teaching for civic capacity and engagement : how faculty align teaching and purpose iarslce 2011 |...
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TEACHING FOR CIVIC CAPACITY AND ENGAGEMENT:How Faculty Align Teaching and Purpose
IARSLCE 2011 | CHICAGO
Jennifer M. Domagal-Goldman | November 3, 2011
Higher Education’s Civic Mission
Democracy has to be born anew in each generation and education is its midwife.
– John Dewey (1916)
The involvement of faculty in preparing students for their role as active citizens is one of the most significant and challenging aspects of the college civic engagement movement …. Faculty members are key in helping students understand the social contributions to be made by every discipline.
– Elizabeth Hollander (2007)
Definitions
Civic Engagement: Active participation in the civic or political life of a community.
Civic Capacity: Knowledge, skills, and attitudes of informed citizenship.
Public Scholarship: Teaching, research, and service that contribute to informed engagement in society.
Research Questions
How, if at all, does faculty participation in the Public Scholarship Associates influence their teaching-related learning and/or practice?
How, if at all, do faculty members align their undergraduate courses and teaching practices with their implicit and/or explicit ideas about civic engagement as an educational purpose?
FO
RM
CO
NTEN
TC
ON
TEX
TSociohistori
calContext
COURSE DECISIONS
Feedback
Instruction
Sequence
Goals
Content
Faculty Members’Background &Characteristics
Views of Academic Fields
Beliefs about Purposes of
Education
Pragmatic Factors
Public Scholarship Associates
Student Goals
Student Characteristics
Teaching & Learning Literature
Program &College Goals
Other Influences
External InfluencesAdvice Available
on Campus
Facilities, Opportunities, & Assistance
Participants
Selection Criteria: Tenured/tenure-track faculty members in
the PSA Sample:
6 women, 8 men 4 Assistant, 4 Associate, and 6 Full
Professors 4 faculty of color, 10 white faculty members 4 humanities, 4 social sciences, 2 natural
sciences, 4 professional fields 16 academic fields
Data Analysis Data Collection
Methods
Documents
(CVs, syllabi)
Observations
Fieldnotes
Semi-Structured Interviews
Participant Data Forms
I. Content
II. Context
III. Form
Coding(a priori &
open)
Contact Summaries
Analytical
Memos
•Triangulation
•Bracketing
•Reflective Memos
•Peer Debriefer
•Member Checks
Trustworthiness & Ethical
Considerations
Limitations
Single institution; small sample Some PSA members elected not to
participate Retrospective interviews; did not
observe teaching
Findings
FO
RM
CO
NTEN
TC
ON
TEX
TSociohistori
calContext
COURSE DECISIONS
Feedback
Instruction
Sequence
Goals
Content
Faculty Members’Background &Characteristics
Views of Academic Fields
Beliefs about Purposes of
Education
Pragmatic Factors
Public Scholarship Associates
Student Goals
Student Characteristics
Teaching & Learning Literature
Program &College Goals
Other Influences
External InfluencesAdvice Available
on Campus
Facilities, Opportunities, & Assistance
FO
RM
CO
NTEN
TC
ON
TEX
TSociohistori
calContext
COURSE DECISIONS
Feedback
Instruction
Sequence
Goals
Content
Faculty Members’Background &Characteristics
Views of Place of Civic Purposes inAcademic Fields
Beliefs about Civic Purposes
of Education
Pragmatic Factors
Public Scholarship Associates
Student Goals
Student Characteristics
Teaching & Learning Literature
Program &College Goals
Other Influences
External InfluencesAdvice Available
on Campus
Facilities, Opportunities, & Assistance
Q #2
Q #1
Theory Development: Proposition 1
Proposition 1
Content influences on course planning, specifically views of the academic field and beliefs about educational purpose, are dynamic rather than stable.
Theory Development: Proposition 2
Proposition 2
A reciprocal relationship exists between content and context elements of the contextual filters model.
Theory Development: Proposition 3
Proposition 3
Local contexts can be catalysts for faculty learning, as well as influences on course form.
Theory Development: Proposition 4
Proposition 4
Planning for civic engagement courses is influenced by perceptions of institutional mission, particularly perceptions of what counts for promotion and tenure.
Theory Development: Proposition 5
Proposition 5
Once faculty have decided to incorporate community engagement into a course, subsequent course decisions are influenced by that community’s characteristics and needs.
Future Research
Continue to extend and refine the Contextual Filters Model by studying course planning in different: Institutional settings Faculty populations Course levels & types
Conduct longitudinal or ethnographic studies of faculty course planning and teaching for civic purposes
Develop assessment tools for evaluating civic learning
Implications for Institutional Practice & Policy
Pay attention to rhetoric and reality Allocate institutional resources Prepare future faculty members Forge partnerships across the institution
and with local communities Consider position descriptions and
contracts Revisit promotion and tenure policies
Participants’ Course Goals
Participant Characteristics
Participants’ Disciplines/Fields
Questions & Discussion