Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Inside Ncr: Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida's Proposal For Mandatory Social Service Duty For Students In Catholic Colleges, Tom Fox

Special Topics, General

Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida last week unveiled a creative and intriguing proposal. He suggested forming a kind of urban Peace Corps that would put college students to work in the city's soup kitchens and other social agencies.

The new cardinal, speaking at an interfaith breakfast in his honor, said he and Catholic college officials want to incorporate social service into the curriculum.

College Credit For Community Service: A "Win-Win" Situation, Janet Patterson Fleischauer, John F. Fleischauer

Higher Education

We need only look at the newspapers today to know that insufficient numbers of college and high school graduates are seriously considering social service careers to meet community needs. Job applications are down at human service agencies. Twenty-first century slogans have not helped charitable fund drives meet goals of past years. Education is being challenged to respond to a social deficit in preparing citizens for community service.

School-To-Work: A Larger Vision, Samuel Halperin

Project Summaries

Thank you for your invitation to help develop Rhode Island's plans for implementation of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (hereafter STWOA). I have no doubt that you will soon win one of the federal implementation grants, grants already awarded to eight other states.

The Constitutionality Of Public School Community Service Programs, Marie Bittner

Special Topics, General

The Third Circuit has affirmed the constitutionality of mandatory community service programs for students in public schools. The ruling came in the Steirer case where two students in Bethlehem, P A, challenged the right of their school to require them to perform community service work.

Addressing School Board And Administrative Concerns About Service-Learning, Carolyn S. Anderson, Judith T. Witmer

Special Topics, General

Community service learning as a philosophy and a program has been driven at the school level largely by the knowledge, enthusiasm, and commitment of individual teachers. Recently community agencies, politicians and government agencies, professional organizations, and various resource centers around the country have joined in promoting these programs, which help students use service opportunities as a source of significant learning.

National Service Getting Grants Done, Joshua Shenk

Service Learning, General

Early on the morning of September 12, 800 new national service corps participants strode onto the White House grounds, anticipating a noon ceremony in which they'd be sworn in by President Clinton, as thousands of others joined in via satellite. One catch, though. Earlier that morning, Frank Eugene Corder had also entered the grounds-over the gates, not through them-in his Cessna 150 aircraft, which crashed just short of his apparent target, the president's bedroom.

In addition ro guaranteeing himself a distinguished spot on history's roster of would-be assassins, Corder - who perished on impact-had also made himself one giant pain …

The Theoretical Roots Of Service-Learning In John Dewey: Toward A Theory Of Service-Learning, Dwight E. Giles Jr., Janet Eyler

Service Learning, General

As interest in service-learning research multiplies. there is a concomitant need fora theoretical base for service-learning. In this article the authors review aspects of John De1wy 's educational and social philosophy that they identify as relevant to the development of a theory of service-learning, including learning from experience, reflective activity, citizenship, community, and democracy. The article concludes with a set of key questions for research and theory development.

Linking Traditional And Service-Learning Courses: Outcome Evaluations Utilizing Two Pedagogically Distinct Models, Jerry Miller

Higher Education

University students in two advanced introductory classroom-based courses in psychology were offered the opportunity for simultaneous enrollment in a content-related section of a large community service learning course. Students selecting the option did not substantially differ from students who did not select it. Participating students rated the experience as being significantly more valuable than did non-participating students. Students did not differ either in their reports concerning gains in personal development or general mastery of course concepts, or in final course grades received, but participants did report an enhanced ability to apply concepts outside of the classroom. Differences in reports between …

Promoting Family Literacy: An Opportunity For Suburban University-Inner City Agency Resource Exchange, Judith Primavera, June Gellis Malone, Anne K. O'Donnell, Kathleen R. Mcguigan

Higher Education

The Family Literacy Project is a preventive program designed to increase lower income children's language readiness for school. The project's approach to literacy enhancement involves both tutoring the children and training the parents to be more effective "first teachers" of the types of emergent reading skills that are prerequisites to formal elementary school reading instruction. Forty-five undergraduates were trained as literacy facilitators and met on a weekly basis with ninety preschoolers enrolled in Head start or with participating parents (N=20) . The specific tutoring of the children varied according to the child's specific areas of language strengths and weaknesses. The …

Service Learning: A New Approach In Higher Education, Barbara W. Carpenter, Jacqulin S. Jacobs

Higher Education

Southern University is rare, if not unique, among public institutions in requiring undergraduates to complete sixty-clock hours of community service before graduation. The purpose of this initiative was to heighten the sensitivity of graduates to the indispensable role that volunteerism must play in our society. We also envisioned collectively addressing some of the ills of the State of Louisiana by having a pool of 16,000 students in the Southern University System contributing to the alleviation of human suffering and social decay. In this paper, we describe some of the noteworthy accomplishments that the program has made over the past three …

Teaching Empowerment, Helen Fox

Higher Education

The contradiction inherent in "teaching empowerment" is that students need to learn specific, empowering ways to understand and interact with community people while at the same time feeling empowered, themselves, by the way the service-learning course is designed and taught. This requires a delicate balance between "starting with students where they are" and insisting they confront issues that make them uncomfortable. The author describes her attempt to do this in a new community service learning seminar for freshmen focusing on empowerment education.

Critical Reflection, Richard Battistoni, Beverly Roberts

Evaluation/Reflection

In this workshop, we wanted to convey the importance of tying critical reflection activities to the learning objectives of the service experience and/or course. We started by asking participants to define critical reflection and then to list some common learning objectives associated with service-learning courses and co-curricular service. Finally, participants described many of the activities they use with their participants and students. The result is a thorough list of activities that service-learning practitioners find effective in achieving their course objectives.

Community Service In Arizona Schools: "A State-Of-The-State" Report, Linda Sadler, Judith A. Vandegrift

School K-12

Volunteerism is not new, but the idea of volunteerism as part of one's formal education is receiving increased attention as a result of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. Under the auspices of these acts, a number of community service and service learning projects are being implemented in Arizona communities. To date, the Serve-America program has provided limited funding for community service/service learning programs intended for students in grades K-12. Administered by the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona's Serve-America projects capture only a small portion of what students are …

Demanding Good Deeds Breeds Performance Anxiety: Students And Families Who Are Challenging Requirements To Perform Voluntary Community Services, Eric Felton

Special Topics, General

Students are beginning to challenge in court school districts that force children to work in community projects as part of the requirements for graduation. They object on grounds of involuntary servitude stipulated in the 13th amendment and on moral principles of mandatory giving.

Samaritan Leadership, Terrance M.I. Egan

Service Learning, General

Whatever one's code of ethical or religious belief, the notion of service to others is an ideal common to all cultures and civilizations. For this reason, the story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most poignant, and universally-appealing parables of the New Testament.

Asked, "Who is my neighbor?", Jesus replied with the parable of a Samaritan who took pity on the half-dead victim of brigands. A priest and a Levite passed by, but it was the socially inferior Samaritan who proved to 'be the epitome of neighborly service. The Good Samaritan displayed qualities of leadership that the designated …

Community Service-Learning At Augsburg College: A Handbook For Instructors (Version 1.0), Victoria Littlefield

Guides

In August of 1994, the Office of Community Service-Learning at Augsburg College offered a weeklong institute on service-learning for faculty members from Augsburg College. The institute was funded by a grant from the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board under the Youth Works Higher Education Program of the Minnesota Youth Works Act of 1993. During the first part of the week, faculty members who had previously used service-learning in their classes met to discuss the philosophical and practical aspects of service-learning and to design the remainder of the workshop for others who were developing course-related service components. The institute participants spent …

Community Service And The Hospitality Curriculum, Florence Berger, Marc Ackerman

Higher Education

Voluntary community service and human-relations courses should be an integral part of hotel administration courses. Such courses allow students to see how their actions can affect other people, appreciate service, dismantle stereotypes, become aware of social issues and develop other skills which they can apply as members the hospitality industry. To become effective, however, these courses should first instill in students the value of initiative, self-motivation and commitment.

Service Learning: The Promise And The Risk, Alice L. Halsted, Joan C. Schine

New England Journal of Public Policy

Service learning, the pairing of meaningful work in the community and structured reflection, has the potential to transform schools. It provides opportunities for young people to test new roles, develop skills, apply academic learning in a "real world" setting, and move toward responsible citizenship. Service learning can reinvigorate traditional classrooms and turn passive students into dynamic and engaged learners. However, unless it is implemented with care, with a solid rationale and clearly articulated learning and service goals, service learning will fail to realize this potential. The power and the promise of service learning are too great to allow this imaginative …

Minnesota Plan For National And Community Service (1994-1997), Minnesota Commission On National And Community Services

Service Learning, General

Minnesota has a legacy of national leadership in fostering volunteerism and community service. The oldest surviving volunteer center in the United States was established in Minnesota in 1919. The state has generated service organizations such as the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) and the National Retiree Volunteer Coalition (NRVC), now providing leadership as part of the national service movement. Minnesota's bipartisan ethic of civic commitment has stimulated governors and legislators to break new ground in state community service legislation .from the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s to the first commitment …

A Marriage Made In Heaven: Community Colleges And Service Learning, Judith S. Berson

Higher Education

Today's college student is changing. As America's social problems continue to grow exponentially, more and more students are seeking solutions to those problems through community service. A graduate journalism class examining the rise of student community service referred to it as "a quiet phenomenon taking place on campuses across the country--a surge in volunteerism among a generation of Americans dismissed for their self-interest, apathy, and nihilism" (Shapiro, 1994, p. 85). President Bill Clinton's inaugural address called upon Americans to demonstrate concern for one another when he said, "By fate, the fortunate and the unfortunate could have been each other." With …

Psychosocial Development Through Service-Learning Enhanced Spiritual Consciousness In Workcamp Experience, Timothy W. Kidd

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

The problem examined in this research was the identification and description of the distinctive components associated with the Christian youth workcamp experience found to promote the psychosocial development of church youth participants and the linkages to enhanced spiritual consciousness.

The unit of analysis for this multi-case study was the Christian youth workcamp. The criteria used for selection of the three cases examined were: (1) location within the Appalachian region; (2) philosophy and practice consistent with service-learning principles; (3) emphasis upon facilitating spiritual development; and (4) logistical concerns. Thirty-four subjects were selected from three church youth groups, each attending one of …

Youth Program Targets Crime, Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now, Inc.

Partnerships/Community

A NEON proposal will become reality this summer for 100 youth ages 10 to 15. A demonstration program called Summer of Safety will guide youth to use crime prevention strategies and to undertake projects to increase safety in their neighborhoods. NEON's innovative proposal won highly competitive funding by the Corporation for National Service, an initiative of the Clinton Administration. The activities will take place at South Norwalk community Center, Roodner Court Neighborhood Center, and G. W. Carver Foundation from June 21 through August 20, 1994.

Seventh Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition Day, Governor Arne Carlson, The National Youth Leadership Council, Lutheran Brotherhood

Conference Proceedings

Materials for the 7th Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition/National Youth Service Day.

The Transformative Power Of Education, Johnetta B. Cole

Higher Education

It's a joy to be here today as your partner in learning and your partner in change. Continuing education has been, and will always be, a vital element in the life of our citizens, communities, and society. The National University continuing Education Association has demonstrated once again its foresight and leadership in choosing the theme of powerful partnerships for change. Education is the key to seeing, understanding, and confronting the major challenges we face today, and we need to enlist each and every one of us, from all sectors of society, in the essential work strengthening our communities.

Report Of The Evaluation Task Force, Corporation For National And Community Service

Evaluation/Reflection

The mission of the Corporation for National Service is:

To engage Americans of all ages and backgrounds in community-based service. This service will address the nation's educational, public safety, human and environmental needs in order to achieve direct and demonstrable results. In fulfilling its mission, the Corporation will foster civic responsibility, strengthen the ties that bind us together as a people and provide educational opportunity for those who make a substantial commitment to service.

Creating The New American College, Ernest L. Boyer

Higher Education

How can American higher education successfully contribute to national renewal? ls it possible for the work of the academy to relate more effectively to our most pressing social, economic, and civic problems? These questions, while always appropriate, seem especially relevant today because, for the first time in years, our colleges and universities are not collectively caught up in some urgent national endeavor.

Service-Learning Reflections: Update Of Service-Learning In Pennsylvania, Carl I. Fertman, Irving H. Buchen, Joanne Long, Louis J. White

Evaluation/Reflection

The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Resource and Evaluation Network based at the University of Pittsburgh supports service-learning programs.The network provides information, support, resources,and guidance. Its philosophy is to work with people by offering systematic data of a wide variety of types that help inform them about what they care about. The primary goal of the network is to help schools and community-based organizations to evaluate their service-learning programs.

Topic Bibliography On Resiliency And "At Risk" Youth, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

The sources listed on the following pages are in response to requests for information on service-learning connections to issues of resiliency and "at-risk" youth. They were obtained primarily by conducting searches of the ERIC database on CD-ROM. Broad topics were chosen for a comprehensive selection of references. These included: At-Risk, Citizenship, Service, Resiliency, Community Involvement, Drop Outs, etc. With several hundred records identified, only those with the closest relevance to the topic are included here. Where a source is available through EDRS, an ERIC number is included. In addition, references from several service-learning bibliographies are included. The search for more …

Topic Bibliography Of Sources Related To Servicelearning By Esl/Bilingual Students, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

The sources listed on the following pages are in response to requests for information on using service-learning in an ESL/bilingual education context. They were obtained by conducting searches of the ERIC database on CD-ROM. Broad topics were chosen for a comprehensive selection of references. With several hundred records identified, only those with relevance to service-learning are included here. The search for more sources of information on this topic is ongoing and this compilation will be updated periodically.

Service Learning Requirements In The High School, Elizabeth Anne Skelton

School K-12

Thousands of high school students across the nation perform some form of community service everyday. They tutor younger students, care for elderly people, assist physically challenged peers and aid in local government offices. Students involved in these projects openly testify to the many benefits possible from service learning activities. Recent qualitative studies also indicate that students gain a greater sense of self, increase their concern for fellow human beings, demonstrate better problem solving abilities, and integrate classroom learning more readily with real-world needs (Conrad and Hedin, 1982). Former Maryland State Superintendent David Hornbeck so firmly believed in the power and …