Connecting Classroom with Community: Service and Professional Socialization in Applied Programs for Undergraduates

Abstract

One of the original propositions surrounding higher education in the United States was that its purpose was to allow people to give service to society, and that the curriculum should provide values-oriented intellectual training (Wieckowski, Thomas Student-Community Service Programs: The Academic Connection. NASPA Journal 29(3), 1992). This agenda has all but disappeared, as even liberal arts education focuses on a goal of earning rather than learning, and the values being absorbed by students are those tied to consumerism and the individual acquisition of wealth. The notion of giving back to the land (or society) and reaching out to help the community is alien to many, if not most, of our students. Indeed, in a recent survey of first year college students, only 22% said that "participating in a community-action program" was very important (Delve, Cecilia I. Community Service as Values Education. New Directions for Student Services, No. 50, 1990:2). Consequently, those of us committed to service-learning (community-service) are faced with two major tasks: helping students to realize that becoming personally involved with the local and global community is a valuable and satisfying piece of their education; and redesigning the curriculum to provide ways for faculty to integrate such values-oriented, action learning into their existing courses.