Sociology Commons^™

The Middle Years Programme (Myp) Workshop For Teachers & Administrators Beginning With The Programme, Miriam Murphy

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

This workshop features Community Service as Defined by IBO; Structure of Community Service at L'ECOLE D'EDUCATION INTERNATIONALE, St. Hubert (Quebec), a Canada; and Break-out Session.

Make Sure It's Service Learning, Not Just Community Service, Leonard T. Burns

Special Topics, General

Service learning may be made more beneficial to communities by allowing students to participate aggressively in various learning activities, while keeping them abreast with their own social responsibilities. Students must also be given adequate opportunity to reflect on their service experiences.

New England College Pre-Service Teacher Service Learning Guidebook, Debra Nitschke-Shaw

Guides

In a democratic classroom, teacher and students strive to create a participatory learning community (Wade, 1997), a community where the voices and needs of all are respected and valued by the members of that community. Democratic education involves connecting with the larger community through meaningful, hands-on involvement. According to John Dewey, "schools should be democratic laboratories of learning closely linked to community need" (National Youth Leadership Council, 1991, p. 4). Therefore, the focus of a democratic classroom should be on responsible participation from all members of the classroom community.

Innovative Pedagogy: Academic Service- Learning For Business Communication, Jean L. Bush-Bacelis

Service Learning, General

Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) is an innovative business communication pedagogy. Like community service, AS-L involves students volunteering in the community; however, AS-L requires the infusion of the classroom content into the community service experience. This article describes AS-L, the assignment for a business communication class, and students’ reactions as well as benefits and challenges to its use. The greatest strength of using AS-L is students’ tying theory into actual application of principles, student passion for the work, faculty enthusiasm for the results, and community satisfaction.

Is Service Learning A Good Idea? Data From The National Longitudinal Study Of 1988., June R. Chapin

Service Learning, General

Service learning is an integral part of social studies that aims to instill social responsibility among students. According to the National Longitudinal Study of 1988, a significant percentage of high school students participated in community work during the previous two years and that this involvement in community service was greatest in church or church-related groups. However, the survey showed that students favor diversity in their choice of community work and that social action is not their top priority. Furthennore, there is confusion about the difference between service and community learning.

Community Service Learning Increases Communication Skills Across The Business Curriculum, Mary L. Tucker, Anne M. Mccarthy, John A. Hoxmeier, Margarita M. Lenk

Higher Education

Community service learning offers a unique and rewarding way for business students to reinforce communication capabilities while developing lifelong career and social skills. This article defines community service learning, discusses its importance to business as well as higher education, and describes three community service learning projects. Students in these projects taught elementary students, designed a computer system for a community nonprofit, and developed accounting systems for university divisions. In doing so, they enhanced their understanding of classroom theories and communication skills through service-learning.

Community Service Is A Way To Build Business Leadership, Rebecca Erdahl, Mary Schultz

Partnerships/Community

Minnesotans know that our famed quality of life is not a matter of serendipity. It happens here because we expect it of our businesses and community institutions. It happens here because we expect it of ourselves. It exists because we make sure that the right people come together at the right time to do the right things. Perhaps this is best illustrated by the fact that the two largest local business organizations in the state - the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of. Commerce-place the nurturing of community leadership as top priorities.

Service Learning In Overseas Nations: U.S. Student Teachers Give, Grow, And Gain Outside The Classroom, Laura L. Stachowski, Virginia A. Visconti

International Service Learning & Community Engagement

Service learning and overseas student teaching are receiving increased attention in education literature. For example, Kielsmeier (1993) touts service learning as an emerging educational improvement strategy (p. 5) in the U.S. school reform movement. Learning activities, by combining classroom work with service/social action projects, ... can help produce dramatic improvements in student attitudes, motivation, and achievement (Nathan & Kielsmeier, 1991, p. 739).

In The Service Of Citizenship: A Study Of Student Involvement In Community Service, Robert A. Rhoads

Higher Education

I learn more through my volunteer work than I ever do in any of my classes at school. Talking to people from diverse backgrounds provides so much insight that people just can't imagine. I study all these different theories in political science and sociology, but until you get a chance to see how the social world influences people's everyday lives, it just doesn't have that much meaning.

I have been involved in volunteer work ever since I was in high school, and I'll probably continue to do stuff like Habitat [for Humanity] until I'm old and gray. I get a …

What Are Students Learning?: Assessing Service Learning And The Curriculum, Kathryn Blash Cumbo, Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur

Service Learning, General

Service learning, a method of learning and teaching, has the potential to move our educational system into the 21st century by providing a vehicle for integrating the needs of schools and communities while reflecting current reform agendas and providing meaningful learning experiences for students. In order for service learning to play a role in the transformation of our schools, however, educators must become successful at linking service to learning- making connections between service experiences and academic learning explicit. This paper explores the meaning of learning in service learning by explicating: a) how service learning links to current standards based reform …

Weaving Service-Learning Into The Fabric Of Your College, Nan Ottenritter, C. David Lisman

Higher Education

Institutionalizing service-learning can be a rich and complex process. The following ideas about sustainability are offered as points to keep in mind as we go about getting service-learning programs more solidly grounded within our institutions. We've organized our ideas into the following categories: institutional mission, faculty outcomes, student outcomes, community impact, coordination of services, and advancement of the field. Most topics are accompanied by a checklist and "thought prompts." The checklist provides a guide for improving service-learning programs from the perspective of many different constituencies across an institution. The thought prompts are key words that frequently surface in discussions about …

Cross-Cultural Field Placements: Student Teachers Learning From Schools And Communities, Laura L. Stachowski, James M. Mahan

Higher Education

The student teaching experience is typically characterized by a collaboration of school and university-cooperating teacher and university supervisor- to prepare novice educators for the instructional, managerial, and disciplinary demands of classroom teaching. Less often are individuals and groups outside of the immediate school environment perceived as active and important contributors to learning outcomes and professional development for student teachers. However, an increasing number of teacher educators are addressing the role of the community in providing student teachers with information and insights that will enhance the classroom experience in vital ways.

A Pedagogy For Citizenship: Service Learning And Democratic Education, Meta Mendel-Reyes

Higher Education

Maria clutches the papers tightly. After over two hours of waiting through reports, announcements, awards, and other agenda items that seemed much less urgent than hers, the chance to speak has nearly arrived. She looks at the determined face of the African American woman seated beside her, one of several residents living across the street from a trash incinerator that has brought pollution, disease, noise, and rats to their quiet neighborhood. At last, they would have the opportunity to tell their story to elected officials who could do something about it. Maria glances down at the statistics that took her …

Why Service-Learning Is Bad, John Eby

Service Learning, General

Service-learning has potential to transform teaching and learning in the academy and to call a generation of students to develop social responsibility and an ethic of service. Research on the learning side of the service-learning equation shows that students develop social responsibility, reduce racism, develop leadership and gain personal and social skills. There are however important questions which must be examined on the service side of the equation. The demands a learning orientation places on service limits its effectiveness and its ability to address community needs at a structural level. The service students do is often ameliorative and the explanations …

Awarding Credit For Service: A Study Conducted For The Corporation For National Service, Robert D. Shumer

Higher Education

The expansion of service-learning and service programs throughout the educational system in the United States continues at a strong rate. Bolstered by the national initiatives sponsored by the Corporation for National Service (CNS) and by state movements such as the mandated graduation requirement for service in Maryland, many people are interested in where and in how this reform movement is being implemented. Specifically, they are interested in understanding what counts for service, how service is monitored, and how service counts or is credited in school districts. A central issue focuses on the criteria school systems and school personnel use to …

The Evaluation Of A Community Service And Mentorship Program Linking College Students And Newcomer Youth: The Experiences Of The Students For Education, Empowerment, And Development Program, Michael J. Simsik

Center for Immigrant and Refugee Community Leadership and Empowerment (CIRCLE) Project

This paper presents the evaluation process undertaken by a community service-learning and mentorship program. This program (called "The Giving SEED", or Students for Education, Empowerment, and Development) links college students with immigrant, refugee, and minority youth in an effort to help develop a multi-cultural model of mentoring while building community. A total of eighty-four youth in six different community organizations benefited from the mentoring of nearly thirty undergraduate college students during the evaluation period covered in this paper (January to June 1998). The evaluation process undertaken by SEED was built into all aspects of program activities and occurred at various …

Designing Collaborations Between Community Based Organizations And Schools To Produce Curriculum Models For Service-Learning Programs (Tree Trust), Tree Trust

Guides

Tree Trust's T.R.E.E.S. for TEENS program is a curriculum-based, school-to-work program, that emphasizes on the environment, and integrates classroom education with community service, service learning, and local resources.

Community Connections Kit: Practical Materials For Involving Your Community In Character-Building, Wise Skills Resources

Guides

Many recognize that there is a crisis in American schools today. School violence rates are increasing. Test scores are plummeting in many areas. High dropout rates continue to plague numerous school districts. And our prisons are bursting with men and women who have failed in school. While school districts and state governments wrestle with making our educational system effective, schools are faced with mounting social problems that cannot be solved by merely teaching academic skills.

We The People... Project Citizen, Civic Center For Education

Curriculum

We the People... Project Citizen is a civic education program for middle school students that promotes competent and responsible participation in state and local government. It actively engages students in learning how to monitor and influence public policy and encourages civic participation among students, their parents, and members of the community.

Cis Middle School Community Service Handbook 1998-99, Cis Middle School

Curriculum

Our educational philosophy stresses the development of the whole person. Its concerns extend beyond the focus on academic and intellectual achievement and encourage responsible citizenship in the world outside the classroom.

Service-Learning In The Community - Are We Ready For The Journey?, William Finger

Partnerships/Community

It's late Sunday afternoon in downtown Raleigh, NC, in a low concrete building next to the railroad tracks. We are working in a small room where the 40 residents will eat supper in about an hour, when a church group serves the only full meal of the day for many of the residents. We have folded the tables and pushed them against the wall. Most of the residents are watching television in the only other common room in the building or lying on their bunks in the men's or women's dorm, each a single large room. A few are in …

Community-Based Education And Service: The Hpsisn Experience, Sherril B. Glemmon, Barbara A. Holland, Anu F. Shinnamon, Beth A. Morris

Partnerships/Community

Health services delivery is increasingly shifting to community-based settings. The competencies required of future health professionals require a shift in their educational preparation. Service leaning is suggested as an educational method with the potential to reform health professions education in tandem with the changes occurring in the health services delivery. The Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation Program (HPSISN), a US demonstration project of service learning in the health professions, examines the impact of service leaning on students, faculty, communities and institutions across a wide array of universities and community settings. This paper describes the evaluation of the …

A Proposal For The Development Of Fort Hays State University Service Learning Program, Dan Kahl

Higher Education

"Service Learning" is quickly becoming a style of education that is recognized for its' effectiveness and practical benefits. Linking class curriculum with hands-on applications is often referred to as "experiential education". Service Learning is a form of experiential education identified by an equal emphasis on academic learning and service to others. The combination of focusing on meeting community needs, identifying learning objectives, and intentionally reflecting on what is being learned makes service learning different from plain volunteerism or community service.

Academic Effects Of Service-Learning, Elizabeth B. Gardner, Corinne M. Baron

Higher Education

Service-learning is growing in popularity. Ziolkowski (1996) pointed out that if service-learning is to become a lasting component in American education, it must have a clear link to "the academy" (in addition to the development of moral and civic values and the benefit to the community). We therefore examined students' perception of their learning of specific aspects of course content. We measured perceived learning in two sections of Cognitive Psychology in which half of the students did service-learning. We asked each student to rate his or her knowledge of Attention, Memory, Language, Cognitive Development, Metacognition, Individual Differences in cognitive processes, …

Service Learning As A Strategy To Prepare Teacher Candidates For Contemporary Diverse Classrooms, Deborah Hamm, David Dowell, Jean Houck

Higher Education

The article describes a service-learning program jointly developed, implemented, and evaluated by a large university and a culturally and linguistically diverse urban school district. Each semester, over 200 undergraduate students preparing to be teachers learn first-hand about contemporary classrooms by assisting at-risk students. Program evaluation found changes in the undergraduates' attitudes about the importance of social and individual difference on children's learning.

Service-Learning Projects In Composition And Beyond, Thomas Deans, Zan Meyer-Goncalves

Higher Education

All college teachers want their courses to be relevant and provocative, and to encourage students to be more active learners of the discipline, participants in the academy, and citizens in the wider community. As teachers of composition, we first experimented with combining community service with classroom teaching because it promised to advance teaching aims we value, especially making connections between academic courses and community needs, and between cognitive thinking and ethical social action. And we continue with service-learning projects because our experience and students' responses suggest a significant degree of success in meeting those goals. But we are certainly not …

Community Service-Learning In Teacher Education: A Report On Innovative Programs In New England, Beth Wohlleb, Robert Maloy

Higher Education

As the strengths of community service-learning are becoming more recognized by educators at all levels, many institutions of higher education are incorporating CSL as a dynamic pedagogy into their teacher education programs. Many schools or departments of education encourage or require certification candidates to perform CSL as part of their teacher training as ways to learn about the teaching profession through the practice of teaching and reflection. Fewer schools integrate service-learning into their teacher education program in another way: by teaching preservice teachers how to use service-learning as a pedagogy with children in their own future classrooms. This second group …

Higher Education And Civic Responsibility, Alexander W. Astin

Higher Education

It goes without saying that higher education plays a major part in shaping civic life in modern American society. Our colleges and universities not only educate each new generation of leaders in government, business, science, law, medicine, the clergy, and other advanced professions, but are also responsible for setting the standards and training the personnel who will educate the entire citizenry at the precollegiate level. Higher education institutions can also exert important societal influences through the scientific, technological, and cultural knowledge produced by their faculties. (Reprinted with permission by the author.)

Expanding And Sustaining Partnerships, Judith A. Ramaley

Higher Education

The Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) Program requires adaptations in the university environment. We must examine and reinterpret (1) the roles and responsibilities of faculty; (2) the design of the undergraduate curriculum; (3) the structures of the university that create the capacity and support to sustain different working relationships with the community; and (4) our definitions of success and quality.