Seven Steps to Getting Faculty Involved in Service-Learning
the advantages and limitations of using nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as intermediaries in delivering disaster relief and developmental assistance.
Students are also taught the potential and limitations of corporate voluntarism. They come to
appreciate the importance and innovative nature
of foundations. But they also see foundations as
potentially undemocratic agents of social control
that must be made accountable to the public in
keeping with the public service aspects of their
mission.
In order to preserve the academic integrity of
the course, I expose students to a variety of points
of view through assigned readings. These readings are designed to give students a more broad
basis for reflection on their service experiencesreflection that they demonstrate in class discussion, journals, and other writing assignments.
Yet, one word of caution: an instructor can too
easily go overboard in assigning academic readings that promote a critical perspective and thereby
actually impede the learning and personal growth
that a student may reveal through more personal
and less structured reporting exercises. Students
must be given sufficient time to help each other
by comparing the successes and problems each
has faced in his or her own service experience.
Traditional course components must be kept to a
level that allows sufficient time for student reflection and class discussion. The course instructor
must balance course objectives. I am not sure that
I have yet reached the right balance.
6. Connect service-learning to opportunities for scholarship and faculty development.
As I have already mentioned, I was willing to
develop the Voluntarism and Community course
because I saw that it had strong connections with
my disciplinary field of interest. My work in the
course (and discussions with Bob Lewis, the
community activist who initially co-taught the
course with me) led me to write a critique of
Bellah's philosophy in a paper that I presented at
an annual meeting of the Urban Affairs Association (Levine, 1991). I also integrated material
from the course into the new edition of the Urban
Politics (Ross, Levine, & Stedman, 1991) textbook that I co-authored.
7. Recognize and reward service-learning.
Faculty members will respond to opportunities
for service-learning if such activity is rewarded in
promotion and other personnel decisions. I was
fortunate. Albion College President Melvin
Vulgamore placed strong emphasis on the
College's involvement in the community. I knew
with certainty that my involvement in community
service and service-learning would count for me,
not against me. Faculty members at other schools
will feel more free to experiment with servicelearning if they operate in a similarly secure and
supportive environment.
Recognition and appreciation are important
motivators. Each year at its annual conference,
Michigan Campus Compact gives awards to those
campus leaders who have integrated service-learning into their courses. Other professional associations and individual colleges and universities
need to offer similar recognition to spur still more
faculty members to service-learning.
Note
See the Special Issue of Pubic Administration
Review (March 1984).
References
Ahlbrandt, R. & Sumka, H. (1983). Neighborhood
organizations and the coproduction of public services. Journal of Urban Affairs, 5, 211-220.
Bellah, R., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A.,
& Tipton, S. (1985). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Boyte, H. (1989, October). Paper presented at the
annual conference of the National Civic League,
Minneapolis, MN.
Conn, S. (1991, May/June). Thoughts on national
service: An open letter to William F. Buckley.
Change, pp. 6-7, 52.
Levine, M. A. (1991, April). Bellah's Habits of the
Heart: A misreading of urban political history.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Urban
Affairs Association, Vancouver, B.C.
Lipsky, M. & Smith, S. R. (1989). Nonprofit organizations, government, and the welfare state. Political
Science Quarterly, 104, 625-648.
Markus, G. B. (1993). Integrating service-learning
into a course in contemporary political issues. In J.
P. F. Howard (Ed.), PRAXIS I: A faculty casebook
on community service learning (pp. 57-66). Ann
Arbor, Michigan: OCSL Press.
Markus, G. B., Howard, J. P. F., & King, D. C. (1993)
Integrating community service and classroom instruction enhances learning: Results from an experiment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,
15 (4), 410-419.
Percy, S. L. (1983). Citizen coproduction: Prospects
for improving service delivery. Journal of Urban
Affairs, 5, 203-210.
Ross, B. H., Levine, M. A., & Stedman, M. S. (1991).
Urban politics: Power in metropolitan
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