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

Abstract

The Development of Political Awareness and Social Justice Citizenship Through Community-Based Learning in a First-Year General Education Seminar Jon F. Schamber (bio) and Sandra L. Mahoney (bio) One of the primary purposes of liberal education for the twenty-first century is to promote "social responsibility and civic engagement" (Schneider, 2004, pp. 8–9). The impetus for this purpose rests on current understandings of general education, including the conviction that higher education can educate students not only to gain knowledge about social systems and norms but also to be leaders in strengthening our democracy and global connections (Cantor, 2004). Colleges across the country "are providing students with real-world experience . . . to address social problems in cooperation with others" (Schneider, 2004, p. 9) and "engaging students directly with the unsolved challenges and inequalities that mark our world" (Schneider, 2007, p. 1). One of the ways the New Academy is providing real-world experience for students to work with others and grapple with social problems is through community-based learning. This study investigates the claim that a community-based learning experience of short duration in a first-year general education seminar can result in valid and measurable civic learning outcomes. Through the use of a mixed methods design, this study probes two essential outcomes of civic learning advanced by Saltmarsh (2005), the acquisition of political knowledge and the cultivation of democratic values. The results of this study will be of particular interest to faculty [End Page 75] and administrators at colleges and universities seeking to integrate a short-duration community-based learning program into a first-year general education course. In this study community-based learning is defined as a unique type of experiential or service learning with an emphasis not on service but on students working in partnership with local nonprofit organizations or government agencies. As a result of classroom curriculum and experiential co-curriculum students develop suppositional policies to alleviate social problems. This partnership couples traditional and constructivist pedagogies that maximize student engagement in terms of knowledge, skills, and values related to civic learning. This coupling not only provides students with some of the educational results described in the literature on service learning but also incorporates innovative strategies for students to gain real-world insight into the causes and effects of a social problem from an empathetic social justice perspective by working in the community. It also involves students undertaking conventional academic research on a social problem guided by faculty and an active role on the part of agency personnel as co-educators in assisting students with their research and acquisition of political knowledge based on practical expertise. Review of the Literature Literature on service learning or community-based learning is grounded in social and political imperatives, particularly the necessity to cultivate these responsibilities in college students. The need to encourage civic responsibility is under-scored by evidence indicating that civic commitment has declined during the past twenty years. American culture suffers, according to social commentators, from extreme individualism (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1991; Putnam, 1995, 2000). Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, and Stephens (2003), in partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, outline the effects of this individualism: "The consequences of this cultural climate include a growing sense that Americans are not responsible for or accountable to each other; a decline in civility, mutual respect, and tolerance; and the preeminence of self-interest and individual preference over concern for the common good" (p. 7). Another indicator of civic disengagement is revealed by data from a national survey showing that college students are not interested in staying current with politics (Galston, 2003). Based on a review of studies documenting the "decline in civic engagement over the past 30 years," Delli Carpini (2000, p. 341) has concluded that young Americans more than any other age group are not interested in the public sphere. Clearly, higher education has an essential role to play in promoting civic education and social responsibility among the next generation of America's leaders. [End Page 76] As a result, community-based learning or service learning has emerged as a popular component of general education. In a study of higher education, Ratcliff , Johnson, La Nasa...