RESUMEN
Two decades ago service-learning as an innovation lingered on the periphery of the academy. Today, service-learning has spread across American higher education. Few educational innovations have achieved such relatively rapid success. This article describes the historical and philosophical underpinnings of service-learning. It notes some of the significant debates that have occurred among its practitioners. The authors draw from experience at their university, the University of Pennsylvania, to describe the importance of connecting service-learning to the core educational and civic missions of a college or university, as well as to provide a case study of how that connection might be made.
Asunto(s)
Filosofía , Preceptoría/historia , Servicios de Salud Comunitaria , Participación de la Comunidad , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Humanos , Liderazgo , PennsylvaniaRESUMEN
Democratic partnerships of universities, schools, and an array of neighborhood and community organizations are the most promising means of improving the lives of our nation's young people. Over the past two decades, many colleges and universities have been experiencing a renaissance in engagement activities. Universities, once ivory towers, have increasingly come to recognize that their destinies are inextricably linked with their communities. Authentic democratic partnerships have three characteristics: they are devised to achieve democratic purposes, the collective work is advanced through inclusive and democratic processes, and the product these partnerships produce benefits all participants and results in a strengthening of the democratic practices within the community.
Asunto(s)
Desarrollo del Adolescente , Democracia , Asociación entre el Sector Público-Privado/organización & administración , Características de la Residencia , Instituciones Académicas/organización & administración , Universidades/organización & administración , Adolescente , Niño , Investigación Participativa Basada en la Comunidad , Humanos , Pennsylvania , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
The university-assisted community school model is showing results for children and youth in West Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania's (Penn's) Center for Community Partnerships has coordinated universitywide efforts, in partnership with the community, in order to create and develop community school programs. The Sayre program aims to become a university-assisted community school, with a comprehensive community problem-solving curriculum and communitywide program that is fully integrated across both the Sayre curriculum and the curriculum of a number of Penn's schools. The Penn-Sayre project demonstrates that higher education can be a permanent anchor for revitalizing schools and communities if the vast resources it possesses, particularly its faculty, students, and staff, are brought to bear in a coordinated fashion.