Service Learning And The Liberal Arts

What are the connections between service-learning and a liberal arts education? That is the central question of this volume and scholars from a variety of disciplines-chemistry, economics, education, philosophy, political science, psychology, public policy, religious studies, and sociology-answer it here. The scholars collected by Craig A. Rimmerman ground their essays in a positive assumption about the importance of service-learning in contributing to students' moral, ethical, and social development within the broader context of a liberal arts education. The contributors engage in the critique of service and then respond to that critique within the context of their individual chapters. Readers will have a better understanding of what does and does not work in and out of the classroom and why. The practical appeal of this volume lies in the fact that other teachers and students who are interested in both developing their own service-learning courses and connecting those courses to broader issues of citizenship, democracy, theories of justice, ethics, and morality can find advice and applications of successful service-learning endeavors within it. Book jacket.

This collection of 17 papers focuses on the important role of service-learning in the education of students at liberal arts colleges, drawing on the activities of the Learning and Service Alliance sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). They include: (1) "An Introduction to Service-Learning" (Robert L. Sigmon); (2) "The Problem of Definitions in Service-Learning" (Robert L. Sigmon; (3) "Design Considerations" (Robert L. Sigmon); (4) "The Reflective Arts" (Robert L. Sigmon); (5) "Among True Partners" (Judy Harvey); (6) "Voices from the Citizens in the Community" (Damita J. Dandridge and Barbara S. Frankle); (7) "The Community and Service-Learning" (Thomas Plaut and others); (8) "The Voice of Students in Service-Learning" (Ralph Corrigan); (9) "Faculty on Service-Learning" (John Reiff and others); (10) "Linking Service and Scholarship" (John W. Eby); (11) "Connecting Head, Heart, and Hands" (Richard Slimbach); (12) "Philosophy 115: Ethical Practice" (Yoram Lubling); (13) "Service-Learning and Career Development" (Matthew R. Berndt); (14) "Evaluating a New Service-Learning Program" (Grace Ann Witte and others); (15) "Suggestions from Practitioners"; (16) "College/Workplace Service-Learning Connections" (Robert L. Sigmon); and (17) "Continuing the Journey to Service-Learning: A Fable" (Robert L. Sigmon). Three appendixes provide a service-learning timeline, a summary of CIC's service-learning initiative, and selected service-learning resources. (MDM)

CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria argues for a renewed commitment to the world’s most valuable educational tradition. The liberal arts are under attack. The governors of Florida, Texas, and North Carolina have all pledged that they will not spend taxpayer money subsidizing the liberal arts, and they seem to have an unlikely ally in President Obama. While at a General Electric plant in early 2014, Obama remarked, "I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree." These messages are hitting home: majors like English and history, once very popular and highly respected, are in steep decline. "I get it," writes Fareed Zakaria, recalling the atmosphere in India where he grew up, which was even more obsessed with getting a skills-based education. However, the CNN host and best-selling author explains why this widely held view is mistaken and shortsighted. Zakaria eloquently expounds on the virtues of a liberal arts education—how to write clearly, how to express yourself convincingly, and how to think analytically. He turns our leaders' vocational argument on its head. American routine manufacturing jobs continue to get automated or outsourced, and specific vocational knowledge is often outdated within a few years. Engineering is a great profession, but key value-added skills you will also need are creativity, lateral thinking, design, communication, storytelling, and, more than anything, the ability to continually learn and enjoy learning—precisely the gifts of a liberal education. Zakaria argues that technology is transforming education, opening up access to the best courses and classes in a vast variety of subjects for millions around the world. We are at the dawn of the greatest expansion of the idea of a liberal education in human history.

Service learning, as defined by the editors, is the generation of knowledge that is of benefit to the community as a whole. This seventh volume in the Outreach Scholarship book series contributes a unique discussion of how service learning functions as a critical cornerstone of outreach scholarship. The sections and chapters of this book marshal evidence in support of the idea that undergraduate service learning, infused throughout the curriculum and coupled with outreach scholarship, is an integral means through which higher education can engage people and institutions of the communities of this nation in a manner that perpetuate civil society. The editors, through this series of models of service learning, make a powerful argument for the necessity of "engaged institutions".

The first reference book to introduce the concept and development of service-learning in China, Service-Learning as a New Paradigm in Higher Education of China provides a full picture of the infusion of service-learning into the Chinese educational system and describes this new teaching experience using case studies, empirical data, and educational and institutional policies within Chinese context. The text demonstrates how students learn outside the classroom through service-learning with valuable feedback and reflection from faculty members and fellow students about the meaning of education in China. Though service-learning was initially developed in the United States, the concept is rooted in Chinese literatures and values. This book will help readers understand how service-learning is being used as a pedagogy with Chinese values and philosophy in Chinese education, filling a niche within the worldwide literature of service-learning.

Offering a truly global perspective, this book serves as a road map for service-learning partnerships between information science and nonprofit organizations. It introduces for the first time an essential framework for service learning in CIS, addressing both the challenges and opportunities of this approach for all stakeholders involved: faculty, students, and community nonprofit organizations (NPOs), both domestic and abroad. This volume outlines numerous examples of successful programs from around the world, presenting practical working models for implementing joint projects between NPOs and academia.

Teacher Education, Diversity, and Community Engagement in Liberal Arts Colleges examines issues related to preparing new teachers to work in multicultural schools. This book emphasizes the transformational power of community engagement to teacher education in small liberal arts colleges. Lucy W. Mule carefully considers relevant literature and reflects on real-world practice. Her work underscores how a community-engaged approach to teacher education, emphasizing deep relationships with culturally diverse communities, community-based pedagogy, and a consideration of institutional contexts, can have a profound and lasting impact on teaching and learning. Teacher educators, preservice teachers, and policy-makers will find Teacher Education, Diversity, and Community Engagement in Liberal Arts Colleges an excellent resource guide for purposeful change and transformation. Book jacket.