Re: Service and learning

Good afternoon all,

 

First of all, I want to say that I appreciate the richness of discussion that has been generated by this topic. It has been educational to read so many thoughtful and respectful posts regarding the relationships between communities and colleges/universities. 

 

This summer, Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) begins an exciting new project with a grant from the WK Kellogg Foundation – Preparing the Health Workforce of the Future: Community Voices Service-Learning Partnerships. This grant will approach SL partnerships from a different perspective, where the community collaboration engages colleges and universities as partners, not the other way around.    

 

Shortly, I will send out a press release to the list detailing the work we are doing with Community Voices grantees.  If you live in a community where these grantees work, and/or are interested in learning more about the work of Community Voices and the collaboration between CCPH and Community Voices communities, please feel free to contact me. 

 

Thanks and have a great day!

 

Rachel L. Vaughn
Program Coordinator
(206) 543-8010
****************************************************************************
Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is a nonprofit organization that
promotes health through partnerships between communities and educational
institutions.  Check out our website at www.ccph.info

 

Mark your calendar for CCPH's 7th annual conference - April 26-29, 2003 in
San Diego, CA. The conference will feature a symposium jointly planned and
sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office
of University Partnerships and the Community Outreach Partnership Centers
program. This will present an unprecedented opportunity for advancing
community-campus partnerships that truly span the campus and contribute to
public problem-solving and healthier communities.

 

CCPH is the Higher Education Senior Program Advisor for the Learn and
Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.  http://www.servicelearning.org

 

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michelle Golden, Ph.D." <golden@csusb.edu>
> To: <service-learning@csf.colorado.edu>
> Cc: <mbgolden@mindspring.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 3:53 PM
> Subject: Re: Service and learning
>
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I've been reading the discussion on service and learning with
> > interest. I appreciate Betsy's comment about *ongoing* reflection,
> > and also Larry, Andrae, and Jill's comments about community-
> > identified projects. Oh, and my email program cut off Jill's email
> > right at that point, so if any of my comments/questions below are
> > redundant, I do apologize.
> >
> > I am posting with some thoughts and questions about the meaning of
> > "community-identified" (note: perhaps someone else can speak more
> > directly to the limitations of thinking only in terms of "need"? --
> > that is also crucial).
> >
> > From the perspective of university-based service-learning, it seems
> > that any substantial involvement from "the community" in shaping SL
> > projects is an improvement over what can happen without attention to
> > this element of SL -- e.g., the image of faculty and/or non-community
> > students deciding what is best to do and then imposing it on non-
> > university communities.
> >
> > But underneath that layer, things can get complicated.
> >
> > First and foremost, I think that we (whether approaching this from
> > the CBO side or the university side) have to be honest with ourselves
> > and each other that there are often unquestioned levels at which the
> > university sets the terms of engagement in most approaches to service-
> > learning. One major example is timeframes -- how often to we think
> > about duration of service-learning processes first in terms of
> > community? More often, university semesters or quarters or other
> > timeframes (eg "days") are our starting point. This may in some cases
> > be unavoidable; I mention it just to bring it to visibility as
> > something that we should acknowledge and grapple with where it
> > occurs.
> >
> > Beyond this basic layer of university and community, the question
> > emerges: who speaks for "the community"? It seems to me that there
> > are several more layers to this (at least). First and most obviously,
> > if university faculty and staff look to staff members in non-profit
> > organizations for guidance, it would be useful to be thoughtful about
> > how those organizations are structured. It is absolutely possible
> > (and often more "efficient" and fundable) for non-profit
> > organizations to operate without real decision-making participation
> > from the groups and communities they purport to serve. This may be
> > especially complex in direct service -- organizations can have a lot
> > of "clients" because the need is great; the presence of clients
> > offers a community-based *appearance* but in some contexts may not
> > translate to who makes decisions about what the community does or
> > does not want or need.
> >
> > Then there is the question of quality control on the university side.
> > I have, for example, seen a university program that claims to be
> > connected with local low income communities of color, but is actually
> > just projecting this image while using the community to build a
> > little empire consisting of the university and local institutions
> > (which are in "the community" but not at all run by "the community").
> > In the process, communities that have been used and used and used are
> > being used yet again, while university representatives are publicly
> > lauded for their "good work."
> >
> > It is absolutely crucial for us to name community identification of
> > goals and needs as essential in service-learning. But now that this
> > language is out there in the world, and especially where there is
> > funding or awards or other status markers associated with this work,
> > I think we also need to dig below the surface, because these words
> > can lend themselves to misuse. Again -- who represents "the
> > community," who speaks for and about "the community" and who in the
> > service-learning field (funders included) is actually paying
> > attention to whether claims of community connection, voice, and
> > "benefit" are actually true from the community side of things?
> >
> > And the final issue/question that I would pose is one that I am
> > struggling with most directly in my own work right now. The word
> > "community" (in service-learning contexts and also in some non-
> > profits) often functions as a euphemism for low-income communities of
> > color. It is absolutely crucial to look at race and class as lines
> > along which power is unjustly distributed, and thus to focus on
> > decision-making structures and processes and projects that challenge
> > racism and classism. At the same time, are these the only lines along
> > which power is unjustly distributed? Consider, as a hypothetical
> > example, a program that includes and serves young men and some young
> > women from poor African American and Latino/a neighborhoods, but is
> > formally and informally male-led and male-centered, and is also
> > structurally headed/supervised by an adult.
> >
> > How do we account for and address power dynamics including but not
> > limited to race and class (in the above example, gender and age also
> > seem relevant) in decision-making processes about community goals
> > and/or needs? I think that it is important for anyone doing community
> > work and SL to really look at the theories about power that underlie
> > our approach to being "community-based." These theories (whether we
> > call them that or something else) often guide not only our
> > assumptions about authentic "community" but our goals and practice as
> > well. I thank any community project will be partial, in terms of what
> > issues it can address and try to change. So I think it is useful for
> > all of us to make visible our underlying assumptions so that we know
> > more about what it is we're doing.
> >
> > It seems to me that these are all extremely difficult questions with
> > which to struggle,
> > and that this is an inherently messy and always incomplete process (I
> > don't think we
> > will find easy ways to deal with multiple power dynamics in decision-
> > making
> > processes, for example). This is where authentic relationship-
> > building seems to
> > emerge as crucial. Are there contexts in which we can trust each
> > other enough to
> > struggle deeply and authentically with all of these complexities and
> > if so, what is
> > necessary to create and utilize them?
> >
> > Or maybe there are other questions that are more relevant or useful.
> > In any case, I'd
> > be interested to hear if and how other people have been struggling
> > with and
> > addressing these kinds of messy issues and questions.
> >
> > I am not sending this post as someone who has figured any of this out
> > in any sort of conclusive way. Far from it!! I am most certainly
> > learning as I go.
> >
> > Best,
> > Michelle
> >
>
>