept social programming, said that it "has merit."

5. Aftermath and Change--Permanent Housing &Housing First

Critical Change Map Community Organization Dismas House

Strategies for Change Services/Research  Publicizing findings and impacting local debate stats on prop. Values, crime & QOL perception  voter registration and organizing Experiences, Comparative & Qualitative Data

 Community Goals Higher Ed. Goals

More Housing/Less Nimby Course Outcomes & Center Publicity Political Empowerment PAR versus Research for Order

Curriculum Project (Theory & Method)

Evaluating learning outcomes statistical research & neighborhood survey Research for service vs. research for change Interviews, focus groups, collaborative events

Campus Partnership Worcester State (SO 305 and CSLCE)

Building a Center

1. What are your Goals?Short Term

1. Build Capacity for Service Learning

a) faculty—development, resources, rewards & recognition.

b) community—understanding learning outcomes and objectives

c) students—training for community, diversity, inequality and experiential education and reflection

B. Long Term1. Powerful and rigorous learning for students2. verifiable Community Impact3. Educational transformation towards democracy and

social justice

Building Capacity

Faculty—course driven

Students—learning outcomes driven

Community Partners—project driven

Building Opportunities

Identifying Resources

Grants

Joining Regional, National and International Organizations

Public Relations and Endowments

SWOC Analysis

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Challenges