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A case study: The integration of community service learning into the curriculum by an interdisciplinary team of teachers at an urban middle school
Abstract
This study documents the origins of community service learning (CSL) and describes educational literature that relates to how CSL can become a learning experience in the educational process in middle schools. The case study examines how one interdisciplinary team of teachers in an urban middle school integrated CSL as an instructional strategy or culminating activity into curriculum, or used CSL as an extra-curricular experience for students. Four methods of data gathering were used: interviews, observation, a student questionnaire and review of documents. During 1990-1991 school year, the researcher observed the teachers and community partners planning and working with the students to implement the various service experiences. At the end of the school year, the principal, four teachers and three community partners participated in individual and group interviews. The researcher also conducted a group interview with students as a follow-up to the student questionnaire completed by some forty students. The questionnaire was designed with open-ended questions for the students to provide explanations for their answers. The organization of the data provided information to shape the case study and show the history and development of CSL, the delivery and design, and the student reaction to the experiences. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) The principal's vision and leadership affected the way the service experiences evolved. (2) Teachers found the service experiences to be useful as a pedagogy throughout the curriculum disciplines. (3) Service experiences enhanced the understanding of CSL as a process and an instructional strategy with teachers allowing for flexibility and the serendipitous to occur. (4) The integration of service experiences affected how teaching takes place and as an instructional strategy to enhance educational reform. (5) Teacher and students found that service experiences affected their relationships in a positive way which enhanced teaching and learning. (6) Service experiences gave students an opportunity to develop a sense of community by experiencing community within their classrooms, school, neighborhood and city-wide community. (7) Service experiences affected how students learned academically, socially and personally. (8) The process for successful implementation of service experiences needs to be better understood by both teachers and community partners. The principal of Chestnut Middle School and the Gold House teachers and students demonstrated how CSL can be designed and delivered in middle school education. By involving all curriculum areas, they built a model and process for implementation which can be adapted throughout a school district to demonstrate how to build learning experiences for students around a common purpose. The analysis and description of their work has implications beyond Chestnut and can help others understand how to build community, create change and integrate service experiences into education.
Subject Area
Curriculum development|Secondary education|Teacher education|Educational sociology
Recommended Citation
Kinsley, Linda Carol, "A case study: The integration of community service learning into the curriculum by an interdisciplinary team of teachers at an urban middle school" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9305850.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9305850