Service Learning as Relational Learning: The Transformative Power of

Partnerships

Seanna Kerrigan, Capstone Program Director, kerrigans@pdx.edu

Ann Fullerton, Professor, SPEDfullertona@pdx.edu

Vicki Reitenauer, Instructor, for University Studies Capstones and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studiesvicr@pdx.edu

Portland State University

Context

Portland State University offers over 240 Senior Capstone Service Learning Courses

Senior Seminar that Connects with Community

Urban/Public Capstone Program started in 1995 Graduation Requirement Largest Partnership is with Mt. Hood

Kiwanis Camp (a summer program for persons with disabilities)

Mt Hood Kiwanis Camp as a Community Partner

University–community partnership for 40+ years. Agreement clarifies liability, roles.

Camp’s mission: (1) outdoor recreation for persons with disabilities and (2) learning experience for students & professionals.

Camp pays for 1 of 2 GA’s to recruit 250+ students per year and process applications.

All camp staff are hired and trained to operate camp but also to be teacher/coach for students.

Faculty, graduate students, and camp staff conduct research & development to improve program for campers and students.

Mt Hood Kiwanis Camp

We will show you a few minutes of video created by Oregon Public Broadcasting about the course and the camp…

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1643?q=Kiwanis

Course page: http://www.pdx.edu/sped/kiwanis

Learning Environment & Pedagogy at Camp Kiwanis

Three days of pre-training and team-building. Message: “These two weeks are not about you, they are about campers having the time of their life”.

Students access web resources on disability issues. Students attend for 2 weeks, campers for 1 week. Each

student counsels 1-2 campers per week. Groups of 8 students are supervised/coached by 2

supervisors. Faculty are on-site to support/teach. Supervisors meet nightly with students to plan, problem-

solve, and discuss societal disability issues. Supervisor provide written evaluation & conference each

week. Expectations are clear and feedback is ongoing. Students write reflection paper linking academic interests

to disability issues and the camp/course experience.

The Research Study

Interviewed 20 randomly selected graduates who had participated in this Capstone course 2-5, 6-10, 10+ years ago.

Learn about their lived experiences. Document what long-term impact (if

any) this course had on their lives post-graduation.

Methods

Qualitative approach used to document graduates’ voices telling their own stories.

Began interview by asking “What were your 3 most significant college experiences?” and “What was the impact (if any) of the experience?” (Critical Incident Query)

This allowed us to explore the significance of the Capstone relative to other experiences.

Then continued interview with questions regarding the Capstone and it’s impact.

Used Creswell (1994) to analyze the data in systematic way with multiple readers.

Findings from Critical Incident Query

The Capstone was the most frequent single response to “most significant learning experience in college”

Majority of responses described learning experiences with high degree of peer: peer and faculty: peer interactions (relational)

Majority of significant experiences were community-based (Capstones, internships)

Long term Impact of the Capstone: Appreciation for Human Diversity

This was the most deeply experienced effectBorder Crossing: I never talked to anyone with

visible disabilities before….“Live encounter” with “the other” that allowed the

student to see the other as connected, not separate Impact expressed as transformational/an epiphany:

Student was changed such that they could not go back to previous worldview

Moved from fear of unknown person to connection…and later to action

Appreciation of Human Diversity:Transformation

“What I got out of it was just the amazement of how much (the campers) CAN do on their own, and how much they are aware of what's going on around them...There was a boy that had cerebral palsy that we took in a canoe, and I was in the back kind of holding him between my legs, you know, so I could hold him...while his counselor person was in the front rowing. And I wasn't sure if he was really realizing that he was in the boat, and what was going on, you know, I wasn't sure, because he was non-communicative. And this bird, this eagle started flying above us, and he was just tracking it with his eyes, and he got the biggest grin on his face. I was just like, wow, he IS really taking in this moment, and he is able to experience this, and I know that something is registering…It was just the most rewarding thing ever.”

From Fear to Benevolence

“First of all, I was very afraid of autism. Very afraid of autism before that camp, and I won't say that I'm not afraid of it anymore, but I have a deeper appreciation for the frustrations that are behind those particular individuals. They're so smart, but they just can't get it out. They can't say the things they want to say. I had two autistic kids in my care when I was at the camp so that kind of became my focus… And so ever since then, instead of turning my head when I see an autistic kid at a grocery store, or an autistic kid acting up at a restaurant, it's like, you really want to connect with…it really changed me as an individual to care more about their well-being, and what was really good for them, what they needed to grow, and to reach full productivity, as much as they possibly can, and to live and function in a society as best they can. It's absolutely amazing to sit down and talk with these kids because these kids are so smart, they're just trapped behind this wall that, for whatever reason, their bodies can't break through, and it's just extremely humbling.”

Enhanced Communication Skills

Enhanced listening skills Expanded ability to use non-verbal and

augmentative forms of communication. Learned: “Behavior is communication.”

Learned to find and adopt pace of other in order to communicate and form authentic relationship.

Enhanced communication in teams, to ask for help, to notice needs, to give and receive support and feedback.

Communication: Power of Eye Contact and Connecting with Others

“I always make eye contact now, whereas I always stayed away from eye contact before. But I found that through eye contact you can typically reach others that way. Whether they're having a fit, or you think they're not there, maybe they are mentally handicapped or they have Down syndrome, but if you make eye contact with them typically you can reach people. [] I work at a clothing shelter every Thursday afternoon and we do clothing drives for the homeless and people will come to our door and ask for things like shoes and hats and gloves and sweatshirts, and they're really cold and hungry and they want clothes, but I find if you make eye contact with them it makes it a lot less scary. And I think it makes them a lot less uncomfortable with the situation and that kind of promotes a kind of almost a warm fuzzy feeling. And it just makes everything go more smoothly.”

Impact on Career Development & Skills used in Workplace

Greater awareness of personal strengths Greater awareness of personal limitations Developed interpersonal skills they need

and use in workplace Greater openness to working with a broader

population than planned New insights on inclusivity: how to make

classrooms and workplaces more inclusive/welcoming/honoring/mutually beneficial

Sense of efficacy in working with others

Career Development: Advocacy for Inclusivity

“I'm a huge advocate for having all of the students that are in our building with disabilities in my classroom. They are all welcome. Right now I have two students who don't communicate at all, they are on feeding tubes, and they come in and some days it's just for observation, of looking around at what other kids are doing, holding a paintbrush, or poking some clay or things like that. But I always let the special ed department know that they're always welcome to enroll their students into my courses. And they continue to keep taking the classes, which is great too. I feel like just their presence in the room, they're going to get something. Even if they don't do any of the coursework, just being there and interacting with the other kids...Yeah, they all have lunch together in the cafeteria. And then in my class, they always want to sit at the group tables, with all of the other students.”—Middle-school art teacher

Career/Personal Development: Deeper Awareness of Interests/Strengths

“It was the most amazing experience of my entire life… It has really humbled me as a person. I now know about myself that, in the future, I don't consider accounting my ultimate career goal, but it's working for right now. Some day I definitely want to work with the elderly or autistic kids. That whole experience really showed me how much I want to be with people, all the time, helping people. It has led me to community service projects that I'm doing right now. Yeah, it was just an amazing experience to dedicate two weeks of your life to another individual or group of individuals. It was just amazing…that Capstone was really the most amazing experience of my life and I wish they did it [where I’m living now] because I'd be doing it every summer.”

Efficacy

“(The Capstone) showed you what you could do, what you could achieve even under really, really intense circumstances. It just shows you what you are capable of as a person, as a student, as an employee. And it pushed you to be something that you wouldn't necessarily have tried or accepted that you would have been able to do if you had just jumped right into an employee-employer situation. So it kind of boosts your self-esteem almost, makes you realize how capable you really are as a contributing employee.”

Civic Engagement: Future Commitment to Serving Marginalized Population

and to Contributing to the Community

Voiced in terms of:

- Commitment to future volunteering inspired by witnessing volunteers at the camp

- Professionally: dedicated to direct contact with persons with special needs

- Everyday compassionate interactions in daily life with marginalized persons

Inspired by Role Models to Engage in Future Volunteering

“I think especially for me, [after my] time at the Kiwanis Camp, I definitely wanted to volunteer. Seeing all of the people that were up there, that weren’t doing this for their Capstone, that were just doing it to volunteer because, you know, they loved it so much. It definitely opened my eyes, and I thought what could I do that I would love this much?”

Wrap-up: What elements of the course

facilitated these learnings?

The PARTNERSHIP Immersive aspect (24/7) Authentic purpose Relational learning (peers and

campers) Community-based/place-based Reflection, even the interview process

itself seemed to have a positive impact on students’ awareness of the long-term meaning of their Capstone

Wrap-up:

How can we create these types of learning experiences

without access to Kiwanis Camp?

Examples of partnerships which create the “live encounter” and relational learning in community settings

Other examples?