Here's Shaun's reflection and question for the rest of class:
Our objective for the quarter was to focus on the issues of illness, civic engagement and the rhetoric of the public good. We have volunteered for Project Angel Heart, thus taking part in service learning. Hopefully we have been shaped by our experiences. For my final paper, I argue that service learning should be institutionalized into the curriculum of higher learning. It provides an opportunity for students to apply course concepts to the real world. For me, I was able to apply leadership techniques that I learned from the Pioneer Leadership Program into civic programs. I believe that service learning puts the student (or even the professional) into a friendlier environment where they are encouraged to support others. If an individual is not primarily concerned with their own self-interest, then he can operate as part of a more cohesive team. They can then take those practices, that state of mind, back into the business world. I argue that civic engagement along with service learning can change a person’s frame of mind, and it even has the potential to change society. If colleges seize the opportunity, they can better shape and prepare their students for the real world. If the leaders of tomorrow have a better grasp of what the world looks like, then they can make more of a difference. Civic engagement undermines the selfishness that accompanies capitalism. America has become extremely individualistic and self-centered.
We focused on civic engagement this quarter and examined the perspectives of respected philosophers. Based on our learning, do you agree with my argument, that service learning should be institutionalized into the college curriculum? What are your personal views on the subject? What are your experiences? Do you think that service learning has enhanced your educational experience?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I have nothing but good feelings about service-learning. I feel that I got a lot out of my experiences at Project Angel Heart, including enhancing my classroom learning, evaluating how I view Denver and in general the world around me, as well as self-satisfaction that I was able to help people in some small way. I was able to see things and reflect on things that I otherwise would not have, had I not been doing the work with Project Angel Heart. The readings in class also took on different meanings and I looked at them in a different light because of the service work. I also really liked that I got to get out in the community, outside of our small oasis of a campus. I felt like I was seeing the real Denver, without it being threatening or scary for a small town girl. I got to grow and think about things that had I not been in this class, I would not have.
That said, I do not think that every student that attends a university should be required to participate in service-learning. I think that it should be a choice, as it is here at DU, as to if the student wants to participate in such a class. I say this because, the experience is only as good as the attitude the person has going in to it. I think most in our class had such positive experiences because we all wanted to be there. I am afraid if all students were made to participate in service-learning it would become half-hearted and not hold the meaning that it does with the students that do it willingly. I would hate for service-learning to become the chore service can be if it is viewed simply as something that has to be checked off a requirement list. So, although I had a positive experience myself, I don’t think anyone that does not want to participate should be made to.
As service learning produces strong opportunities and connections within the community through social capital, the community begins to benefit greatly as outside aid helps them reach civic good and creates supportive networks. Being a participant this quarter in service learning, has taught me that social capital can also benefit on a smaller scale, that of the individual. Service learning through a school-based program can create increased levels of individual empathy, knowledge, and insight. According to Brenda Lundy’s experiment, positive outcomes associated with the use of service learning in undergraduate courses includes development of personal efficacy and identity, moral development, interpersonal skills, reduced stereotyping, and increased social responsibility (Lundy, p23, 2007). Using 192 students in here life-span developmental psychology course, Lundy asked here students to choose one of three project options: service learning, student interview, or a research paper. These students also had to complete four exams throughout the course, one prior to their projects and three after. The first exam was just used to see everyone’s standings before the experiment began, while the rest where used to see the whether or not the projects assigned made any contribution. Focusing on whether students engaged with service learning would perform higher exam performances compared to others students; Lundy found that her hypothesis was correct as her exams revealed that scores were significantly higher for students that engaged in service learning compared to those involved in either the interview or research project (Lundy, p25, 2007).
Based on my positive experiences with civic engagement and the discussions we have had in class, I would agree that it would be a good idea to institutionalize service learning in a college. Also, in my research for our public good paper, I came across several studies about college students and the effects of service learning on their identity development. In all of these studies there was a positive correlation between service work and their development. Therefore, I do think it is a good way to combat the self-centered and capitalist ideals dominating our society today. As college students are at the height of our identity development and the things we are exposed to shape the rest of our lives for the future. It is very easy for me, with all of the privileges I have, to get caught up in my own world at DU. Volunteering off campus exposes me to a totally different group of people, ethnically and economically. It allows for an increase in acceptance and empathy for people and expands my worldview as well. For these reasons, I fully support the idea institutionalizing service learning.
However, I think that there are a couple problems that crop up when institutionalizing service learning. There are always going to be those students that don’t want to engage in this type of work and even though they will be benefiting the greater good, they could also create negative effects for the community. After the reading about the negative effects of institutionalizing service learning, I understand that a college must be very careful where they send students to volunteer and how they prepare students for the experience. I think to ensure a successful program, structured research, training, and discussion needs to take place with students about the work they are about to do. I believe that they type of preparation and reflection we did in our class was a great way to accomplish this and ensure a positive experience for the organization and for us as volunteers.
My feelings on this issue are rather scattered and contradictory. I do believe that America has become a nation centered around individualism and selfishness, and I believe that this is a serious problem. Something must be done to counter these negative associations and to better our society as a whole. Service learning has the potential to do this. However, I am not convinced that institutionalizing service learning is the answer.
I firmly believe that service learning can be a very rewarding and eye-opening experience. It can raise awareness of the outside world and provide students with irreplaceable learning opportunities. However, a student must be willing. This is key. Forcing students into providing a service can potentially be detrimental. A student who is forced to volunteer against his or her will will gain nothing from the experience. Quite to the contrary, actually, the student will foster negative feelings and lose any desire to volunteer in the future.
One of the studies that I cited in my final paper found that there is a positive correlation between the personal satisfaction and positive feelings of the volunteer and the time that he or she serves an organization. Essentially, if a volunteer enjoys the time spent volunteering, he or she will continue to come back.
So, can volunteering be a positive and life-changing experience? Absolutely. Ideally, all students would be able to partake in such an activity and society would reap the rewards. Realistically, however, this is not possible, and trying to force it is not the answer. Service learning should be offered and encouraged, but it should never be forced. Ultimately, it is the student that determines the worth of his or her own personal experience.
By no means should taking a service learning class be required. I loved this writing class this quarter and I do see how it helped me apply concepts in the “real world” but I just can’t bring myself to believe that helping others should be something that is required. Even understanding all of the benefits such as leadership skills, it should not be required of anyone. I think that if everyone were required to volunteer then no one would appreciate it or see its learning benefits. Just think, if everyone were required to be apart of a living learning community at DU, I don’t think the LLC’s would be regarded in such a positive light.
Personally, I think that volunteering and helping out in the community should be personal choice. Of course, there are those exceptions where an individual is on probation and needs a designated number of community service hours. But other than in required cases, I don’t think that the average college student should be required to take a service learning class. Wouldn’t our class agree that most of us took it because we were intrigued; we were sparked to learn more about service learning thus we voluntarily signed up for this class. If a college student knew that he was going to be required to take the class anyway, he probably wouldn’t be so intrigued. He may even display an apathetic attitude. Maybe a better way to get students more involved is to spark their interest. John Stuart Mill in his Utilitarian philosophy said that happiness usually begins with the individual and a small group of people. Maybe selfishness isn’t bad in the sense that allows the individual to seek happiness for others as well as himself. So by making volunteering pleasurable for the individual, the interest of more students might be sparked.
For me, service learning has helped me know more of my character. I learned how to communicate better with co-workers by volunteering at Project Angel Heart. I analyzed volunteering more than I ever had before. I pondered the idea of community, one in which I had never though about too deeply before. I questioned the once approved of selfishness philosophy of Ayn Rand. I learned so much because community wasn’t something that I had ever thought of as a necessity to life. I look at it much differently now, and I’m glad. I feel like this class has broadened by views on life.
I believe that I have benefitted from participating in this class, serving the public good as part of a normal routine. I think that classroom time was enhanced by the experiences we all had, and I feel as if my learning thinking was facilitated by this process. The community does nothing but benefit from our volunteering, and even if we do not benefit, we are not being harmed by this so only good is coming.
For this reason, I do not feel as if every student should have to participate in service learning, but more should be aware that they have the choice and choose to do it on his or her own because it really is a great experience. My paper was written on student involvement as well, but from the focus of how involved students actually are, not how much I feel they should be. I found that students here are not as involved as they should be for this university to be "dedicated to the public good," but this can be changed. I think that publicity for classes such as these needs to be increased so more students know of and are capable of joining service learning classes, because I believe that it is very important for people to help and be involved with the community for its betterment.
Post a Comment