New e-Book Available on Service-Learning

The Roosevelt University library recently acquired a helpful e-book on service-learning, Experiencing Service-Learning, by Robert Kronick, Robert Cunningham, and Michele Gourley.

You can access and read it entirely online by clicking here.

Here's a synopsis:

"A unique resource for students and professors alike, this book reveals the important practical, educational, and emotional benefits provided by college programs that allow students to help others through service work in inner-city classrooms, clinics, and other challenging environments. Filled with vivid first-person reflections by students, Experiencing Service-Learning emphasizes learning by doing, getting into the field, sharing what one sees with colleagues, and interpreting what one learns.

As the authors make clear, service-learning is not a spectator sport. It takes students 'away from the routines and comfort zones of lecture, test, term paper, exam' and puts them into the world. Service-learning requires them to engage actively with cultures that may be unfamiliar to them and to be introspective about their successes and their mistakes. At the same time, it demands of their instructors 'something other than Power-Point slides or an eloquently delivered lecture,' as no teacher can predict in advance the questions their students’ experiences will raise. In service-learning, students and teacher must act together as a team of motivators, problem solvers, and change agents."

The Roosevelt University library has been purchasing a variety of additional books on service-learning that provide more information for faculty members.  Their complete set of holdings in this area can be accessed through the catalog.

Art, Activism, and Transformational Learning

Roosevelt University undergraduates in Maggie Leininger’s Art as Activism (ART 360) class and the youth and young adults from La Casa Norte had the unique experience of collaborating in creating a public art project. Leininger had “always wanted to integrate art in public spaces and in a communal dialogical manner, but struggled with how to complete something of this nature.” The class started to take shape with the help of a book (The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena) and a partnership with La Casa Norte (LCN), a non-profit group that provides services to homeless youth. Leininger used transformational service learning so her undergraduates could work with youth to produce a mosaic mural for the center and allow them to experience the artistic process of collaboration.

Using the theme of self-identity and portraiture, Roosevelt students and LCN youth each completed individual squares of mosaics. As Leininger described, “RU students guided LCN clients through the visual art process of designing a mosaic tile that reflected their identity through form, shape, and color. They did this by talking directly with LCN clients, getting to know them and then directing them towards images or ideas that seemed suited to the project. Roosevelt undergraduates also assisted in constructing a felted portable art space called Commun-ique that was placed at the museum campus area of Grant Park in which public art workshops were offered.” The mosaics were then assembled together into a larger mural that was installed at a new housing site constructed in late 2010 at LCN.

Collaboration with community members initially presented several unknowns for Leininger and her students. Though they generally came from different backgrounds, the Roosevelt students and the youth were able to connect on age-related interests of music, tattoos, art, and movies. Leininger observed, “these valuable interactions removed so many barriers of participation for the LCN youth and proved to be a valuable asset to the successful outcome of the project as LCN clients felt that they could identify with RU students despite obvious sociological differences.”

This transformational learning class provided students with an educational experience that emphasized collaboration and societal engagement that extended beyond a typical academic setting. Students were individually responsible for achieving their own goals, but there was also a communal goal for all involved. The format of this class helped students develop the skills to work with others and to manage personal issues in the service of a positive outcome for the group.

Leininger found the class to be a real success. She described time as being her greatest obstacle. Both Roosevelt University students and LCN youth had set time restrictions that allowed for a limited window for interaction. Because both groups were excited about the experience, they were able to determine a time that worked for everyone. Leininger’s flexibility and creative problem solving were also helpful for her use of transformational learning. She recommends this teaching approach to any professor who has larger goals for students.

Celebration of Transformational Learning

At the end of the academic year, dozens of faculty members gathered to celebrate the success of transformational service learning at Roosevelt University. Over the past year, the number of classes involving community outreach has increased dramatically.

Professors shared their experiences, learned from each other, and developed a supportive network around their commitment to bridging the classroom with community needs.

Service-Learning Training Opportunity in Chicago for Teacher Educators

WHO:  An Educational Institute for Faculty and Pre-Service Teachers in Service-Learning Curriculum Development

WHAT:  As a member school of the Illinois Campus Compact, your registration cost is covered by a grant.

WHERE:  The University Center, 525 S. State St. (second floor conference room) Chicago, Illinois.

WHEN:   Training takes place 9 AM to 4 PM on Thursday, June, 9.  Deadline for registration is Friday, May 20th at www.illinoiscampuscompact.org

WHY:   This Educational Institute will provide the tools to: Integrate service-learning into the curriculum and teacher preparation programs; Work with Faculty Fellow Mentors to guide participants in building their teacher educational models; Help develop service-learning programs for K-16 disadvantaged youth, youth at risk and diverse populations of youth; Utilize opportunities for program reflection.

HOW:   A collaborative project with the Illinois Campus Compact and the Illinois State Board of Education

This training team will share ways in which service learning and community service partnerships, community based research, and community economic development are integrated into the mission K-12 school systems. They will also facilitate a session on curriculum development, with a focus on reflection and authentic learning in the context of community engagement and the civic purposes of education.

Transformational Learning through the Writing Center

Carrie Brecke's LIBS 201 course (Writing Social Justice) is about the politics of literacy and carries the requirement of tutoring in the Writing Center for two hours a week.  Students also have the opportunity to tutor at the Social Justice High School where they are currently organizing an in-house writing center.  In this class and through tutoring, students appreciate how essential having a voice that will be heard is for everyone in a democratic society.   Emphasis here on everyone.   Students in this class come to understand how writing is a political act, and through tutoring, students help others find agency through writing. Every semester, students in this section of LIBS 201 put in over 500 hours of tutoring, which is a truly transformational experience for them, from the help they offer struggling writers to the insights they get in terms of the inequality of educational institutions, they begin to understand how deep a social justice issue writing and learning to write is. Many of the students in this class go on to become staff tutors at the Writing Center.  Learn more through their recent newsletter.  The editors, Jeff Schaller and Katie Kelly, both began as transformational learning students.

Undergraduates Benefit from Transformational Learning: “You Learn So Much”

Undergraduates in Dr. Lisa Lu’s transformational learning class in Human Neuropsychology had the unique opportunity to take the information they were learning in the classroom and apply it in the community by helping people with brain injuries, such as strokes or as a result of accidents. Amina Avion and Melissa Trejo, both seniors at Roosevelt, completed their service learning projects for Psychology 350 at the Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse and Victory Center, a supportive living community.

Asked whether this service learning class was rewarding, Avion said, “Definitely.” She explained that she has taken a number of transformational service learning classes while at Roosevelt and she finds them to be a “really enjoyable experience.” She said that these courses not only give students the opportunity to integrate activity with knowledge, but they also offer students experiences that help them decide if a field holds promise for a career. Trejo added that transformational learning classes are, “a perfect opportunity to test the waters. It can help you decide what you really want to do.” The service learning component offered them more than the coursework alone; working with people showed them deeper levels of the subject matter and the applications of what they were learning.

This class was more time consuming than their others, but it did not keep Trejo or Avion from finding the experience worthwhile for a number of reasons. First, transformational learning gave them the opportunity to give back to others. Avion said she never would have interacted with the people at her site or those with such difficulties, but this transformational learning class provided her with the opportunity. Trejo found the experience to be eye-opening. She said, “This enhances you as a person.” Both students emphasized that transformational learning classes help develop time management skills, teach responsibility, and promote commitment because people depend on the students to be there. Service learning not only helped these students grow academically, but also professionally and personally.

Transformational learning classes are not without their difficulties, however. Psychology 350 involved a 20-hour service learning component in addition to classroom time. This process involved searching for a site, making sure it was appropriate for the class, and background checks. Despite these challenges, Trejo advises, “Go for it!” Trejo and Avion encouraged others should follow in their footsteps. These types of classes not only apply to psychology, but experience in the world is important regardless of the discipline. Avion closed with her sentiments about how transformational learning should be a part of every college’s curriculum. She did not just spend the semester learning neuropsychology; she learned much more about others and about herself.

Grants to Support Transformational Service-Learning

The Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation (MISJT) is pleased to announce its annual grant program to support the development, teaching, and administration of transformational service-learning courses at the university. There are two types of grants that will be awarded for Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 courses: (1) Grants for individual faculty members ($3,500 maximum value), and (2) Block grants for programs and departments ($500 fixed amount).

The brief application, along with an explanation of transformational service-learning and the grant program, can be downloaded as an MS Word document at http://sites.roosevelt.edu/smeyers/files/2011/04/transformationallearning.doc.

We at the Mansfield Institute are ready and able to help faculty as they prepare their grant proposals and use transformational learning. The MISJT has two web pages with useful information about transformational learning as well: http://misjt.blogspot.com/ and http://roosevelt.edu/MISJT/TransformationalLearning.aspx.

Your application should be submitted as an attachment to Steven Meyers at smeyers@roosevelt.edu by Monday, March 28, 2011. Applicants will be notified about the decisions regarding all proposals by Friday, April 8, 2011. This grant program is supported by funding from the McCormick Tribune Foundation.