CHI TIẾT NGHIÊN CỨU …
Tiêu đề
From "preflection" to reflection: Building quality practices in academic service-learning
Tác giả
Springer N.C.; Casey K.M.
Năm xuất bản
2010
Source title
Handbook of Engaged Scholarship
Số trích dẫn
3
DOI
Liên kết
Tóm tắt
Service-learning is taking the academic world by storm. Evidence of national and international interest in service-learning and civic engagement abounds in the numbers and types of scholastic publications, dedicated conferences, seminars, colloquia, and awards, as well as web-based and other online resources such as clearing houses and electronic mailing lists. Campus Compact, the premier organization for service learning and civic engagement in higher education, celebrated its twentieth anniversary in October 2006. This was a milestone anniversary that spoke to the appreciation of its work. Campus Compact has encouraged campuses across the United States to build cultures of civic engagement and has developed and promoted tools to help (Casey & Springer, 2006). The Compact assists more than 950 member colleges and universities with the engagement endeavors that are an intrinsic part of the purpose of higher education (Butin, 2006). Launched at the Campus Compact anniversary event, the Corporation for National and Community Service implemented the "President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll," designed to recognize "colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The Honor Roll's Presidential Award, given each year to only a handful of institutions, is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement" (Learn and Serve America, n.d.). In 2008, Michigan State University (MSU) was one of six institutions to receive this Presidential Award and one of only three to win in category of general service to community. MSU received this recognition, in part, for the dramatic, but steady increase in service-learning and student civic engagement since 2000. As shown in fi gure 1, the percent of undergraduate students engaged in service with community has grown from 15 percent to 40 percent in eight years. Projected growth puts the number of students involved at approximately twenty thousand by the 2011-2012 academic year and continuing to grow throughout that year. This is more than half of the current undergraduate population of 36,337 and still more than half of the projected 2011 population of 38,819 students (Michigan State University, n.d.). Figure 2 demonstrates the trend of growth service-learning registrations and the projected numbers for the 2011-2012 academic year. Michigan State University, as a very high research university, is not alone in its commitment to student civic engagement. In 2006, Tufts University, with support from Campus Compact, and others launched a network of peer institutions for the purpose of examining and empowering engaged service on the institutional level. This network, which includes MSU and was named The Research University Civic Engagement Network (TRUCEN) in 2008, expanded membership in 2007 and again in 2009, further exemplifying the growth in interest in service-learning and other forms of student civic and community engagement (Campus Compact, n.d.). The emergence of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) (IARSLCE, n.d.) in 2005 as an entity designed to perpetuate the international service- learning research conference and corresponding book series, begun in 2001 with funding from the Kellogg Foundation and others, addresses the service-learning research agenda for a wide range of institutional types and sizes and further speaks to the rise and proliferation of service-learning on a variety of levels. In 2003, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, a regional accreditation body, revamped its criteria for accrediting colleges and universities in its region, specifi cally addressing civic and community engagement and service in Criterion Five, while also acknowledging the role of service-learning pedagogy to promote effectiveness within other criteria. The sixth edition of the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education featured standards for service learning (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, 2006). In February 2006, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a hundred-year-old, congressionally chartered, nationally recognized, independent policy and research institution "whose charge is to do and perform all things necessary to encourage, uphold, and dignify the profession of the teacher and the cause of higher education," invited colleges and universities to apply to participate in the new Community Engagement Elective Classifi cation. This proliferation of evidence, products, and resources documents both interest and a trend toward institutionalization of service-learning pedagogy and practice. This chapter examines that trend as it pertains to higher education. The increase in civic engagement and the call for service-learning is not something that is merely seen in documents and resources. Institutions are driving this call for this specific form of experiential service and it is refl ected in their mission statements. In fact, Kathleen Weigert, associate director for academic affairs and research at the University of Notre Dame, published an article in New Directions for Teaching and Learning in which she presented readers with a broad statement about how universities address the three major components of higher education (1998). She stated that these institutions focus their attention toward teaching, research, and service. The weight of each of these items varies according to the ultimate focus of the universities. Tulane University, a private, mid-sized, research-intensive institution, defi nes its purpose as creating, communicating, and conserving knowledge in order to "enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities to think, to learn, and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom" (n.d.). This is done by creating an environment that not only focuses on the creation of novel information but also collaborates with community members and agencies to help inform the practices of both the university and the community at large. This focus on the broader community provides many opportunities to participate in the scholarly engagement of service-learning. Concordia College, a small, religiously affi liated liberal arts school in Moorhead, MN, has this for its mission: "The purpose of Concordia College is to infl uence the affairs of the world by sending into society thoughtful and informed men and women dedicated to the Christian life" (n.d.). Concordia looks to its roots in the Lutheran tradition to inform its approach to teaching, research, and service. Students are prepared for a life of service to others, and in the process they are introduced to community-based research. The combination of these two activities makes for a ripe opportunity to engage in academic service-learning. Michigan State University provides an example of a large, very highly research-intensive institution that has civic engagement at its roots. MSU is the pioneer land-grant institution, which brings with it an inherent sense of community engagement. Its mission is to "advance knowledge and transform lives" by preparing students to fully contribute as global citizens, conduct research to increase human comprehension and "make a positive difference" in both local and global arenas, and fi nally to future outreach, engagement, and economic development for the public good (Offi ce of President LouAnna K. Simon, n.d.). These are three of the many institutions across the United States that address engagement in their mission statements and show evidence of creating opportunities to engage in the daily practice of scholarship. © 2010 by Michigan State University Press. All rights reserved.
Từ khóa
Tài liệu tham khảo
Ayers J., Lavin J., Preparation, Action, Reflection, (2003); Beekman B., What it means to be a land-grant university, MSU Alumni Magazine, pp. 21-24, (2005); Brown R.E., Casey K.M., Doberneck D., Springer N.C., Thornton D.W., Georgis G., Tools of Engagement: Collaborating with Community Partners, (2008); Butin D.W., The limits of service-learning in higher education, Review of Higher Education, 29, 4, pp. 473-498, (2006); Civic Engagement at Research Universities; The Carnegie Classifi Cation of Institutions of Higher Education, (2006); Casey K.M., Springer N.C., Ancillary to integral: Momentum to institutionalize service-learning and civic engagement, Advancing Knowledge in Service-learning: Research to Transform the Field, pp. 207-222, (2006); Mission Statement; Cooper D.D., Public life in america (WRA 135): The service-learning writing project, The Engaged Scholar Magazine, (2006); CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education, (2006); Eyler J., Creating your reflection map, New Directions for Higher Education, 114, pp. 35-43, (2001); Eyler J., Reflection: Linking service and learning-linking students and communities, Journal of Social Issues, 58, 3, pp. 517-534, (2002); Fisher R., Ury W., Patton B., Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving in, (1991); Harper V.D., Harper E.J., Understanding student self-disclosure typology through blogging, The Qualitative Report, 11, 2, pp. 251-261, (2006); Institutional Accreditation: An Overview, (2003); Langseth M., Plater M., Public Work and the Academy: An Academic Administrator's Guide to Civic Engagement and Service-learning, (2004); President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; MSU Facts; MSU Mission Statement; Course Description: TE 250; Using the PARE Model in Service-learning. Tools and Training for Volunteer and Service Programs, (2002); Shumer R., What research tells us about designing service learning programs, NASSP Bulletin, 81, 18, pp. 18-24, (1997); University Mission Statement; Weigert K.M., Academic service learning: Its meaning and relevance, New Directions in Teaching and Learning, 73, pp. 3-10, (1998); Holland B.A., Measuring the role of civic engagement in campus missions: Key concepts and challenges, ASHE Symposium on "Broadening the Carnegie Classification's Attention to Mission: Incorporating Public Service, (2001); Eyler J., Giles D., Where's the Learning in Service-learning? Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series, (1999); Fear F.A., Miller P.P., Coming to Critical Engagement: An Autoethnographic Exploration, (2006)
Nơi xuất bản
Michigan State University Press
Hình thức xuất bản
Book chapter
Open Access
Nguồn
Scopus