Service-Learning Foundations and Practices Annie Mae Young, Quilts of Gee’s Bend, ca. 1975 Jen...
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Transcript of Service-Learning Foundations and Practices Annie Mae Young, Quilts of Gee’s Bend, ca. 1975 Jen...
Service-Learning Foundations and
Practices
Annie Mae Young, Quilts of Gee’s Bend, ca. 1975
Jen Gilbride-Brown, Ph.D
The Ohio State University
Setting the Context
Service-learning in the larger, civic engagement context
So what is “it” anyway
Partnership at the foundation
Civic Engagement has grown as part of a larger story about higher education’s response to calls for relevance and questions about civic purposes.
Four milestones in last 30 years~ Hollander, E & Meeropol, J. (2006)
• Mid to late 1980’s: “Era of Student Volunteerism”• Early 1990’s: “Rise of Service-Learning• Late 1990’s: “Birth of ‘the Engaged Campus’”• 2000’s: “Rapid Expansion of the Idea of ‘Engaged Campus'
1988: 225 Compact Members & 3 State
Offices1992: 52% Compact campuses offer credit for service related to
course
1997: 80% Compact campuses offering service-learning
2002: 28 State Compact Offices
2006: 91% Compact campuses offering service-learning
2008: 34 State
Compact Offices
Are we there yet?
Not quite!
• Exclusive focus exists on “schooling and the classroom” to engage young people in democracy and public life.
• Conflates two distinct things: “education” and “schooling”
Education cannot be limited to the activity of “schooling.”
An Ecology of Education
Ecology• Ongoing & continual relationship• Interdependence• Interconnection
An Ecology of Education
Power in an ecological perspective on education:
From scarcity to abundanceFrom scarcity to abundance
Untapped
Resources
Untapped
Resources
A Learning Web
Who else educates?
A Learning Web What if your educational institution
is NOT at the center?
Subject or issue
Your Learning WebWhere is your course
or project?
Subject or issue
Let’s play with the “learning web”
How to connect education with civic life
What is service-learning?Service-learning is a form of experiential education characterized by all of the following:
student participation in an organized service activity
participation in service activities connected to specific learning outcomes
participation in service activities that meet identified community needs
structured time for student reflection and connection of the service experience to learning
(Abes, Jackson & Jones, 2002)
Where is service-learning?Recipient ProviderBeneficiary
Service LearningFocus
Service-Learning
Community Service
Volunteerism Internship
Field Education
Furco, A. 1996. Service-Learning: A balanced approach to experimental education. In B. Taylor, (Ed.) Expanding Boundaries: Service and Learning. Corporation for National and Community Service.
Key Themes in Service-Learning
Collaboration with the community (reciprocity)
Importance of reflection
Active learning (meaningful work)
Development of a sense of caring
Promotion of a sense of civic responsibility
Ameliorate societal problems
(O’Grady, 2000)
Models good practice with emphasis on collaboration, reciprocity, commitment
Promotes reflective thinking Increases self-knowledge, cognitive
complexity, knowledge of diverse others and communities
Deepens commitments to the “common good” which seek a more just, equitable world
Strengths of Service-Learning
An “Asset” approach, is critical to community partnerships.
Our language informs what we know and believe to be possible- our orientation to the world and to the work.
Good Neighborhood / Bad Neighborhood
Good Neighborhood: What do you see?
Bad Neighborhood: What do you see?
Good Neighborhood/ Bad Neighborhood
Good Neighborhood: What do you see?
Bad Neighborhood: What do you see?
Not the WHOLE story!
A FOCUS on the ASSETS of the partners in service-learning works AGAINST the
power of misinformation and negative stereotypes that undermine
relationships.
Reciprocity as the goal
“…what affects me affects the wider community, and what affects the wider community affects me. The consequences are indistinguishable.”
~J. Saltmarsh (1998)
Challenge of reciprocity
“…Those who do community service at colleges and universities, on the other hand, are generally young people who have more advantages than those they are serving.”
~ Nieto, 2000
Begins and ends with the community…
“Ruth Ann”