Applying Classroom Knowledge to the Community -- Service Learning in the Political Science Curriculum

Video Presentation
Conference Discussion

For many years, I have been teaching a class that merges cognitive learning in the classroom with experiential learning in the community. My class deals with issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and other factors and policies that relate to poverty in the United States. This semester other faculty and I have been able to add new service learning courses thanks to members of the Ueltschi family who provided funding to expand these offerings. My new class focuses on American medical care and health policy and politics and the students in that class are working in settings that address problems that have medical consequences such as substance abuse by teenagers and domestic violence.

I began to teach classes with the service learning component because I felt that the issues being discussed in class were foreign to the personal experiences of most of the students in the class. To talk about issues of poverty with students who had never encountered poverty seemed to me to be an exercise in existentialism. Therefore I decided to require each student to spend 3-6 hours a week working with an agency, program, or organization which was trying to address the needs and problems of low-income households. I also required that the work the students did be "direct service." By that I mean that they have continuing contact with the clients. My purpose was to dispel the stereotypes that have been internalized about whom the poor are and why they are poor. I also wanted to develop in students what political scientists describe as "civic engagement," an obligation not only to make their own lives better, but also to improve the overall welfare of the community in which they live and work.

To ensure that there is a close connection between what we are discussing in class and what students are experiencing in their service placement, the students are required to keep journals in which they make weekly entries that reflect upon linkages between their cognitive understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty in America and the experiential understandings gained from their service. Students also meet in small groups every month to share their community-based experiences with one another. Facilitators, students who have previously taken this class, lead the reflection sessions.

When I first introduced this idea of combining classroom and community learning experiences I was one of the few to do so at UNC-CH. In recent years this idea has become more widespread and acceptable, not only at UNC, but nationally as well. On this campus credit for this growing interest belongs to a small group of students who had the vision in 1990 to initiate a program called A.P.P.L.E.S. or Allowing People to Plan Learning Experiences. Students needed funding to transform their ideas of service learning across the curriculum into a practical educational experience. On two separate occasions student referenda were passed to provide funding not only to support and to sustain administrative costs of this program but also to allow students to participate in summer community service projects in the state. In the best sense of the term this program represents student empowerment.

Students are not the only beneficiaries from these programs. Community agencies have been able more effectively to accomplish their missions because of the contributions that students have made to these organizations. In short, service learning education is a win-win situation. It enriches the intellectual and personal development of the students who participate in such courses; community agencies are able to use their limited resources more efficiently and successfully; and most importantly, hundreds of individuals receive the help they need to help themselves.

I do not want to give the impression that every political science course is suitable for a service learning component. In fact, my view is that in most, but not all, courses outside of American politics, it would be difficult but not impossible to add a service learning component. However, courses which deal with public policy issues or with American institutions and processes of government, especially on the local level, could be pedagogically improved by the inclusion of a service learning component.

I acknowledge also that the time, the effort, and the thoughtfulness necessary to teach successfully a service learning course is far greater than that required to teach a non-service learning course. Untenured faculty who consider making this commitment should realize that in the present climate they might not be helping their professional career. The reward and satisfaction of teaching a service learning course comes from the feedback one receives from students.

If you are interested in developing a service learning course, you need to be aware of the following procedures. These procedures are necessary if you are to succeed with your objectives. Be aware that they can be very time-consuming for you the first time you teach such a course.

1. Identify placement opportunities that will be congruent with the issues you address in class.

2. Be certain that the site supervisors understand that your students are not go-fers or unpaid clerical workers.

3. There must be a service learning contract signed by the supervisor, student, and you, the faculty member. This contract must define the responsibilities that the student will be expected to fulfill.

4. The students must understand that this contract, though not legally binding, is morally binding. The agency depends upon their presence and their time.

5. There must be continuous contact between the faculty member (or administrator of the program) and the site supervisor in order that problems which arise can be quickly resolved.

6. At the end of the course students should be required to submit a detailed evaluation of the placement site, how beneficial they felt it was to them generally and in meeting their objectives for this class, and whether or not the site should be included in future placement listings.

7. A list of placement opportunities with description of jobs available, number of volunteers needed and the name and phone number of the contact person should be distributed the first day of class. Each year the list needs to be revised.

8. Finally, students should be given a deadline by which time they must secure a placement and submit their signed contracts.

9. Faculty members must decide whether or not to give extra course credit for service learning.

More detailed information can be obtained from http://www.unc.edu/student/orgs/apples/instructor.html.

I will close with a summary of my reasons for adding classes with a service learning component to the Political Science curriculum:

1. Service learning links classroom learning to "real life."

2. Students remember more when they use their education and when they talk about it.

3. Students learn to be "active, engaged citizens" by participating in their community.

4. Service learning can help students to develop collaborative and interpersonal skills that can increase their employability.

5. Students are empowered when they realize how much they can contribute to others.