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The Evolution Of Character Education: From Hellfire And Brimstone To Constructivism, Arati Singh

Special Topics, General

Since colonial times, character education has played a kaleidoscopic role in American schools. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Puritan curriculum was synonymous with an exceedingly rigid and religious moral code. Nineteenth century policy makers adopted a Pan-Protestant, and then a generalized Christian philosophy of character education, as they pursued a common school system. As twentieth century American society grew increasingly pluralistic, the religious basis of character education succumbed to a more secular framework. Predictably, this century has seen character education be demoted to just one of many competing items on the national education agenda. Paradoxically, today's violence-filled headlines evince a more …

How Effective A Tool Is Student Community Service, Martha Naomi Alt

Service Learning, General

Despite the popular appeal among the public, educators, parents, and even students for community service, there is surprisingly little firm evidence that students who engage in service learn more, develop in different ways, or learn different skills than those who do not. What are the implications for policy, further research, and school practice?

A Curriculum Addressing Issues Of Hunger And Food Security For Minnesota Youth, Fighting Hunger In Minnesota

Curriculum

Children have an incredible capacity for understanding the problems of other children, but often lack the opportunities to participate in the solutions. In order to provide children with that opportunity, Hunger Partners of Minnesota has produced "Kids for Kids: Fighting Hunger in Minnesota." "Kids for Kids" is designed to help children develop an awareness about hunger, understand the extent of the problem in their community and state, and motivate them to respond to their community's needs.

Theoretical Underpinnings Of Service Learning, Rebecca Lynn Carver

Service Learning, General

Although the merits of service learning frequently rest on how well it can be argued that the programs improve students' academic skills, this is only one of several outcomes that can result from implementing service learning programs. This article introduces readers to the full range of goals that service learning promises to achieve and to the specific principles that can be put into practice in order to meet these goals. Service learning consciously integrates students' experiences into the curriculum. As such it addresses the three major goals of "experiential education": allowing students to become more effective change agents, developing students' …

Enhancing The Middle School Curriculum Through Service Learning, Ron Schukar

Curriculum

On a warm April morning, 80 eighth-grade students from North Middle School in Aurora, Colorado, gathered in nearby Sand Creek Park to erect bat houses. "Why bat houses?" a local news reporter asked. "To control the insect population," one of the students answered. "We have reclaimed this park for all the plant and animal species that live here and for the people of our community who want to enjoy the surroundings," another student offered. "Because of the water and foliage, insects, especially mosquitoes, are a problem. We don't want the city to apply insecticides in the park, so we are …

Toward An Integrated, Whole Community Model Of Dropout Prevention, Michael Baizerman, Donald Compton

Partnerships/Community

As part of a statewide evaluation of dropout prevention programs in Virginia, survey data were collected statewide from school district dropout prevention coordinators. Ninety-four of the 103 school divisions (91 %) receiving state funds for dropout prevention responded to the survey. In addition, school staff were interviewed as part of a case study of seven schools to identify approaches to improving parent and community involvement, and focus groups were conducted with community agency representatives and parents. The interview data were analyzed using Joyce Epstein's model (see Table I) which organizes practical actions and likely outcomes for five types of parent …

Empowerment In Student Teaching Through Community Service Learning, Rahima C. Wade

Higher Education

The student teaching experience is probably the most influential phase of preservice teachers' development within a teacher education program (Burstein, 1992; Griffin, 1989). In particular, the relationship between the cooperating teacher and student teacher plays a critical role in student teachers' success. Preservice teachers are generally instructed to "do as I do" by their cooperating teachers. Thus, student teachers often find little opportunity to try out strategies they have learned in their university methods courses unless the practices are already in place in cooperating teachers' classrooms. In addition, few researchers have attempted to discern how to enhance preservice teachers' abilities …

Beyond 4-H Community Service... To Community Service Learning, Allan T. Smith

Service Learning, General

For more than 70 years Community Service has been an important part of 4-H. So has hands-on, learning-by-doing, that we now call experiential learning. When you put those two ideas together appropriately, the result goes beyond a "feel good" experience: service activities tied closely to what youth are learning positively impact learning, and genuinely help the community.

Service As A Bridge To Higher Education: Developing Service Learning In Developmental Studies, Elizabeth Bryer, Carol Gish

Higher Education

Though the new and exciting field of service learning has rapidly expanded to kindergarten through college, very little has been said about the appropriateness of service learning for developmental studies (pre-college) level students. Since developmental studies courses have in the past been labeled "remedial," perhaps it has been assumed that these students are not yet ready for the rigors and challenges of service learning. This is the story of one developmental studies department that has found that, on the contrary, service learning is precisely what our students need to help them smooth the sometimes intimidating transition into higher education.

Student Participation In Community Service Activity, National Center For Education

School K-12

Increasing community service participation has long been a goal in the United States. Some examples of how this goal has played out in national policy are President Kennedy’s creation of the Peace Corps, President Bush’s creation of the Points of Light Foundation, President Clinton’s creation of AmeriCorps, and Congress’ adoption of the National Education Goals, which include the objective that all students will be involved in activities that promote and demonstrate good citizenship and community service. In part, the push for volunteer service reflects the idea that the act of volunteering would be beneficial to those who participate and might …

International Service Learning, Harry C. Silcox, Torun E. Leek

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

It is clear that a network of international service learning is in its formative stage, the authors point out. We must not allow the politics of service programs in the U.S. to blind us to the opportunities in other parts of the world that will enable us to advance the theory and ideology of service learning.

Teaching General Biology For Nonmajors Through Community Service Projects, Mary Wells Phillips

Higher Education

For many students, especially for the biology nonmajors, science is often one of the last courses they take before completing their degree. Often, these students enter my course with a previous "bad" experience from courses in high school or have developed anxieties regarding what science is all about. They are reluctant learners who frequently shy from questions and classroom discussions. Their own insecurities and presumed lack of knowledge frequently !eaves them floundering and confused. The message is, "I am here because I need 'x' number of science units before completing my degree."

Designing Meaningful Projects That Meet Community Needs, Johnny Irizarry

Special Topics, General

Taller Puertorriquefio is a community-based cultural center, located in a North Philadelphia neighborhood rich in history. Poverty has taken hold of the area as the collapse and flight of industry and work opportunities has occurred. With so many needs in our area. Taller has to make careful program choices. This is not easy when the needs are so great. In our 22-year history, our mission has been for the arts and culture to be at the core of what we do. Our guiding question in assessing community needs is "How can Taller best influence the overall well-being of the community …

Trends In Volunteerism, Georgean C. Johnson-Coffey

Service Learning, General

Discusses four national trends affecting volunteerism: service learning, family volunteering, influence of corporations, and welfare reform. Discusses the impact of these trends on volunteer programs within libraries. Offers examples of how library staff can utilize the skills of volunteers who are allied with these trends in order to provide high levels of quality service to library patrons.

Reading Together: California Campuses And Communities Connect Through America Reads, America Reads

Project Summaries

Reading Together provides an in-depth look at how America Reads is working in California. It describes how America Reads operates in schools and communities and offers insight into what makes for strikingly successful programs.

As the data and case studies show, America Reads programs are doing great things throughout this state. Since the spring of 1998, more than 9,300 California college students have worked as America Reads tutors in more than 900 schools. Because of America Reads, almost 25,000 California elementary school children have so far received the extra help they need to learn to read and their numbers will …

Multidimentional Citizenship: Educational Policy For The Twenty-First Century, John J. Cogan, Patricia Kristine Kubow

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

As we approach the end of this turbulent century and prepare to meet the challenges of the next, the question of what constitutes education for citizenship in various nations appropriate to the demands and needs of a rapidly changing global community is critical in both national and international contexts. The planet and the human family are facing an unprecedented set of challenges, issues and problems including the globalization of the economy, a significant level of deterioration in the quality of the global environment, rapidly changing technologies and the uses of same, and ethical and social issues. How does one respond …

Service Learning Handbook, Prestonsburg Community College

Guides

Prestonsburg Community College (PCC) and Big Sandy Area Development District (BSADD) have joined forces to offer service learning and volunteer opportunities in order to address unmet community needs of the Big Sandy region. Our program, "CONNECTIONS: Empowering Communities in Appalachia," facilitates community service opportunities in Senior Citizen Centers, Family Resource Centers, Youth Service Centers, Elementary and Secondary Schools, and many other community organizations. PCC and BSADD embrace service learning and volunteerism as powerful and meaningful approaches to education and community development. Both institutions are dedicated to linking student learners and volunteers throughout the five county service area.

Teacher-Leader Cadre Institute Training Program, Teacher-Leader Cadre Institute

Curriculum

Phase I: Basic Training; Phase II: Educational Training Program Service Learning; Phase III: Integration & Follow-up; and Phase IV: Peer Coaching.

Getting Started: Growing A Service-Learning Curriculum, Kathryn E. Dewsbury-White

Curriculum

The Michigan K- 12 Service-Learning Center is a part of the School of Education at the University of Michigan. Supported in part by the Michigan Department of Education with funds from the Corporation for National Community Service and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Center is dedicated to the promotion of service-learning as an effective strategy for educating young people from diverse communities.

The Center provides assistance, consultation and clearinghouse services to school districts, community organizations and universities in the state of Michigan and surrounding states in the Great Lakes region. The focus of the Center is to assist in infusing …

The Benefits Of Service: Evidence From Undergraduates, Linda Sax

Higher Education

Currently, higher education is confronting urgent calls to return to its original mission of developing a well-informed, critically thinking, and civically engaged citizenry. Indeed, recent findings from the annual survey of entering college freshmen by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) several record low levels of student interest in keeping up to date with political affairs, discussing politics, or working on political campaigns.

Demonstrating Social Accountability In Medical Education, Brian Hennen

Higher Education

The author considers the University of Toronto's Health, Illness and the Community course for undergraduate medical students, described in this issue by Wasylenki and associates (see pages 379 to 383). Social accountability in medical education demands a community orientation and hence an emphasis on outreach. Medical schools should expand their clinical service to the community, provide community-based residency placements and offer continuing medical education in rural and regional centres. Accountability also requires community involvement in planning and implementing research projects. Placing students in a community setting as part of the curriculum is praiseworthy, but it is not sufficient to ensure …

Enhancing The Learning Environment: Learning The Language Of Experiential Education, M. Clark

Higher Education

A list of terms, charts, and models are included.

Imagining A Functional Partnership Between Leadership Development And Service-Learning Programs, Lisa Mcgettigan Chambers

Higher Education

"If educators are to play a critical role in the development of ethical, responsible citizens, we cannot discuss the concept of leadership unless we discuss the concept of service" (Delve & Rice, 1990).

Student activities professionals are wearing more hats each day. One of the most recent chapeaux they have donned is that of the community service coordinator. Community service-learning has become one of the newest areas that falls within the student activities realm on campuses across the country. If student activities offices are not directly responsible for coordinating service programs and advising student service organizations, they are being asked …

Shared Consequences: Recent Experiences With Outreach And Community-Based Learning, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

Recently, William M. Sullivan asked "whether [higher education] has the ability and the will to respond through leadership, institutional design, teaching, and research, in creating a new form of intellectual life for the public good" (Sullivan 1996). A call has been issued for our nation's research universities to embrace public engagement (Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities 1996), and to acknowledge that "higher education should be about values - the values of informed citizenship, the values expressed in a sense of responsibility ... "(Atwell 1996).