the context and content of community integrated teaching and learning

Please note that this publication is only meant to be a reference. The author should be

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The Context and Content of

Community Integrated Teaching

and Learning

Community Integrated Teaching and Learning

CONTEXTUALIZING CITL

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Classical theories of education by Plato and Aristotle as intended to produce good persons; to act on knowledge in the pursuit of good ends

Classical liberal thinkers like Locke and Kant argued for character education, Mill for capable and sensible civic participation, and Rosseau’s sympathetic and civil interaction with other members of the society

These philosophers have envisioned university graduates prepared to contribute to alleviation of human suffering, insurance of human rights and development of a productive society

(Speck and Hoppe, 2004)

YET

Academy implicated in the fracturing of the

community

“during the past fifty years, American Universities have come

to be dominated by powerful interrelated values: materialism,

individualism and competitiveness(Astin, 1993)”

A GLIMPSE OF THE

COMMUNITY FRACTURING

Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart

American culture has lost a sense of community;

socially relevant virtues have fallen apart Robert

Putnam: Bowling Alone

Evidence of the loss of social capital; there is

alienation

Speck and Hoppe, 2004

IMAGE OF HIGHER

EDUCATION

Educational institutions are expected to play a

significant role in social development and nation

building BUT……esoteric research, failure to

promote moral character, and civic consciousness,

etc

HIGHER EDUCATION: SEEN AS

AN “IVORY TOWER”

For producing abstract research unconnected to real

life problems; for being indifferent to societal and

community problems and for producing poorly

educated students who are not only unprepared for

work life but who also have no souls. (Thomas,2000)

REMEDY FOR A

FRACTURED COMMUNITY

HEIs are challenged to respond beyond its traditional

function of providing knowledge through teaching and

research.

The emerging role is to contribute to public service

with the community through collaborative discovery,

learning, engagement and application.

Create a classroom that would rebuild the fracture: link

theory in classroom with student participation in community

affairs (Speck and Hoppe, 2004)

HENCE,

THE FOUNDATIONS OF HEI’S CE

SUCH AS CITL ARE:

HEI’s commitment HEI’s fundamental goal:

To nation building: Student learning and

Social Responsibility development

CITL

TWO MAJOR STRATEGIES OF

REBUILDING

Renew historic commitment of HEI’s to nation building

and in addressing society’s problems : Scholarship of

Engagement (Boyer 1990, 1993)

Effectiveness in achieving its most fundamental goal which is

student learning and development: Following Dewey

(Pedagocic Creed), Freire(Critical Pedagogy), Kolb

(Jacoby and Associates)

PURSUE

SCHOLARSHIP OF

ENGAGEMENT

The triumvirate of teaching , research and service has ruled …

yet service remains to be less rewarded and respected (Jay, 2012)

The challenge is to broaden the scope of scholarship and pursue

scholarship of engagement (Boyer, 1990).

SE: bridging the gap between community/societal needs and

academic resources (Boyer, 1996)

THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS

OF CITL Dewey (1859-1952)- “to prepare him for the future life means to

give him command of himself; it means to train him that he will have the full and ready use of all this capacities.”

making sense of knowledge or what has been learned through (community) experience

meaning making facilitated by reflective problem solving

Dewey’s Progressive education involves CE that grapples with

real social problems, requiring students to come up with

solutions and applying ideas studied in the classroom

THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF

CITL

Freire:

Balance between theory and practice=praxis (informed action)

Conscientization (using education as a means of consciously

shaping the person and the society

Action-reflection (interconnected when one is sacrificed the other

suffers) ; -clear course of future action is possible when there is

authentic reflection renewed reflection

KOLB’S INFLUENCE TO CITL

• Experiential Learning Model (ELM) 4 stage cyclical process

AND THE P R A C T I C A L M O D E E N R I C H I N G H E ’ S

C I V I C R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y A N D S T U D E N T D E V E L O P M E N T

Connect learning and community via academic

curriculum

Align the perspectives of the academe to the nature of

community work and student’s learning methodology as

they realize school’s mission to contribute to social

transformation.

Deprogram instructors and students away (partly) from

traditional classroom roles, relationships, and norms

HOW DO WE OPERATIONALIZE THE

COMMITMENT?

PERSPECTIVE-SETTING

Curriculum Integration

1. Community based sources of knowledge

included in the curricular content

2. Learning thru community interactive and experiential

process

3. Student learning outcomes that reflect the

impact integrated and experiential learning process

CITL

Conceptualizing CITL

Student development

2.Community integration, identification of relevant issue, reflection on the

issue

1. Expose students to fundamental knowledge,

skills and values relevant to the discipline

3. Application and action in partnership with the

community

CITL

Conceptualizing CITL

Community Impact 2.Community needs

matched with scholarly resources

1. Community Profiling

3. Contributed in promoting poverty

alleviation, democratization process, etc

CITL

Conceptualizing CITL

PRINCIPLES

Appropriateness of the pedagogy to the desired learning outcomes; student enhancement

Meaningfulness of the student activity to the community; community is involved

Evidence of link of the partnership and scholarship

PRINCIPLES

That the community are also sources and "creators of knowledge"

Learning also happens in the actual interaction, exposure and exchange with the community

Individual and collective reflection and action

C O M M U N I T Y I N T E G R A T E D T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G

Community

Students Faculty

Context & Concepts

Types &

Models

Reflection & Way

Forward

Implementing Mechanism

END

A growing number of educators are recognizing the

power of the community for civic learning, drawing upon

the educational philosophies like Dewey. These

educators have found that thinking more broadly about

where and how learning takes place is equally as

important as what is learned. It also unleashes a vast set

of resources for learning and allows education to be more

connected to democratic revitalization.