For
The College
Through
Community-Based Learning (“CBL”)
collaborations universities can:
- Enhance
teaching, research, and outreach
activities;
- Engage
faculty and students in local
and state community issues;
- Extend
college knowledge and resources;
- Create
positive community relationships;
and
- Increase
development and preparation of
university graduates.
For
Community Organizations
For
community partners, the goal of
social change is the primary incentive
for entering into community-based
service learning collaboration.
Specifically, community organizations
can:
- Mobilize
additional resources to fulfill
the organizational mission of
the community group;
- Gain
access to new resources and improve
their ability to better leverage
the resources that are already
under its control;
- Build
capacity by increasing the staff’s
skills and the organization’s
ability to operate more effectively;
- Increase
effectiveness through an improved
ability to collect, analyze, and
use data independently;
- The
organization will develop greater
public awareness and support of
their mission; and
- Maximize
community empowerment and advocacy
efforts.
For
Members of the Faculty
By
taking the classroom beyond the
campus and into the community,
faculty can:
- Increase
teaching repertoire including
the utilization of small group
work and journals and the incorporation
of experiential learning;
- Collaborate
on the development of integrated
curriculum and assessment;
- Increase
contact with students, particularly
freshmen, first-time to college
students;
- Increase
their knowledge of current research
and theory in relevant areas including
cultural sensitivity, civic engagement,
experiential learning and critical
thinking and first-year programs;
- Participate
in and present at professional
organizations and pursue research
in the above fields;
- Gain
knowledge of and make connections
to the local community and its
organizations and integrate this
knowledge with academic content;
- Gain
new perspectives and increase
understanding of learning by utilizing
small group in-class discussions
and ongoing involvement in assessment;
- Increase
awareness of community issues
and their relationship to instructors'
academic interests;
- Identify
current social and student learning
issues that might inform research;
and
- Provide
opportunity for interdisciplinary
collaboration.
For
Students
Students
involved in a community-based
learning project…,
can come away with many benefits
from the experience. Community-based
learning enhances students’ learning
of curriculum content by creating
synergy between students’ academic
work and activities in the community.
Because CBL offers the chance
to learn through the best combination
of community and classroom strategies,
the expectation is that students
will demonstrate the following:
- Improved communication
skills:
oral and written;
- Cultural
sensitivity and respect for
diversity in
race/ethnicity, class, gender,
sexual orientation, age and
abilities;
- Critical
thinking and problem-solving
skills, including
observation, reflection, application
and analysis of issues and
strategies for change;
- Leadership
skills by
working with a diverse team
of OW students in community
placements and group projects.
These skills will include
listening, planning, facilitating
communication, conflict mediation
and the integration of different
interests, concerns and perspectives;
- The
ability to integrate
knowledge, theory and experience. They
will be able to relate
their work in the community
to broader social issues.
- An
increased understanding
of and commitment to civic engagement,
social justice and activism
for change,
evidenced by greater personal
empowerment, social responsibility
and community involvement.
Students
develop leadership skills, political
awareness, and civic literacy
by critically analyzing the sources
of local challenges, considering
alternative responses, confronting
political and ideological barriers
to change, and weighing the merits
of legislative or other political
strategies in collaboration with
community members. As equal members
of CBL “teams” students
learn to listen to one another,
to deliberate critically about
problems and issues, to arrive
at solutions mutually, and to
work together to implement them—all
of which are important skills
in the increasingly team-oriented
21st century workplace.
