Summary Findings from President’s Teaching
& Learning Scholars Project
1.
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5.
Literature review of “teaching” and “civic
engagement”;
Review of post-secondary institutions with
explicit civic engagement courses, programs
and/or missions;
Focused conversations with civic engagement
scholars, educators and program coordinators
(incl. service learning based on a very targeted
small sampling; and
Review of any survey or evaluation data on
engagement activities as part of classroom
requirements (Arts Cares).
Pedagogical experimentation
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Ehrlich (2000) Civic engagement
means working to make a difference
in the civic life of our communities
and developing the combination of
knowledge, skills, values and
motivation to make that difference. It
means promoting the quality of life
in a community, through both
political and non-political processes.
He goes on to argue that: “... A
morally and civically responsible
individual recognizes himself or
herself as a member of a larger social
fabric and therefore considers social
problems to be at least partly his or
her own”
Key role for universities as pillars of
civil society, key opportunity for
liberal arts in critical thinking,
interdisciplinary collaboration,
community responsiveness
Civic
discourse
Civic
Engagement
Civic Action
Pressure to
shift to
“skills-based
knowledge”
(jobs)
Increased
public &
government
scrutiny
University
(macro-level)
Declining
voter turnout
PSCI Dept
(micro)
Democratizati
on of access
to postsecondary
Pressure on
community
based
organizations/lo
cal
governments,
For University Classrooms,
Programs, Community & the
Institution
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Q: Can civic engagement be taught?
A: No, but it can be modelled & encouraged: at micro
levels (classes) & macro levels (institutional mission,
curriculum support)
Q: Should civic engagement be an objective for
courses, depts, Faculties, University?
A: Yes. Publicly funded institution, politicaleconomic context. Liberal Arts: need to demonstrate
value.
Q: What conditions/elements encourage civic
engagement in classrooms?
A: See next slide
Q: How to best measure impact & communicate
successes?
A: Next steps.
5 components:
1.
Student learning
2.
Curriculum
development/transformation
3.
Community-defined
priorities
4.
Knowledge production
5.
Impact Assessment: do
students become “engaged”
citizens & how do we know?
Principles:
 Intentional
 Coherence
 Rooted in theories of human
development/socialization &
learning (mix of learning
modalities)
 Reflective of demographic &
development of learners
 Responsive to community,
institutional,
disciplinary/programmatic and
individual needs (experiential,
theoretical & community
dialogue)
 Interdisciplinarity &
collaboration
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Theoretical grounding: text,
lectures
“Real world” application:
connection to issues happening
in the news: focus area
Assignments to engage students
to contribute to
debate/solutions while critiquing
theory
Social media for
dialogue/narrative shaping
Community outreach/inreach:
guest speakers/practitioners,
community service learning.
Classroom Elements
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2011 Sask Election: focus
Discussion of election, political
parties, party systems,
convergence debate
Examination of SP/NDP party
campaigns vis-a-vis materials,
media coverage, polling,
campaign strategies
Election prediction exercise,
mapping
Social media presence #URPSCI
#skpoli
Student work at Global to “call”
the election, post-election
analysis: blogs, media, Op-Eds,
Engaged learning on election
campaigns
Activities
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47 programs across
Canada have all been
implemented within
the last 5 years
Growth in knowledge
production: CASL,
publishing &
academic
conferences,
research
Career & leadership
links
Key Drivers:
 Professor initiative
 Mission statement
congruence
 Institutional
support(s)/formalizat
ion, elevation of
merit recognition of
teaching
 Curriculum Review
 Political context
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Key role in instructional support
Single point of entry for community
Impact assessment
CRU surveys of students from 2010-2013 who
participated in week-long Arts Cares
Positive trends: appreciation for hands-on
experience, development of networks,
connections between theory and practice
Challenges: community preparedness, relevance
of placements, pedagogically appropriate
assignments, depth & length (Reading Week)
limitations, limitations of impact assessment
measures
“I felt useful” (2013 student comment)
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Vancouver: Campus City Collaborative, City
Studio
Opportunity to collaborate on projects to assist
the City in implementation of “Vancouver’s
Greenest City 2020 Action Plan”
Specific projects included: working with city
planner on mini parks/natural environment
initiatives, urban forestry management plan,
abandoned spaces mapping, etc.
Project components included academic skills
development, knowledge production sharing,
relationship building, and specific action.
1. Piloting a local version of SFU’s “Semester in
the City”
2. Developing impact assessment measures