Community Based Learning 101: Leadership Development Skills

Instructor: Kara McLuckie

Office: Bewkes 121-1

E-mail:

Phone: (716) 982-9612

About CBL 101: This course is designed to highlight the academic facet of your current and future service-learning work and develop collaborative, socially oriented leadership skills. With this in mind, we will explore critically some texts that have influenced the development of experiential learning in general (of which CBL is a subset), and some texts that are representative of current discourse in leadership.

Along the way, we will do activities that are meant to foster personal growth and collaborative communication. For example, we will experiment with techniques for mindfulness, emotional awareness, and self-understanding as means of deepening the relationships that are part and parcel to leadership in your community and CBL placement. Although this work will not feel academic per se, it is an important side of Community Based Learning and is sure to help you as you move through your scholarly career.

Finally, but in no way minor, you will participate in a Community Based Learning placement with a community agency. Arrangements for your placement should be made with Brenda Papineau at the Center for Civic Engagement in the Whitman Annex. Your community placement is where you will have the best opportunity to experience, apply, and evaluate what we talk about in class and it will also be your richest source for class discussion and journaling material. Regular attendance at your placement is expected and is essential to your learning in this course.

The culminating project for CBL 101 will be a presentation at the Festival of CBL on Wednesday December 12th. Over the course of the semester we will take some class time to study, discuss, and plan presentations for the festival. This is a chance for you to creatively express what you have gained from your CBL experience in front of an audience!

Required Texts:

Komives, Susan R. Leadership for a Better World.

Shankman, Marcy L. Emotionally Intelligent Leadership for Students.

These texts ARE NOT available through the bookstore. You may purchase or borrow them in any format you wish (electronic is OK) through whatever venue you prefer.

Other Texts:

We will be working with some additional texts that will be posted on my blog page: blogs.stlawu.edu/slpem/Posted readings are marked with an *.

Grading:

Festival of CBL (30%): December 12th. This is a required part of the course. If you have a conflict with this date please let me know no later than October 22nd.

Readings, Writings, Discussion and Activities Participation(20%): There will be a variety of assignments that will be given and completion of this work according to the course schedule is expected. There are no make up opportunities for late work; however, incomplete work will be graded on its own merit. So if you did not finish an assignment turn in what you have and it will be evaluated and assessed a .5 point penalty on a 0.0-4.0 grading scale.

Evaluation of discussion and activities participation will be based on a record of in class work. For example, some activities will ask you to fill out a work sheet. There are no make up opportunities for missed in class work.

I will also asking you to do some reflection writing, which will be subject to evaluation after each assignment. Details about reflection writing will be given as the work is assigned. You should be prepared to share your reflection with the class on the date that it is due, and please submit hard copy of the reflection on the due date.

Course Attendance (20%): Since this is mostly a discussion and activity based class that depends on you sharing your experiences and ideas your attendance is important. Secondarily, this class meets for three hours every other week so for every class session missed you risk falling significantly behind. I will overlook three hours of missed class time, no questions asked. That is, if you are fifteen or more minutes late to class, need to leave fifteen or more minutes early, miss half a class or just an hour of class for any reason the three hour clock starts counting down. Once you have reached a total of three missed hours (or one full class session) you risk a 5% grade reduction for every hour you miss subsequent to the initial three freebie hours. Given this scheme, if you miss one hour of class time beyond the freebies you have irreversibly reduced your attendance grade by 25%. If you get up to three hours beyond the freebies you have irreversibly reduced your attendance grade by 75%.

CBL Hours Completion/Mid-Semester Evaluation (15%): You must complete you CBL placement hours (20 for class enrollees, and 40 for CBL Suite residents). There will be a 5% grade reduction for every hour you are below your hours.

In mid-October there will be a mid-semester evaluation process facilitated by the Center for Civic Engagement that will take place with your Community Mentor/CBL Director. If you do not participate in a mid-semester evaluation there will be a 7.5% reduction of your grade in this section.

Professionalism, Courtesy, and Cooperation (15%): It is common for e-mail communication to be sent from the CCE and your Community Mentor, and it is your responsibility to respond to those e-mails in a timely way to the best of your ability. Also, there is ongoing paperwork that is part of the CBL process. Staying current with things such as contracts, time logs, and project proposals is your responsibility and all important dates related to these items are listed in italics on the course schedule as a reminder to you.

The CCE and Community Mentors are in close communication with me about missing paperwork and any issues you may be having with your placement so grade reductions in this section will be based on the effort you make to resolve any situations brought to my attention. I consider a strong effort to resolve an issue a record of communication (i.e., be sure to cc me on your e-mail communications) with the CCE or Community Mentor or Community Partner, if necessary, about any particular issues you are having with your placement or paperwork. In addition, if a meeting is deemed necessary to fully resolve a situation, I expect that you will report to me either by e-mail or in person about the outcome of that meeting. Of course, if you feel that you would like my support resolving a situation I am happy to speak with you at anytime during the resolution process or attend a meeting with all concerned parties if it fits my schedule.

Ultimately, if you are able to stay current with your paperwork and address concerns if they arise at your placement in a timely way this should be an easy 15% of your grade.

Course Schedule:

Note that meeting times are every other week with the exception of week 9! Please be very careful to follow the class session dates.

Week 1 (Sept. 3)

Introduction-What is expected of you in CBL 100.

Read for Week 2: Furco*, Dewey Ch. 1 and 2*

Write for Week 2: Look over the new CCE website. Be sure to explore it thoroughly and give a two paragraph critical evaluation of the site by answering the following prompts: Tell me what you like and dislike about the appearance. Is it easy to navigate? Is it comprehensive? Does it give a clear sense of what the CCE does and what CBL is? How often do you see yourself using the page? What would you like to see on the page that seems to be absent right now? How does it compare to a similar webpage from another university? (For this last question look at other private universities in NYS or other schools to which you may have applied when you were shopping for colleges)

Friday September 7: Placement Preference Sheets to CCE by 4pm.

Week 2 (Sept. 17)

What are we doing? Defining CBL at SLU and differentiating civic engagement from service-learning and other modes of experiential learning.

Why are we doing this? How CBL encourages responsible residents, community relationships, civic and political participation within and beyond your placement. How all of this influences your overall education.

How did we get here and where can we go? Changing models of leadership. Is leadership a position of privilege? Skills and experience inventory. The future of leadership.

Read for Week 3: Shankman pages 1-62

Write for Week 3: Three to five paragraphs about where you see civic engagement as played out through CBL fitting into the curriculum at SLU. Why is CBL an important part of a Liberal Arts education? Should all SLU students be required to take at least one CBL course? Should they be required to take more than one? How many? How can CBL work be used for student research? Do you think it is ethical to use the community as a “text” for learning? Why or why not?

Week 3 (Oct. 1)

Festival of CBL Presentation Projects-Brainstorming session on project content and formats.

Discussion: Shankman pages 1-62, annotated bibliography assignment sheet

Activity: Emotional Awareness-Listening to yourself and others and EIL worksheet

Read for Week 4: Shankman 63-124.

Friday September 28: Placement Contract and Mileage Reimbursement due to CCE by 4pm.

Saturday October 6: Shawna’s Walk for Wishes 9am-1pm, SLU Fieldhouse. Volunteer or get a team together to take pledges and participate. (This event is not required for CBL 100).

Week 4 (Oct. 15)

Festival of CBL Projects-View some sample projects, what makes a strong presentation, good info to include in your presentation, how to make it academic, and how I will evaluate the work.

Discussion: Shankman 63-124, ways to pair research with CBL work.

Activity: Mindfulness exercise and EIL worksheet

Read for Week 5: Komives parts 1, 2 and 4

Write for Week 5: CBL placement self-evaluation of leadership at your placement: What models do you see at work? Who would you identify as a strong leader in the organization? Why? Does the leadership model you observed fit with the stated mission of your placement? Why or why not?

Also, write an annotated bibliography entry for one scholarly journal article about experiential learning, civic engagement or service-learning, one scholarly journal article regarding participatory action research and one on someone who represents a leader to you.

Mid-semester evaluation week begins October 15 and ends October 27. Keep an eye on your e-mail for info from your CM.

Week 5 (Oct. 29)

Festival of CBL conflict notification: You must report to me if you have a conflict with the December 12th date and time.

Discussion:Komives parts 1,2 and 4, using social science research methods in the humanities (documentaries and ethnographies)

Activity: EIL worksheet

Read for Week 6: Komives parts 3 and 5

Write for Week 6: Annotated bibliography entries for one full length book that addresses experiential-learning, service-learning or civic engagement, one book that addresses participatory action research, and one that discusses a leadership model other than collaborative leadership

Week 6 (Nov. 12)

Festival of CBL Projects- Tips for writing your proposal

Discussion: Komives parts 3 and 5

Activity: EIL Worksheet

Read for Week 7: TBA

Write for Week 7: TBA

Thanksgiving Break: November 17-25

Week 7 (Nov. 26)

TBA

Friday November 30: Festival of CBL proposal forms to CCE by noon. Send a copy to me as well.

Sunday December 9: Last day to attend CBL placements.

Week 8 (Dec. 10)

Class will meet from 5-6pm for course evaluations.

I will be available in my office from 6-8pm for last minute Festival of CBL presentation touch-ups.

Wednesday December 12-Festival of CBL, Eben Holden, 5:30-7:30pm. I strongly encourage you to extend a personal invitation to your CM, Community Partner, professors or family and friends who may be interested in your project or CBL in general.

Week 9 (Dec. 17)

Last class meeting. We will wrap up the semester with a get together with CBL 101 and available CCE staff, CM’s and Faculty Associates to discuss each class’s different experiences with CBL and how the framework for each class has informed those experiences. Food?