RE: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US

["Peter Smagorinsky" <smago@uga.edu>]

I realize that service-learning has gotten a bad rap, which doesn't mean
that it can't be carried out with intellectual rigor. My sense from being in
a Fellows group on my campus is that serious s-l education is designed both
to serve the community and to challenge students intellectually, and ideally
to promote conceptual change regarding issues such as poverty, immigration,
etc. If it's a research site (like 5D and ultimately, I hope, like my
course), it could also provide a Hawthorne effect that could enhance the
experience. 

I'm fairly comfortable with the term service-learning. The hyphen,
incidentally, is less a grammatical touch than a sign of the connection
between the two terms and constructs. And so while service comes first, and
while courses no doubt don't eradicate poverty etc., s-l courses can help
feed hungry people (my colleague's course does this) and help kids graduate
(my course does this), and so they help chip away at larger problems. In my
case, I developed the course because most students who enter our teacher ed
program come from the honors/AP track of their high school and never met the
kinds of kids they mentor/tutor in the alternative school; and yet their
careers will undoubtedly begin with assignments to teach middle and low
track students. So it was set up as a learning experience for my students in
which, in conjunction with book club readings and discussions in class, they
learn about populations with whom they have had little contact and develop a
personal relationship with one kid from such a background, then put the
experience and the readings/discussions in dialogue in order to write a case
study. The book clubs are also designed to model a pedagogy that lies
outside the repertoires of most of my students, who have been lectured to
for most of their education, and suggest to them that alternatives are
available.

I was supposed to present something on this site at AERA but have no travel
money left, and so have had to cancel my trip. This is the first year I've
offered the course and so the syllabus will get revised in light of some
realities that have come into play this semester (e.g., what to do when a
mentoring relationship is undermined by the student's unannounced absences).
But I think it's going well.....only the course evaluations know for sure. p



Peter Smagorinsky
Professor of English Education and Program Chair
The University of Georgia
125 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
smago@uga.edu/phone:706-542-4507
http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/smagorinsky/index.html


-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Mike Cole
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 2:19 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US

What bothers me about the term, service learning, Peter, is that it implies
no serious
intellectual engagement related to the critical, scholarly activities at the
university.

While we still run a 5thD course of the kind described, it is by no means
restricted to education
or psych majors. Majors from all over the map participate.
And we also are engaged in an entirely different sort  collaboration with a
learning center at a HUD housing
project. The range of joint activities is vast, as are the serious life
problems facing all residents, so it provides
a marvelous canvas upon which students can explore the relationship between
their own life paths and the
conditions of life of people in very different circumstances.

I gather, Peter, that your experience is like mine: There is a serious,
positive, improvement of a generalized sort
in the further education of the undergrads. There are also some nice
outcomes, sometimes, for people in the
community, but it is a little difficult to erase poverty, sexism, and
rascism by this means. But since the question
Jay posed was about improving higher ed, and since these kinds of efforts
are in perfect allignment with the
policies of the present administration in Washington (for the moment) this
line of action seems timely.

Thanks for the links.
mike

On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 10:44 AM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:

> Hmmmm, this sounds remarkably like the way the 5th Dimension experience at
> UCSD works.
> I know that others attempt similar ways to integrate student work into
> communities, a.k.a. "service-learning" in US contexts. I'm teaching such a
> course this semester (see
http://www.coe.uga.edu/~smago/SL/SLSyllabus.htm<http://www.coe.uga.edu/%7Esm
ago/SL/SLSyllabus.htm>
> for the syllabus), which I developed through a grant from UGA's Office of
> Service-Learning. One of my friends from the Fellows has a great project
> described at http://www.uga.edu/columns/070910/news-urbanfood.html. These
> efforts can also serve as great research sites and thus combine teaching,
> research, and service into one project. They also provide students with
> important experiences and close the town/gown gap by serving community
> members in need. p
>
> Peter Smagorinsky
> Professor of English Education and Program Chair
> The University of Georgia
> 125 Aderhold Hall
> Athens, GA 30602
> smago@uga.edu/phone:706-542-4507
> http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/smagorinsky/index.html
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
> Behalf Of Mike Cole
> Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:02 PM
> To: Jay Lemke
> Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US
>
> My answer to your last question, Jay.
>
> Make participation in real world settings, linked to relevant academic
work
> including reading and writing, mandatory for all students attending any
> college or
> university. Use money to do this mainly to support grad student
supervisors
> who themselves are gathered into groups supervised by senior professors as
> one
> of their courses.
>
> All evidence is that such practices improve student commitment to more
> serious study at the university, increase the intellectual and social
> capital of those with whom
> they work, and increase understanding of social justice issues among more
> privileged students, e.g., those who can afford to attend a university.
>
> mike
>
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca

_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca