Community-based Learning Program Research Articles

Interreligious Formation, Community-Based Learning, and Justice: The Case of Formerly Incarcerated Citizens

Interreligious Formation, Community-Based Learning, and Justice: The Case of Formerly Incarcerated Citizens

Building Communities of Generative Interdependence

Since the late 1990’s, colleges and universities have implemented mutually beneficial community engagement as a core dimension of educating students to develop professional skills grounded in working with communities to address pressing issues of social inequality and environmental regeneration. Such community-based learning programs are being expanded to counter rising authoritarianism, white nationalism, and violent extremism and to support generative, interdependent forms of democracy. In this essay, I explore how such programs could benefit by learning from the ethical insights of Indigenous traditions. I give examples of such work in theological education, and in middle school through higher education.

ENHANCING TRIBAL EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNING INITIATIVES

This study delves into the critical endeavour of enhancing tribal education through community-based learning initiatives. Indigenous communities around the world face unique educational challenges rooted in historical disparities and cultural distinctiveness. The research investigates the impact of community-driven approaches that leverage local knowledge, traditions, and resources to enrich the educational experiences of tribal youth. Through a comprehensive review of literature, case studies, and qualitative interviews, this research highlights the pivotal role of community engagement in shaping tribal education. It explores the positive outcomes of initiatives that incorporate traditional wisdom, language, and cultural practices into curricula, fostering a sense of identity and pride among tribal learners. Moreover, the study examines the broader implications of community-based learning, including improved academic performance, strengthened cultural preservation efforts, and enhanced social cohesion within tribal communities. The findings underscore the significance of collaborative partnerships between tribal communities, educational institutions, and policymakers in developing and sustaining effective community-based learning programs. This research contributes to the discourse on inclusive and culturally responsive education, advocating for the holistic development of tribal students while respecting and celebrating their unique heritage. Ultimately, it emphasizes the potential of community-based learning initiatives to empower tribal youth and bridge the educational gap between indigenous and non-indigenous populations.

Cultivating cultural capitals in introductory algebra-based physics through reflective journaling.

At a large, diverse, hispanic-serving, master's-granting university, the Alma Project was created to support the rich connections of life experiences of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students that come from racially diverse backgrounds through reflective journaling. Utilizing frameworks in ethnic studies and social psychology, the Alma Project aims to make learning STEM inclusive by affirming the intersectional identities and cultural wealth that students bring into STEM classrooms. Approximately once per month students who participate in the Alma Project spend 5-10 min at the beginning of class responding to questions designed to affirm their values and purpose for studying STEM in college. Students then spend time in class sharing their responses with their peers, to the extent that they feel comfortable, including common struggles and successes in navigating through college and STEM spaces. For this study, we analyze 180 reflective journaling essays of students enrolled in General Physics I, an algebra-based introductory physics course primarily for life science majors. Students were enrolled in a required lab, a self-selected community-based learning program (Supplemental Instruction), or in a small number of instances, both. Using the community cultural wealth framework to anchor our analysis, we identified 11 cultural capitals that students often expressed within these physics spaces. Students in both populations frequently expressed aspirational, attainment, and navigational capital, while expressions of other cultural capitals, such as social capital, differ in the two populations. Our findings suggest that students bring rich and diverse perspectives into physics classrooms when asked to reflect about their lived experiences. Moreover, our study provides evidence that reflective journaling can be used as an asset-based teaching tool. By using reflective journaling in physics spaces, recognizing students' assets has the potential for physics educators to leverage students' lived experiences, goals, and values to make physics learning more meaningful and engaging.

Perceptions on the impact of a structured community-based training model in undergraduate medical training during the first phase of clinical exposure: A qualitative study from Kerala.

The new competency-based undergraduate medical curriculum advocates early clinical exposure in medical training for adequate orientation to societal and patient needs. The present study aimed to explore the experiences of medical students about community-based training in rural hospitals during the first phase of clinical exposure. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted among 75 Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery students who underwent the training program as part of their undergraduate medical training using "most significant change" technique. The responses collected were analyzed using the inductive approach of thematic analysis. Majority of the participants opined that the program not only has enabled them to better understand their academic learning but also has provided a social learning experience. The student feedback throws light on the potential of such community-based learning programs to inspire the students to become a more humane version of themselves. This study observed that the remote hospital-based training has positively influenced the students.

Pre-Service Educator Preparation to Teach Children with Disabilities Through Service-Learning

The purpose of the multi-year study discussed in this article was to investigate the impact of preservice educator participation in a community-based service-learning program for children with disabilities. Pre-service educators who were enrolled in either an adapted physical education or introduction to special education course participated in the Children’s Adaptive Physical Education Society!, a skill-development program for 35 children (ages 5-12) with developmental disabilities. Two measures—a modified regular education initiative survey and a reflective blog assignment—were administered to the participants to identify changes in their beliefs and attitudes toward teaching and including children with disabilities in their future classrooms. The results revealed statistically significant gains in their understanding, confidence, willingness, skill set, and educational satisfaction. Responses in the reflective blogs further supported the statistical findings, suggesting that a community-based learning program provides pre-service educators with sufficient experiences to positively and effectively change their beliefs and attitudes toward teaching and including children with disabilities in their future classrooms.

Student-Teachers’ Perceptions of Second Language Teaching in the CBL Program: Identity Construction and Development

In recent times, researchers of second language learning have suggested that second language learning is not simply a cognitive or linguistic issue, but is also a social, political, and cultural one (e.g., Atkinson, 2002; Firth & Wagner, 1997; Larsen-Freeman, 2007). Research on student-teachers’ identity (e.g., Atkinson, 2004; Day & Kington, 2008; Wenger, 1998) also stresses the importance of identity development to help students with setting goals and learning (e.g., Olsen, 2008). Therefore, this qualitative research aimed to investigate STs’ identity development and how identity transfers knowledge to facilitate the learning and teaching processes. This study applied a two-semester community-based learning program involving 40 university students and 50 elementary school students in Taiwan. It was found that negotiating multiple discourses in diverse social contexts is another dimension of learning sources for student-teachers’ understanding of personal values, increasing the awareness of social responsibilities, and fashioning their personal and pedagogical identities. 

Participatory culture meets critical practice

Purpose This paper aims to closely examine the features of an urban community-based learning program to highlight the synergy between its educational technology, literate practices and social justice ethos that impact youths’ learning and documentary filmmaking. This examination of a learning setting illuminates the “what is possible” and “how it comes to be possible” (Gomez et al., 2014, p. 10), illustrating possibilities for youths’ tech-mediated literacies to facilitate, support and extend engagement in social justice. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in the theoretical and analytical concept of activity theory, this study uses qualitative methods and activity systems analysis. Observations are the primary data source coupled with a detailed activity analysis supported by artifacts, images and interviews. Program participants included 12 youth, 2 youth mentors, 1 adult coordinator and 1 adult facilitator. Findings Findings illustrate that all subjects (participants) in the program co-created and shaped the activity system’s object (or purpose). Analyses also reveal the ways in which the program enables and empowers youth through its development of participatory literacy practices that “can facilitate learning, empowerment, and civic action” (Jenkins et al., 2016). Originality/value Overall, this study is a contribution to the field as it responds to the need for close examinations of complex technology-mediated learning settings “through the lens of equity and opportunity” (Ito et al., 2013).

A Reflection on Service Learning, Public Leadership, and Social Change

During my four years at Mount Holyoke College, the Community-Based Learning Program (CBL) has given me the unique opportunity to connect with different communities in the area around my college campus known as the Pioneer Valley. These experiences have had a profound impact on the way that I see myself in the world, my academic and personal interests, and my goals for the future. Doing meaningful work in the community and reflecting on what it means to provide service has made me much more aware, critical, and interested in the social challenges our society faces today. My desire to make a positive and lasting impact in people’s lives has grown significantly during my time at Mt. Holyoke, much of this growth taking place in CBL classes and Fellowships. I have learned about privilege, poverty, racism, elitism, and many other societal and structural inequalities that are and will continue to be my driving force in advocating for those who are disadvantaged by the intersecting systems of oppression.

“Welcome to Holyoke!”: Performing Pride, Shame, Pedagogy, and Resistance in Middle School

This manuscript looks at opportunities for resistance and the construction of community and pride with and in a primarily Puerto Rican middle school in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Theoretically, we borrow from work on shame, pride, resistance, and Latinidad from scholars in critical pedagogy and performance. For our methodological framework, we use Foucault's discussion of discipline (1979) and the internalization of technologies of practice (1988) in the structuring of performances of admission, and extend this analysis with a focus on tactical responses (de Certeau 1972) to the institutional and relational structuring of shame in performances of orality, operations, and the ordinary among participants in a community-based learning program.

The Development of Political Awareness and Social Justice Citizenship Through Community-Based Learning in a First-Year General Education Seminar

Abstract This study assessed a community-based learning program in a firstyear general education seminar devoted to civic engagement and critical analysis of social issues. It investigated student attitudes and themes in students' policy papers. The results indicate that community-based learning strengthens political awareness and social justice attitudes and fosters political knowledge.

Community Based Learning in Rural Guatemala

In June of 2003, fourteen university students and two faculty completed the pilot for an alternative study abroad program in Guatemala that focused on Community Based Learning in rural Guatemalan schools. The pilot was highly successful for the participating students and schools. The program immerses students in Guatemalan culture while providing intensive language instruction and community service experience. The participating Guatemalan schools receive classroom assistance, physical improvement of their facilities, and educational supplies. The program's mission is to promote global citizenship by establishing an international relationship between educational communities in Guatemala and the U.S. The program will soon include a teaching exchange between Guatemalan and American schoolteachers. I took my first job as an assistant professor of Spanish literature in 2001. Since my specialty is Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Spanish literature, I expected that my work would in clude directing or teaching in a study-abroad program in Spain. Last spring a colleague offered me the opportunity to co-direct a program in Guatemala focusing on community service in rural Mayan schools. That was very different from what I had imagined myself doing, but our institution is a national leader in Service Learning or Community Based Learning (CBL), and I have found that our students are increasingly attracted to applying their foreign language skills in the community. The students responded very enthusiastically to the possibility of combining service learning with study abroad, and I found the professional experience much more satisfying than I had expected. This program was launched by my colleague because of the growing demand at our institu tion for language programs that serve students from disciplines other than foreign languages, that provide international experience, and that respond to community needs. She has been on study abroad programs as a student and has considerable experience serving the marginalized in Guatemala. She has participated in, designed, and directed community service courses and now coordinates the community outreach programs in our Foreign Languages and Literatures Depart ment. While serving Guatemalan street children in 1997, she began developing the contacts that would make this CBL program possible. My role in the program was to organize the intellectual component of the course, guide students through their selected readings, lead lectures, and help them understand their experiences within the context of U.S.-Latin American relations. Our university students were required to work outside of their areas of preparation. They were majoring in fields as varied as arts and letters, political science, international studies, and geology. Given this variety of interests, it was essential that the program should have an interdisciplinary approach and that the students reflect upon and share their experiences within a critical context informed by readings and lectures from multiple perspectives.

Opinions of Japanese Medical Students on the Necessity of Experience in Community-based Learning Programs

Opinions of Japanese Medical Students on the Necessity of Experience in Community-based Learning Programs

The Role of Education, Community Integration and Arts Enterprise in Developing Entrepreneurial Skills in Adolescent at-Risk Populations

WVSA arts connection, a non-profit arts-in-education organization located in Washington, DC, serving children and youth with special needs for over 20 years, has developed the ARTiculate Employment Training Program1, a community-based learning program that combines arts-based instruction and a unique environment with the elements of education, community inclusion, and enterprise to promote participant achievement in the transition from school to the world of work. These components form the bases for teaching vocational, social and entrepreneurial skills. This article focuses on the interaction of these components and shows how the arts connect with ‘real learning’ using an innovative, non-traditional approach - a paradigm-shifting view of employment and social skills development in relation to youth with special needs.

Pitfalls of Community-Based Learning: How Power Dynamics Limit Adolescents’ Trajectories of Growth and Participation

It is a popular contention that situating students’ academic learning in community settings provides opportunities for them to develop competencies in authentic disciplinary practices. This article examines that contention using results from an ethnographic study of 14 high school students’ experiences throughout a school year as they became involved in the work of an environmental management organization. Situated learning theory served as a lens through which to view the students’ learning as transformation of participation. Results focus on an underdeveloped aspect of that theory: the dynamics of power differentials between novices and experienced practitioners. These power dynamics ultimately limited students’ experiences and growth. This article presents a case of how community-based learning programs can fall short when held up to the standard of giving students entrée into a community of practice. A suggested avenue of remediation is to facilitate experienced participants’ reflection on and amelioration of the manifestations and consequences of power differentials.

Pitfalls of Community-Based Learning: How Power Dynamics Limit Adolescents’ Trajectories of Growth and Participation

It is a popular contention that situating students’ academic learning in community settings provides opportunities for them to develop competencies in authentic disciplinary practices. This article examines that contention using results from an ethnographic study of 14 high school students’ experiences throughout a school year as they became involved in the work of an environmental management organization. Situated learning theory served as a lens through which to view the students’ learning as transformation of participation. Results focus on an underdeveloped aspect of that theory: the dynamics of power differentials between novices and experienced practitioners. These power dynamics ultimately limited students’ experiences and growth. This article presents a case of how community-based learning programs can fall short when held up to the standard of giving students entrée into a community of practice. A suggested avenue of remediation is to facilitate experienced participants’ reflection on and amelioration of the manifestations and consequences of power differentials.

Community-based learning: humanizing education

From dropout prevention to civic education, youth service programs often have differing goals. A study of the Community-Based Learning program, a Job Training Partnership Act sponsored dropout prevention effort which focuses on youth service, career exploration, civic education, and academic development, demonstrated that learning in the community can be effective in improving attendance and school grades, as well as helping students to learn. One major contributor to this success is the introduction of adults and college students from the community into the educational process, encouraging more human and personal interaction both on and off campus.