Learning through Service: Community ServiceLearning in Canada

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Learning through ServiceCommunity
Service-Learning in Canada

• An Overview of
• Principles and Practices
• Cheryl Rose Executive Director
• Canadian Association for Community
  Service-Learning

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Presentation Overview

• Defining community service-learning (CSL)
• History of development in Canada
• CSL in practice
• Examples of Canadian programs
• Making the case for CSL

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Defining Community Service-Learning

• Still evolving
• Various definitions and labels (service learning,
  service-learning, community-based education)
• Encourages experimentation, discovery and local
  adaptation
• Even within an evolving vocabulary, there exists
  a set of common concepts and a generally accepted
  approach

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What is Community Service-Learning?

• Service-learning is a form of experiential
  education where learning occurs through a cycle
  of action and reflection as students work with
  others through a process of applying what they
  are learning to community problems and, at the
  same time, reflecting upon their experience as
  they seek to achieve real objectives for the
  community and deeper understanding and skills for
  themselves.
• 
  Eyler Giles, 1999

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Key Elements from the Definition

• Experiential Education cycles of action and
  reflection
• Working with Others partnerships and
  collaboration
• Community Problems ASSETS, issues, questions
• Objectives for the Community/Benefits to Students
  intentionally reciprocal in nature

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Distinctions Among Service Programs
Recipient Beneficiary Provider Service
Focus Learning
SERVICE LEARNING
COMMUNITY SERVICE
FIELD EDUCATION
VOLUNTEERISM
INTERNSHIP
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CSL in Practice

• Principles of Good Practice for
• Combining Service and Learning
• An effective program engages people in
  responsible and challenging actions for the
  common good.
• An effective program provides structured
  opportunities for people to reflect critically on
  their service.
• An effective program articulates clear service
  and learning goals for everyone involved.

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Principles - continued

• An effective program allows for those with needs
  to define those needs.
• An effective program clarifies the
  responsibilities of each person and organization
  involved.
• An effective program matches service providers
  and service needs through a process that
  recognizes changing circumstances.
• An effective program expects genuine, active, and
  sustained organizational commitment.

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Principles - continued

• An effective program includes training,
  supervision, monitoring, support, recognition,
  and evaluation to meet service and learning
  goals.
• An effective program insures that the time
  commitment for service and learning is flexible,
  appropriate, and in the best interests of all
  involved.
• An effective program is committed to program
  participation by and with diverse populations.
• 
  Honnet, E.P., and S.J.
  Poulen. (1989)

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CSL is NOT

• An episodic volunteer program
• An add-on to an existing school or college
  curriculum
• Logging a set number of community service hours
  in order to graduate
• Compensatory service assigned as a form of
  punishment by the courts or by school
  administrators
• Only for high school or college students
• One-sided benefiting only students or only the
  community
• 
  National Commission on Service-Learning (U.S.)

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Historical Overview Important Milestones in
Canada

• 1999 - St. Francis Xavier University, funded by
  the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to expand
  their service-learning program course-based and
  co-curricular immersion
• 2001- first meeting of Canadian institutions of
  higher learning who were practicing and/or
  interested in service-learning catalyst for a
  grassroots network of professional Canadian CSL
  colleagues

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Canadian Overview continued

• 2002 meeting at the University of Guelph
  Edward Zlotkowski as invited speaker a national
  CSL listserv was established
• 2003 meeting at the University of British
  Columbia Barbara Holland and Sherrill Gellman as
  invited speakers joined by Tony Chambers from
  the U.S. National Forum on Higher Education for
  the Public Good formed a steering committee with
  specific goals to create an association to
  promote and support CSL in Canada

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Canadian Overview continued

• 2004 meeting at the University of Ottawa Joel
  Westheimer as invited speaker the Steering
  Committee presented, draft documents regarding a
  name, vision, and mission met with federal
  funding bodies to introduce the concept of
  community service-learning
• July 2004 steering committee contacted by the
  J.W. McConnell Foundation

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Canadian Overview continued

• September 2004 McConnell announces its national
  University-Based Community Service-Learning
  Program
• November 2004 McConnell funds the establishment
  of the Canadian Association for Community
  Service-Learning
• January 2005 McConnell announces successful
  recipients of funds through its national
  University-Based CSL program

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Canadian Association for Community
Service-Learning

• OUR GOALS
• PROMOTION of community service-learning
• EDUCATION and support for CSL practitioners
• NETWORKS locally, regionally and nationally
• RESEARCH on CSL in Canada

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Canadian Association for Community
Service-Learning (CACSL)

• Regional workshops across Canada for faculty,
  staff, students and community organizations in
  Spring 2005 generously funded by the McConnell
  Foundation and an additional private Canadian
  foundation
• Comprehensive research into CSL in Canada through
  the creation of a CACSL Fellowship in June 2005,
  funded by the Max Bell Foundation
• Discussing collaboration with the Society for
  Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, on a
  joint national conference to take place in 2006

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CACSL

• Ongoing exploration of funding to support CSL
  programs, research and resource development
  proposal(s) to be presented in September 2005
• Creation of shared platform for collecting
  Canadian data on outcomes of our university and
  college CSL programs to contribute to research
  and program development planned for launch in
  2006
• Ongoing consultations in person, telephone, email

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Steps Partnerships and Design

• Building partnership between university and
  community conversations about environments,
  goals, resources, assets, needs and identifying
  potential
• Course or Program Design integrating into
  existing courses/programs and/or designing new
  offerings
• Service Placement Design in collaboration with
  community organizations to meet needs and build
  on strengths
• Evaluation Design for each of the partners in
  CSL initiatives learning, development, service,
  teaching, partnerships

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Community/Campus Partnerships

• Necessary to Successful Partnerships
• Established infrastructure to support a CSL
  program
• Administrative buy-in and support at university
• History of town/gown relationship
• Trust and accountability
• Clear goals and expectations
• Furco, 2004

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Course Design

• PRINCIPLES
• Academic credit is for learning, not for service
• Do not compromise academic rigor
• Set learning goals for students
• Establish base criteria for service placements
• Provide mechanisms to maximize learning from
  service (experiential education models)
• Provide supports for students to learn how to
  learn from their service experiences
• Move instructional role to one of facilitation
  and guidance
• Maximize the community engagement orientation of
  the course
  Howard, 1993

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Suggestions for Course Design

• Relate the learning objectives of the service
  component to the overall course objectives
• Identify the partnerships and projects that could
  facilitate the service-related objectives
• Consider how the partnerships/projects would
  benefit the larger community
• Identify best format for service component (e.g.,
  mandatory, elective, short-term, long-term, extra
  credit)

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Course Design - continued

• Review traditional workload of course and make
  any required adjustments to integrate service
  component (learning that can be covered through
  the experience that are currently covered in some
  other manner)
• Identify strategies to assist students to prepare
  for service placements in community (e.g., ethics
  in helping situations, experiential education
  models)
• Incorporate strategies for intentional reflection
  on experience as related to course (e.g.,
  journals, group discussions, whether face to face
  or electronic, presentations, papers)

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Course Design - continued

• Explore the integration of appropriate
  civic/social issues (e.g., professional
  responsibility, discipline specific contributions
  to public good, peace and justice issues,
  diversity/stereotypes, public policy)
• From learning objectives, identify indicators and
  plan assessment strategies
• Consider how your community partner could be of
  educational assistance, and how they might be
  compensated for the time and expertise they are
  able to contribute.
  Zlotkowski (handout)

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Service-Placement Design

• Consider both traditional and new opportunities
  to involve support through service be creative!
• Staff or faculty member and organization staff
  work together to design an appropriate service
  placement
• Organization staff to provide orientation,
  ongoing supervision, evaluation of benefits to
  community.
• Consider opportunities that can be flexible to
  realities of student schedules and course
  timeframes

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Placement design - continued

• Consider organizations realities. (e.g., time,
  space, supervisory capabilities, schedules,
  priorities)
• Service placement should relate to the learning
  goals of the course all should be informed of
  these goals.
• Accept that not all potential partnerships are
  good fits be open to exploring possibilities
  together and assessing whether or not,
  considering various factors, this would be a
  mutually beneficial partnership.

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Evaluation

• Meeting Community Needs (surveys, interviews,
  focus groups)
• Student Learning (journals, written assignments,
  demonstrating theoretical and experiential
  integration)
• Teaching Environment (course evaluations, faculty
  surveys, identifying research opportunities)
• Citizen Leadership Development (pre and post
  surveys, leadership skills inventories, Social
  Change Model of Leadership Development)

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Some Programs Across Canada
University of British Columbia THE LEARNING
EXCHANGE
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UBC The Learning Exchange

• The Learning Exchange Trek Program provides
  opportunities for UBC students, staff and alumni
  to do community service in a variety of schools,
  non-profit organizations, and community centers
  in inner-city neighborhoods of Vancouver. The
  program gives participants real-life experience
  in the community while raising their awareness of
  health, social, economic and political issues.
• The Trek Program offers UBCs human resources to
  community organizations to enhance existing
  programs, as well as work towards developing new
  ones.
• For information about the program email
  trek.program_at_ubc.ca.
• http//www.learningexchange.ubc.ca/trek_program.ht
  ml

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Some Programs Across Canada

• University of Guelph
• PROJECT SERVE CANADA

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Guelph Project Serve Canada

• annual program in February, during Reading Week
• enables students from the University of Guelph to
  connect with peers from other Canadian
  universities
• significantly serve in collaboratively designed
  four day volunteer placements in one or more of
  our national communities
• integrated learning opportunities/reflection
  activities
• raises awareness in the students on critical
  social issues
• encourages the development of a lifelong sense of
  responsible citizenship
• http//www.studentlife.uoguelph.ca/citizenleader/e
  xplore/projectserve.cfm

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Some Programs Across Canada

• TRENT CENTRE FOR COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION
• in collaboration with Trent University

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Trent Centre for Community Based Education

• Community-Based Education Program accepts and
  helps develop proposals from community
  organizations in the region
• matches Trent University students with the
  organizations to help meet those needs.
• research, planning or community development
  projects, assist students to gain practical
  experience in their field of study while helping
  to solve current challenges in our community
• http//www.trentu.ca/tccbe/index.htm

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Some Programs Across Canada

• St. Francis Xavier University
• COURSE BASED AND IMMERSION SERVICE-LEARNING

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St. FX Course Based CSL

• Course Based CSL - Examples
• BIOL 252 Anatomy and Physiology II
• BSAD 322 Managerial Accounting II
• BSAD 457 Community Enterprise Development
• BSAD 492 Research Project for Majors
• HKIN 385 Adapted Physical Education
• HKIN 395 Physical Activity and Sport for
•                   Individuals with Disabilities
• HKIN 426 Health Education
• HNU 362   Clinical Nutrition II
• HNU 455   Food Service Management and
•                   Quantity Production
• HNU 493   Senior Thesis (Honours)
• IDS 305      Immersion Service Learning

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St. FX Immersion CSL

• involves faculty leading groups of students
  traveling during Reading Week to communities such
  as inner-city settings or rural areas in
  developing countries
• faculty leaders and students participate in
  service projects determined by a local partner
  agency
• campus preparation involves readings, meetings
  and discussion groups
• cultural tours, presentations and discussions
  about community efforts to meet social, health,
  educational and economic needs
• students broaden their understanding, interpret
  their immediate experiences and reflect upon the
  role of community organizations in providing for
  the needs of the community members
• upon return, students are required to present on
  their experiences to the campus community
• http//www.stfx.ca/academic/servicelearning/descri
  ption/

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Why Community Service-Learning?

• Positive Outcomes of Note Students
• Improved academic performance, especially writing
  skills
• Values development
• Career choice direction
• Commitment to service post-graduation

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Why Community Service-Learning?

• Positive Outcomes of Note Faculty
• Valuable relationships with community partners
• New, more active pedagogy
• Generate new research opportunities
• Personal satisfaction in making a difference

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Why Community Service-Learning?

• Positive Outcomes of Note Community Groups
• Receiving service not otherwise available
• Gained new insights into their own operations
• Saw themselves as educators
• Learned from students and valued their
  relationships

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Why Community Service-Learning?

• Positive Outcomes of Note Institution
• Developed role in community
• Capacity to attract funding
• Enhanced image and visibility in community
• Avenue for putting the institutions Mission into
  action

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.and yet we wonder.

• Is CSL worth it?
• Does CSL actually work?
• Can CSL really reach those goals?
• Why bother?

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.the common good.

• Service learning shifts attention away from an
  exclusive preoccupation with education as private
  gain and seeks to balance that concern with a
  focus on the common good.
• Edward Zlotkowski

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.castles in the air..

• If you have built castles in the air, your work
  need not be lost that is where they should be.
  Now put the foundations beneath them.
• Henry David Thoreau

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a foundation for the future.

• Community service learning has the potential
  to re-engage students and academic institutions,
  in their communities. An integrated national
  focus on community service-learning will offer
  opportunities to develop citizens and leaders in
  the generation of young Canadians that is now
  coming of age. CSL can not only help them to
  understand the depth and breadth of critical
  social issues but develop a strong commitment to
  work collaboratively, to recognize community
  strengths and to solve community problems.
• 
  -from a working paper in progress by the
• Canadian Association for Community
  Service-Learning

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References

• Eyler , J and Giles, Jr., D. Wheres the Learning
  in Service Learning? San FranciscoJossey-Bass199
  9.
• Furco, A., et al. Building Partnerships with
  College Campuses Community Perspectives. Council
  of Independent Colleges 2004
• Honnet, E.P., and S.J. Poulen. Principles of Good
  Practice for Combining Service and Learning, a
  Wingspread Special Report. Racine, WI The
  Johnson Foundation, Inc 1989.
• Howard, J., Ed.Praxis I A Faculty Casebook on
  Community Service. Ann Arbor, MI. Office of
  Community Service Learning 1993.
• Jacoby, B. and Associates. Service-Learning in
  Higher Education Concepts and Practices.
  Jossey-Bass1996.