The Role of the Library in Achieving Co-Curricular Activities

in Civic Engagement on College Campuses LOEX Discussion Group

Mary ReddickHead of Online Curriculum

Library Services California State University

Sacramento, CA

Susan MetcalfInstructional Services LibrarianUniversity of Southern Indiana

Evansville, IN

Walk around, introducing yourself to20 people in the next ten minutes,

and chat about the meaning of civic engagement.

We’ll call time in 30 second intervals.

The Role of the Library in Achieving Co-Curricular Activities

in Civic Engagement on College Campuses LOEX Discussion Group

Mary ReddickHead of Online Curriculum

Library Services California State University

Sacramento, CA

Susan MetcalfInstructional Services LibrarianUniversity of Southern Indiana

Evansville, IN

What did you talk about?

“Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference.” - Thomas Ehrlich, former chair of the Campus Compact board of directors and president emeritus of Indiana University. Ehrlrch drafted the President’s Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education, and

he is author of Civic Responsibility and Higher Education (2000)

Campus Compact offers the Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning

Volunteering

One on one service/

assistance

Community Service

A group that provides as

service

Service Learning

Individually or as a group, linked to

classroom curriculum

Civic Engagement

Work with others to improve a community

Individual Collective

Dr. Mary KirlinAsst. Prof. of Public Policy and Administration

California State University, SacramentoCivic Ed/American/German Conference

November 2006

Continuum of Engagement

“The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action. The trouble is… [w]e have forgotten that [democracy] has to be enacted anew in every generation, in every year and day...”

- John Dewey

1920-25

http://tinyurl.com/2o555rJohns Hopkins University

John Dewey

Experimental College, UW

Civic Engagement in Higher Education Timeline

“Bowling Alone”Journal of Democracy

Robert Putnam (1995)

Putnam speaks at ALA

(2001)

Nancy KranichPresident of ALA

(2000-2001)

Campus Compact(1985)

American Democracy ProjectAmerican Assoc. ofState Colleges and

Universities(2003)

51 presidents sign “President’s Declaration

on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education”

(1999)

Ctr. for Liberal Education and Civic Engagement

AACU & Campus Compact(2003) “Civic Partnerships:

The Role of Libraries in Promoting

Civic Engagement”Resource Sharing & Information Networks

2005/2006

ALA, “Libraries Foster

Civic Engagement Membership

Initiative Group” (MIG)

June 2007

Presidential Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education

“This country cannot afford to educate a generation that acquires knowledge without ever understanding how that knowledge can benefit society or how to influence democratic decision making.”

We must teach the skills and values of democracy, creating innumerable opportunities for our students to practice and reap the results of the real, hard work of citizenship….We believe that now and through the next century, our institutions must be vital agents and architects of a flourishing democracy. We urge all higher education to join us.”

Center for Liberal Education and Civic Engagement(Providence, RI: Campus Compact, July 1999)http://www.compact.org/resources/declaration/assessment

Signed by 51 college presidents in 1999By 2004, 450 presidentsBy 2007, 569 presidents

 A. How many come from institutions involved in promoting student civic engagement?  B. If yes, has your library been involved with any of these efforts?

C. How many come from institutions which have one or more student learning communities?

D. If yes, has your library been involved in any of these efforts?

E. If your library has been involved in either promoting student civic engagement or learning communities, have these efforts been primarily

E1. successful E2. less than satisfactory  

- a show of hands -

A ?B ?C ?

The American Freshman - National Norms for 2006 http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/norms06.php

15.0%15.3%15.2%11.3%Participating in an organization like Peace Corps or AmeriCorps/VISTA

60.9%56.1%57.7%42.5%Influencing social values

58.3%49.8%52.7%35.2%Becoming a Community Leader

79.5%75.0%76.5%66.7%Helping others who are in difficulty

PrivatePublicAll

Black CollegesAll Baccalaureate

Institutions

“Essential” or

“Very Important” Objectives

Black Colleges

Type of Institution

Responses from approx. 270,000 students from 393 four year colleges/universities

1.  What is the role of librarians and libraries in achieving co-curricular activities? 

2.  What are the major barriers, and why are they barriers?

3.  What are the potential bridges, and how can we build them?

4.  How can librarians establish or strengthen collaborations with civic engagement activists and programs, and campus learning communities to develop such initiatives?

5.  What are the benefits and challenges to libraries and campuses? 

6. How can libraries harness technology in the interest of civic engagement to serve the needs of Learning Community faculty and students?

Discussion Points

What can libraries do to define themselves as places for civic learning?

1.  What is the role of librarians and libraries in achieving co-curricular activities? 

Discussion Point

Student Services

Co-Curricular Activities

CampusAdministrators

Service Learning

Curriculum

Faculty Services

Libraries/Librarians

2.  What are the major barriers to achieving co-curricular activities.

Discussion Point

Department-based thinking, anti-interdisciplinary

Practical and Environmental Time, money, space…

Philosophical

Epistemological (positivistic)

Pedagogical

Institutional

Political

Philosophical barrier (ex. positivism) in the way that education in the way the education of conceived practice and taught.

Paradigmatic shifts in learning theory

behaviorism cognitivism

constr

uctiv

ism

passive learnersreinforcements (praise, candy)

one absolute truthinformation is a thinglearning is a product

information retrieval (IR) model

cognitive behaviorists cognitive constructivists

cognitive theoriesactive learnersmultiple truths

information is constructedlearning is a process

paradigm shift“To be successful,

meaningful and lasting,learning must include

activity (practice)concept (knowledge)culture (context).”

Prof. Dave Jonassen, Univ. of Missouri

Co-curricular, civic engagementAltruisticService Learning

CollaborationMemorizationInstruction

Hybrid, residential halls, distant, online virtual as well as in class

In-person, in class, face to face

Place

Continuous improvementSporadic reformChange

Active, hands-on, participatoryPassive, lectureStudent learning

By faculty, students, librarians and community

By facultyCurriculum definition

Team-Community CooperationMeaning – socially constructed

Individual CompetitionMeaning – individually constructedFocus

ApplicationAcquisitionKnowledge

Recent Reform EffortsTraditional EducationIssue/Theme

Table adapted book Intro to service-learning toolkit, Campus Compact, 2003. p 232, referencing Holland’s table, An assessment model for service learning (1996) Also adapted from Smith’s Learning Communities bk 2004? P 21 Exhibit I.2 “Assumptions Underlying Traditional Approaches to Education and Recent Reform Efforts

Rational inquiryCooperative learning, civic learning,

Action-theory Interpretive social theory

neo-pragmatismfeminism

Empirical, scientific,Objective, postitivist-based

Philosophical framework

3.  What are the potential bridges to co-curricular activities, and how can we build them?

Discussion Point

Work to establish Steering Committee of influential faculty, admin, and community leaders

Get your library director on board

Attend civic engagement open meetings

Engage with student clubs and organizations, friends of the library, alumni

Seek opportunities to form alliances and partnerships

Claremont Forum Prison LibraryCal. State, Pomona sending books to inmates

Learning Community CourseCultures and Identities (LCOM 16)Cal. State, Sacramento

Learning Communities (FIGS)Univ. of Southern Indiana

Examples:

Learning Community (LCOM) Cultures and Identities, Fall 2006

“Creating educational coherence and community amidst all this change has become a major challenge for higher education. Learning communities are one response….

Shared knowledge, shared knowing, and shared responsibility are three key features of the most robust learning communities.” (Pederson, p.2-3)

Learning Communities and the Academic Library

Author, Sarah Pedersen, 2003ACRL Publications Catalog

http://tinyurl.com/yqq7ua

Learning Communities

New ways to:

think about learning foster community

Theme:

Voluntarism, Civic Engagement and Applied Healthcare

UNIV 102 Learning Communities Seminar II. 1 Cr. Hr. Spring 2007

For the service learning component, students were required to:

• Attend a library instruction session (50 minutes)

• Choose and participate in a service learning activity

• Write a 2 page essay on the experience

• Cite two sources

Service Learning Activities students chose:

• Donating blood (on campus blood drive)• Relay for Life (on campus event)• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) walk (downtown)• Volunteered at the Evansville Rescue Mission• Soup Kitchen (in their home town)• Ronald McDonald House• Nursing Home

www.foothillsrelayforlife.com

www.nationalmssociety.org

nwblood.redcross.org

Nursing and Health Professions

“The students loved the civic engagement component of the class.  WHEW! 

They thought that the assignment added purpose to the class. 

The most common service learning activity was the donation of blood. 10 pints were donated which equals helping 30 people. 

The students stated that they enjoyed their volunteer project and would volunteer again. ”

Thanks, Beth

4.  How can librarians establish or strengthen collaborations with civic engagement activists and programs, and campus learning communities to develop such initiatives?

Discussion Point

Sponsor common intellectual experiences that connect students and colleagues (Ex. book, theme)

Establish thoughtful study circles with one choice or viewpoint covered / week

Attend an ALA Moderator Training workshop (experience an open forum) Serve as a moderator (1 hr., 2 hr., lunch time)

Have the library sponsor deliberative forums

If in the library, prepare displays of related library materials and handouts

Hold forums elsewhere on campus

Supplement with guest speakers, panels, websites, bibs and online discussions

Spread the word (join a Blog)

Connect with students and colleaguesby sharing a common intellectual experience

http://www.neabigread.org/

Designed to revitalize therole of reading in American public culture

ADP Initiatives

Stewardship of Public Lands7 RevolutionsPolitical Engagement Project Strategies for Encouraging Voting Constitution Day Participatory Citizenship: American Democracy and the Jury System

ADP

A multi-campus

initiative

that seeks

to create

an intellectual

and experiential

understanding

of civic

engagement…

http://www.compact.org/

Discussion Point

5. What are the benefits and challenges of civic engagement to libraries and campuses?

BenefitsPromote civic literacy

Increase retention rates

Boost First Year seminars, internships/experiential learning projects

Promote Capstone courses, Writing Across the Curriculum projects

Engage students in diversity/global learning

Help grow service learning and community-based learning

Not imposing values on students but allowing students to discover the

values of engaging in the world (deliberation not debate)

Foster community as a learning campus

Strengthen relationships between institution and community

Enhance institutional reputation (incentives for administers)

Discussion Point

5. What are the benefits and challenges of civic engagement to libraries and campuses?

Challenges

Engrained traditional education approaches

Lack of incentives to form learning communities

Lack of investment by institution (ex. reliance on adjuncts; 1 cr. course)

Hard to quantify effectiveness (FTE based enrollment growth)

Faculty disengagement from public life

Boyte “Struggle Against Positvism” in Academe, 2000

Classicism, racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism

Excessive materialism

Numbness to the suffering of others Butler, Johnnella E., Democracy, Diversity and Civic Engagement, Academe,

Aug./August, 2000

6. How can libraries harness technology in the interest of civic engagement to serve the needs of Learning Community faculty and students and others involved in such initiatives?

Discussion Point

Collaborative Learning through Collaborative Technologies

Adapted from “Building Learning Communities with RSS Feeds, Wikis, and Blogs”A Magna Online Seminar with Dr. Norman Garrett, Eastern Illinois University , Jan. 25, 2007

Collaborative Learning through Collaborative Technologies

technology platforms

Computer

IPod/Audio Device

Cellular/Smart Phone

PDA

content

Library 2.0tools

RSS Feeds

Podcasting

Vodcasting

IM/Chat

Blogs

Wikis

Webcasting Forums (Bb/WebCT,etc.)

?

Learning Communities

Civic Engagement

Libraries

?

?

Group Projects

Discussions

Instruction

Sharing information

Listening

Q & A

“ . . . melding the work of the mind with the welfare of the world.”

Caryn McTighe Musil Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Global Initiatives

Assoc. Amer. Colleges &Universities, 2003

Promoting Civic Engagement

http://www.usi.edu/library/figs07.asp