Strengthening the Global Community: Service Learning in an IEP

Jan Fluitt-Dupuy

Director of ESL

Savannah College of Art and Design

About SCADMission: The Savannah College of Art and Design exists to prepare talented students

for professional careers, emphasizing learning through individual attention in a

positively oriented university environment.

Unique locations

Savannah Atlanta eLearningLacoste Hong Kong

Unique Environment

SCAD ESL

• Five levels

• Levels 2, 3, 4 = Low-, Mid- and High- Intermediate: full-time ESL at 20 hours of instruction per week.

• Levels 5 and 6 = bridge courses taken with courses in degree programs

Unique Content-based Curriculum

• Prepare students for specific art and design coursework

Fall 2009 Newly revised curriculum features a content-based, integrated skills course designed to:

• Integrate ESL students more fully into campus life

• Encourage more “authentic” encounters with language

Art and Design Language Courses

New 4-skills courses at Mid- and

High-Intermediate levels with

following content focuses:

Advertising, Architecture,

Design, Creativity, Fashion

and Sustainability

Service is just one of these

content focuses.

ESL 333 Topics for Global Community: Service

• Relationship Opportunities

• Various Communities

• Cultural Information

• Authentic Language

Service Learning Defined

• Service learning = experiential education

Source: Barbara Jacoby, Building Partnerships for Service Learning, 2003.

• Reflection and reciprocity are KEY concepts

• Designed to promote student learning and development

• Activities address community needs

Reflection “Learning and development

do not necessarily occur as a result of experience itself but as a result of reflection explicitly designed to foster learning and development.”

(Jacoby, 1996)

Reciprocity

The other essential concept of service learning is reciprocity:

“All parties in service learning are learners and help determine what is to be learned. Both the server and those served teach, and both learn.” (Kendall, 1990, p. 22)

Three Necessary Criteria for Academic Service Learning

Source: Service Learning Curriculum DevelopmentResource Guide for Faculty, CSU LONG BEACHCENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, p. 15http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/personnel/cce/faculty/documents/ResourceGuideforFaculty0706_000.pdf

Relevant andMeaningfulService with

the Community

Purposeful Civic Engagement

EnhancedAcademicLearning

Relevant and MeaningfulService with the Community

Sources for Partner Agencies:

• Student involvement office on campus• United Way• Agencies in the neighborhood• Contacts from individuals

Fostering Self-awareness

“Conscripted Volunteerism”

• Adding the proverbial line on the résumé• Defining skill sets and preferences• Probing memories of previous service• Engaging a deeper level of commitment

Enhanced Academic Learning

• Clear goals

•  Measurable learning outcomes

•  Time for reflection in writing and speaking

• Assessment

Course Goals

• Individual and team projects explore important key concept of global issues within the context of the North American society.

• Reading, writing, listening, speaking and grammatical skills at the high-intermediate level of proficiency in English.

Learning Outcomes

1. Narrate and describe key concepts and processes facing local and global communities.

2. Learn to listen to and understand native and non-native speech in a variety of settings.

3. Take notes in various listening situations.

• My parachute• Homelessness• Pay it forward

My parachute

Homelessness

Pay it forward

Topics for Global Community

Class Schedule Unit 1Student Skills/Work Goals and the Partnering Agencies

Days Class work Homework

Class 1: Defining volunteerism and community service; presentation about future work in the U.S.

Study Web sites; prepare questions

Class 2: What Color is Your Parachute? for Teens; volunteer opportunity presentations 1 and 2

Study Web sites; prepare questions

Class 3: Parachute, cont.; volunteer presentations 3 and 4

Study Web sites; prepare questions

Class 4: Parachute, cont.; presentations 5 and 6; Reflection of volunteer choices –group work

Volunteer choices; informal speeches

Class 5: Formal student presentations about skills and hopes for future work

Paper #1

Class Schedule Unit 2Understanding Homelessness

Day Class Work Homework

Class 6: Peer review; reflection through journaling; listening practice: Talk of the Nation

Study homelessness fact sheets

Class 7: Listening practice: Talk of the Nation: Solutions to Homelessness; preview of Union Mission

Study Union Mission Web site; prepare questions

Class 8: Presentation: Homelessness 101 by Union Mission director of community involvement

Study for midterm exam part I : Vocab, grammar and short answer

Class 9: NPR Story Corps Review information about homeless for timed writing

Class 10: Review issues and vocabulary of homelessness; timed writing

Class Schedule Unit 3The Pay It Forward Movement

Day Class Work HomeworkClass 11: Pay it Forward trailer prediction

and vocabulary exercises Study vocabulary

Class 12: Pay it Forward: genesis of book listening exercises

Reflection on volunteer experiences

Class 13: Pay it Forward film exercises: The Reporter and Thorson’s Tale

Plot synopsis close reading I

Class 14 Pay it Forward exercises: Jerry “Save My Life”

Draft #1 on volunteer experience

Class 15: Pay it Forward ending: the movement

Plot synopsis close reading II

Class 16: Timed writing #2

Class Schedule Unit 4Course Wrap-up

Day Class Work

Class 17: Portfolio review workshop

Class 18: Presentation #2

Class 19: Presentations, cont.

Class 20 Breakfast pot luck with volunteers

Students’ Reflections “For me, ‘giving’ is equal to a smile, to the inner

satisfaction in which my hands were able to guide other people’s dreams and goals.” –Evelin

“I have been a volunteer for several years in Venezuela, and in this opportunity I was a volunteer as a SCAD international student in the United States. This experience had been different because not only had I helped people in another country, but also I could communicate through the English language.” –Evelin

Students’ Reflections

Students’ Reflections“For me, I do not think I do any special things. But maybe there are some special things for old couples. I do not know, but I can feel that there are some special powers in volunteer work. Love, kindness and helping are precious things in the world.”

–Chiangxin (Sarah)

Student Reflections “Volunteer work in Loop it Up wasn’t spontaneous. I went to

YMCA for the purpose of assignment, but I realized the significance of the volunteer experience.” –Ji Hu

“All volunteer experience is valid in the sense of helping people, animals or nature.”

“Nevertheless, the big difference happens in myself. The concern for each other grows, and I become aware of the problems around me. It’s impossible to get away from such an experience. Only just a start and I already became addicted to volunteerism.” –Katia

“I cannot forget the exciting feeling after having fun with the kids, and I am getting energized after being with them.” –Pedro

“Although I have a bachelor’s degree, English is still a barrier tangling me in learning new techniques in the U.S.A.

Fortunately, I can use my mathematics to support the students in Royce Learning Center. So we can both benefit from this

activity without sacrificing extra things.” –Mathew

Purposeful Civic Engagement A Framework for Development

of Campus/Community PartnershipsDept

h and Complexity

Short-term placements

Ongoing placements, mutual dependence

Core partnerships, interdependence

Transformation joint creation of work and knowledge

TimeOne-time events and projects

Source: Enos and Morton, “Developing a Theory and Practice of Campus/Community Partnerships” in B. Jacoby (ed.) Building Partnerships for Service Learning.

Assessment and Evaluation

Solutions: • Start service sooner• Model service as a class• Continue over two or more quarters• Secure transportation

Source: Service Learning Curriculum Development Resource Guide for Faculty, CSU LONG BEACH CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, pg. 4

Best practice: “Students should be in the community setting not less than 15 hours (one hour per week)—this is a minimum and not necessarily optimal for meeting course goals.”

Assessment and Evaluation

Challenges• Time commitment• Course rotation within academic year

Source: Service Learning Curriculum Development Resource Guide for Faculty, CSU LONG BEACH CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, pg. 4

Best practice: “Professors are willing to form partnerships with one or more community agencies to promote quality and longevity in student placements.”

Assessment and Evaluation

Solutions:• Stronger partnerships with agencies• Focus on homelessness over entire course

Source: Service Learning Curriculum Development Resource Guide for Faculty, CSU LONG BEACH CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, pg. 4

Best practice: “Community service is continuous throughout the semester rather than a “one-shot” experience and is directly related to the course content.”

Assessment and Evaluation

Solutions:• Start with reflection• Continuous reflection• Ongoing discussions with partnering agencies

Source: Service Learning Curriculum Development Resource Guide for Faculty, CSU LONG BEACH CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, pg. 4

Best practice: “Reflection (critical thinking) about the connections between course content and the community experience is performed and evaluated continuously throughout the semester.”

For more info…

Jan Fluitt-Dupuy

Director of ESL

Savannah College of Art and Design

jdupuy@scad.edu