ServiceLearning in Higher Education: Strengthening the Community Partnership

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Service-Learning in Higher Education
Strengthening the Community Partnership

• National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
• www.servicelearning.org

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Thanks to our Sponsors

• The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse is a
  program of Learn and Serve America and is managed
  by ETR Associates. Learn and Serve America is
  administered by the Corporation for National and
  Community Service which is part of USA Freedom
  Corps. www.servicelearning.org
• Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is the
  Senior Program Advisor for Higher Education for
  the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

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A Few Instructions

• Want to ask a question? Use the private chat
  feature to send a question to Sarena
• Experiencing technical difficulties? Use the
  private chat feature to send a note to Alex
  Lumb

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Objectives

• Define SL and its key components, including the
  central role of community partnerships
• Describe successful strategies for identifying,
  recruiting, orienting involving community
  partners in SL
• Describe common pitfalls that can occur when
  working with community partners, and successful
  strategies for avoiding them
• Identify helpful resources for strengthening
  community partnerships in SL

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Speakers

• Barbara Holland
• Sarena D. Seifer
• Rachel Vaughn
• Zoe Freeman
• Augusta (Toti) Villanueva
• Morgan Model

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National Commission on Service-Learning

• a teaching and learning approach that
  integrates community service with academic study
  to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility,
  and strengthen communities.

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Corporation for National and Community Service

• Promotes learning through active participation
• Provides structured time for students to reflect
• Provides an opportunities to use skills and
  knowledge in real-life situations
• Extends learning beyond the classroom
• Fosters a sense of caring for others

Adapted from the National and Community Service
Act of 1990
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Service-learning is not

• An episodic volunteer program
• An add-on to an existing school or college
  curriculum
• Completing minimum service hours in order to
  graduate
• Service assigned as a form of punishment
• Only for high school or college students
• One-sided benefiting only students or only the
  community

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Common characteristics of authentic
service-learning

• positive, meaningful and real to the participants
• strengthens partnerships community/student,
  student/faculty, community/faculty,
  community/institution
• promotes teamwork and civic engagement
• addresses complex problems in complex settings
  rather than simplified problems in isolation
• engages problem-solving in the specific context
  of service activities and community challenges,
  rather than generalized or abstract concepts from
  a textbook

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Common characteristics of authentic
service-learning

• students are able to identify the most important
  issues within a real-world situation through
  critical thinking
• promotes deeper learning there are no "right
  answers" in the back of the book
• generates emotional consequences, which challenge
  values and ideas
• supports social, emotional and cognitive learning
  and development