Mansfield Institutes Welcomes our New Fellow from AmeriCorps VISTA – ILCC

My name is Nikita Stange and I am an AmeriCorps VISTA – ILCC with the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation.  I am the community outreach and special projects coordinator here.

My undergraduate degree is in Sociology with a concentration in Health, Human Service, and Social Justice.  My primary focus up until this point academically has been on racial studies and education and I am excited to continue learning about these issues while working with the Mansfield Institute.  I believe that there are significant changes that need to be made in our education and penal systems so that individuals, young and old, can become productive members of society.

I am confident that Transformational Learning is one way that we can work together to create meaningful social change.   As a former Roosevelt student and a recent grad, I hope that I can be a useful resource for TL faculty and students.  Currently I am working with SOC 325/425 (a TL course) where students are going to Morrill Elementary to work with students and teachers to bring a Restorative Justice model to the school.  My role has been to support the professor and the students so that they can be successful at Morrill.  My hope is to do the same for our current TL faculty as well as those faculty considering this pedagogy.  Please consider me as a resource for TL course related work that may include helping to set up your community partnership, promoting your TL course, or helping you structure/organize your TL course projects.  I am located in AUD 670 and can be reached at nstange@roosevelt.edu

Grants for Teaching Assistants for Transformational Learning Classes

Are you thinking about using transformational service-learning in your class for Spring semester, but feel that you would need some extra help in incorporating it into your class?

The Mansfield Institute is happy to announce that we are able to provide faculty members with teaching assistants to give added support!  Full-time and part-time faculty from across Roosevelt University are invited to submit proposals to hire an undergraduate or graduate student who would be able to provide 8 hours of support each week during the semester.  Students receive a $2,000 scholarship to be applied toward their Spring 2012 tuition as compensation for their work.

Specifically, teaching assistants can help faculty members with the transformational service-learning component of their class by working with the Mansfield Institute to help students find community placements, coordinating with community partners, assisting with off-site travel of visits of community partners to campus, and evaluating students' service-learning assignments with appropriate guidance and supervision.

Click here to learn more and to download the brief application!  Applications are due no later than November 1, 2011.  Contact Steve Meyers at smeyers@roosevelt.edu with any questions or for any assistance that you may need.

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.