Education Commons^™

Can A Modified Model Un Support Civic Empowerment?, Leora Mincer, Jennifer Leger, Lucy Wilson

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

No abstract provided.

Using A Social Ecological Model To Examine The Role That The Community Plays Regarding Children's Opportunities To Be Physically Active, Carolyn R. Crost, Kimberly Maljak Dr.

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Studies have shown that communities exist within a broader environment and it is important to consider how different levels interact and influence physical activity (PA) engagement. Guided by the social ecological model (SEM), a service-learning project was completed via observations at a Chicago Private School for a service-learning project and interactions with faculty, students, and community members. Results were directly connected to the SEM and two themes emerged: 1) the community contained an abundant amount of safe spaces for PA engagement and 2) the school displayed a supportive and positive attitude toward PA. The purpose of this study was to …

What Would Gloria Ladson-Billings Do?: A Pedagogical Framework That Moves, Dominique Modory

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

During my time as an elementary education major at Loyola University Chicago, I was offered a position as a K-2nd grade dance instructor at McCutcheon Elementary. After some students expressed disinterest in dance, I turned to culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), a term that is coined by pedagogical scholar Gloria Ladson-Billings, to engage, educate, and inspire my students. I explain the criticality of practicing introspection on one's biases that may unconsciously hinder a student's academic growth. Further, one must brainstorm on how to insert education into the context of students' cultures. In the article, I ruminate how, through CRP, cultural competency, …

They’Ve Walked Through Fire To Be Themselves: How Volunteers Can Help Lgbtq Youth, Youla Bekiaris, Randall O'Neill

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

LGBTQ youth make up a staggering percentage of the homeless youth population in the United States, and yet the services available to them as compared to their heterosexual/cisgendered counterparts are sorely lacking. This paper examines the Youth Services Program at The Center where LGBTQ youth are offered education/GED tutoring, mental health counseling, vocational training, and much more. The authors describe their experiences as volunteers where, alongside preparing meals, they were fortunate enough to make connections with the youth and discover ways the entire community can become involved to help LGBTQ youth.

The Influence Of Culturally Relevant Curriculum And Student Engagement In Physical Education, Miriam I. Varela Ms., Kim Maljak

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Studies have shown there is a discrepancy of physical activity between lower socioeconomic status (SES), urban communities and those with higher median household incomes. Using the cultural relevance cycle as a framework, which consists of three core ideas 1) knowing community dynamics, 2) knowing how community dynamics influence educational processes, and 3) implementing strategies that reflect cultural knowledge, I observed a Chicago Public School for a service learning project and interacted with a number of faculty, students, and community members. I was able to identify three themes that correlated with the cultural relevance theory and were a direct influence in …

Allow Good And Its Unforeseen Benefits On Teacher Candidates, Eduardo Palma

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

In the spring of 2019, a nonprofit program named Allow Good collaborated with undergraduate students from Loyola University Chicago to instruct weekly sessions with high school students at Senn High School on local social issues, philanthropy in action, and the evaluation of local nonprofit organizations. In my role as a student leader involved in Allow Good’s educational initiative, my reflection of its implications, through a detailed evaluation of its impact on teaching and learning, examines my personal experience as a student teacher and the relationship between an interactive model of education and community development. It provides insight into the successes …

Civic Imagination: Dreaming Through And Beyond The Covid Virus, Jon J. Schmidt

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

No abstract provided.

Developing Civic Identity Amongst Middle School Students In Northern Chicago, Nicole Karwowski, Sania Zaffar, Rachel Phillips, Katelyn Sullivan, Holly Laws

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Civic engagement programs allow students to develop confidence, passion, and a sense of responsibility toward their community. In a program like Summer Civics Academy at Loyola University Chicago, students are provided with a space for dialogue about the social problems they see in their community and given the resources to try and work towards a solution. Students provided with this type of engaged learning experience are thus encouraged to be a part of our democratic system in the future. Our focus on critical civic engagement attempted to build student skills in identity building, intercultural learning and collective social action. More …

Truancy In High School, Itzel Ruiz, Jason Mink, Xochitl Aleman

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

The main focus of this project is to analyze students’ poor attendance in order to understand the applicable factors as to why upperclassmen tend to miss more school than students in younger grades. We will be focusing on how students relationships with parents and teachers affect upperclassmen attendance. An anonymous ten question survey was given to five Junior and Senior Civics and U.S. History classes at Steinmetz College Prep high school. The questions were geared towards the students days absent during the school year, and their relationship with teachers and parents. Majority of the students surveyed missed more than 20 …

Advocating For Integration: Acculturation In A Non-Profit Serving Immigrants Organization, Daniel Calderon

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

This paper presents acculturation practices in a non-profit, serving immigrants organization in a Midwestern city in the United States. Although the programs and services offered at this organization become pertinent vis-à-vis the welfare of the immigrants, their expected outcomes seem to foment the Americanization of the organization’s clients.

Through a critical examination, certain services and practices within this organization respond to a unidirectional process of acculturation, in which the immigrants turn out to be the ones who have to acquire certain sociocultural and linguistic repertoires for them to adapt and fit in the U.S. mainstream society.

The utilization of the …

Editorial, Julie Peters

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

No abstract provided.

Civic Education Training Promotes Active Learning With Real-World Outcomes, Becci Burchett Gauna, Michelle Paul

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

The teaching of history is moving away from the rote memorization of textbooks and toward the development of civic skills. Illinois’ recent decision to require all students to complete a semester-long civics course brings us a step closer to measuring active citizenship. Typically harbored under the social studies umbrella, civics is now a stand-alone course. The state mandates that each civics course include service learning, controversial conversation, instruction regarding government institutions and procedures, and simulations.

Embedding Service In Teacher Education, Becky Kreidler

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

This reflective piece investigates the meaning behind engaging in community service in the context of pre-service teachers, specifically through Loyola University’s Future Teachers Club. Much research has been conducted looking at the effects and the importance of engaging in service for pre-service educators’ development in the profession, but few have directly examined the content of that service and how meaningful those experiences were. Through personal transformative moments, such as listening to Father Greg Boyle’s understanding of service and living with a L’Arche community, I explore how one’s understanding of community connections and involvement is just as, if not more, significant …

A Letter To Future Educators: Making The Case For Progressive Education, Melissa C. Barone

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Northeastern Illinois University requires pre-service teachers to take EDFN 313: Problems, Issues and Practices in Education, to receive a middle school endorsement. The course was offered in the summer of 2016 over a six-week period. The main objective of the course was to discuss the issues in education related to the middle school curriculum philosophy while introducing ideals of progressive education. This is a daunting task in a short period of time. This is especially true when most students have not been exposed to the historical, philosophical, and sociopolitical aspects of middle level education in the context of progressive education. …

Editorial, Virginia M. Jagla

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Introduction to volume 2 of Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement.

The True Impact Of Service Learning, Mackenzie Beisser

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Connections are made between the ideas and data presented in two articles to personal experiences: Imagining a Better World: Service-Learning as a Benefit to Teacher Education and the 2012 study from the University of Kentucky, which looks at the impact of service-learning in practice. Imagining a Better World: Service-learning as a Benefit to Teacher Education defines service-learning as “An ‘approach to teaching and learning in which service and learning are blended in a way that both occur and are enriched by the other’” (Jagla et al, 2010 p.3) This blending of service and learning is exemplified in a medical mission …

Implementing The Sociocultural Theory While Teaching Esl, Michele S. Lee

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

Abstract: Previous literature presents there is a demand to teach adult learners English due to the amount of non-English speaking citizens. Therefore, educators have responded to the need for programs that teach adult learners English. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes help adults by providing a foundation of comprehension for the English language, this foundation helps adults navigate their lives. Previous educational research states that Vygotsky’s (1978) Sociocultural Theory is a theory practiced in the ESL classroom because the Sociocultural Theory consists of cultural approach in addition to an educational approach. The Sociocultural Theory and has been beneficial for …

Summer In The City: Respect And Autonomy In The Urban Classroom, Matthew Brill

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

This article is a reflection on my time as a STEP-UP fellow. In the course of the article I discuss what I believe I have learned about education from my time in this program.The lessons learned about urban education are valuable to any educator.

Introduction To Space, Jon J. Schmidt, Virginia M. Jagla

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

The editors of SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement introduce the inaugural issue of the journal.