(DOWNLOAD) "Community Forums: A Unique Approach to Community Service-Learning (Report)" by Canadian Journal of Education ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Community Forums: A Unique Approach to Community Service-Learning (Report)
- Author : Canadian Journal of Education
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 216 KB
Description
Abstract The service-learning movement has been criticized for not listening to the voices of community partners. Using Bourdieu's framework that equally values formal and practical knowledge, we evaluated a Manitoba college's service-learning program that focused on an issue of community concern. The program was uniquely designed to prioritize the voice of community organizations over the critical discourse of academic partners. Program structure was analysed and data collected from 24 of the participants using a questionnaire (response rate of 33%). Two variables were constructed, COLLABORATIVE and CRITICAL, to compare how formal and practical knowledge were prioritized in the service-learning program. The difference between the means of these variables obtained significance in a one-tailed t-test at the 0.01 level. Responses to open-ended questions about the event indicated that the program emphasized problem-solving, civic engagement, and the complexity of the issue under discussion. Results indicate the program's unique design successfully prioritized community voices, supporting other researchers' service-learning findings of tension between the academic discourse of rigor and the collaborative discourse of community development.