Service-Learning as Inquiry Model in the Classroom
by Carol Janson, Department of Art
As art history majors in WWU's Department of Art, my
students eventually encounter the difficult point at which
they must determine where their degree will lead them once
they graduate. Not every student is interested in teaching
at the college level, and some are unaware of how they may
use their knowledge, skills, and understanding of visual culture
in related careers such as museum studies. Those who are majoring
in journalism, graphic design, art education, and anthropology
face similar challenges. Students in all of these disciplines
are drawn to my senior level class, Exhibition Theory and
Practice, which provides the opportunity for students to discover
relationships between the university and the community. The
course serves as a bridge to the students' future by
leading them from their traditional course readings and writings
into a community-based senior project.
| "The course serves as a bridge to the students'
future by leading them from their traditional course readings
and writings into a community-based senior project." |
Some students pursue these community ties further by becoming
interns at regional museums or galleries under the supervision
of the department faculty. Thus the classroom experience brings
the community to the students and vice versa. The exposure to
the knowledge, abilities, and skills available in this larger
community serves as an important transitional stage to the post
college world they will soon join. Through observation, dialogue,
and shared responsibilities, the students find teachers and
role models in the community. Through courses such as these
and internship opportunities they are provided with a strong
foundation for graduate education or employment in regional
arts organizations.
Evolution of the Course
Several years ago, I conceived the course, Exhibition
Theory and Practice, from a desire to better connect
my students' acquisition of knowledge with the process of
learning. It gradually evolved into an interdisciplinary and
integrative course using the resources of the Western Gallery
on campus and local museums. The course materials drew upon
the experiences of art historians, critics, and museum-based
curators and educators. Students read articles and case studies
generated by scholars, teachers, educators, and museum professionals.
Through field trips, reflective essays on their own experiences,
and short research papers, students were given the opportunity
to apply their readings in new contexts. These exercises,
however, were secondary to their readings and remained external
to the course as hypothetical experiences. Reading about the
experiences of those in the field or having students visit
the sites was beneficial, but it did not create an authentic
experience for them to draw upon in the class, nor did it
prepare them to develop critical thinking and problem-solving
strategies useful beyond their education.
| "The ongoing campus conversations on
bridging the relationship between theory and practice
affirmed the value of the service-learning strategy." |
|
The conviction that I needed to include a community-based
learning project in my course became stronger after meeting
Western colleagues who integrated service-learning in their
courses. The ongoing campus conversations on bridging the
relationship between theory and practice affirmed the value
of the service-learning strategy. Ernest Boyer's report
for the Carnegie Foundation suggested that theory and practice
not only support each other but also are shaped in turn by
teaching. He expanded the model for academic scholarship to
include discovery, integration, application and teaching as
viable functions. Although Boyer distinguishes each component
as a distinct model, they certainly overlap. I would argue
that the "integration, application, and teaching"
components form a network enabling revisions and revitalization
of theory and practice. Having the students become classroom
researchers within Exhibition Theory and Practice seemed a
natural progression from my initial goals in teaching the
course and to further extend my students' learning into
the community.
Asking Challenging Questions
The most fundamental change for this course developed from
using service-learning as an inquiry model. That is, we were
able to draw challenging questions from the scenarios the
students faced in their community-based learning projects.
As a teacher I had to become more flexible in my course structure.
The service-learning project became the nexus for observation,
discussion, problem solving and analysis in every class meeting.
It made the readings immediately relevant and it fostered
a greater sense of agency for the students and in relating
to each other's work. As problems or concerns arose,
these became teaching opportunities. My role shifted to team
member and site visitor when the class moved off campus. The
project's evolution can be summarized as a series of
stages:
- Introduction to Service-Learning and the Project
- Site
Visit and Interview
- Project
Design and Schedule
- Case Studies Using Site Visits
- Project Completion and Presentation
It is important to note that the staff of our Service-Learning
Center was crucial in ensuring that the process was working
successfully for the students, the community host, and supervisor.
 The
World as Mirror or Lens
The introduction of a community-based learning project into
the course enabled the students to test their understanding
of a central learning objective of the art history program:
to understand the ideas, values, and symbols that pervade
and shape the exhibition of culture. We live in a world
that often uses images rather than words to communicate information.
What systems of knowledge and strategies of interpretation
do we need to employ in order to understand the past and present?
How does the location of culture in the public spaces of museums,
galleries, and parks affect our sense of community identity
and its institutions? Students enhance their abilities and
skills in creative thinking and problem solving by applying
the course questions and issues to real world situations.
They learn strategies for negotiation and encounter differing
viewpoints within their community.
The service-learning project offers my students insight into
their abilities and interests within this field and the careers
available to them. The journals, response papers, and class
discussions provide opportunities for self-reflection and
critical analysis that move beyond the hypothetical. The classroom
becomes a shared community of learners whose engagement in
the course is present from its inception. The classroom environment
functions as a mirror to self-knowledge and a critical lens
to challenge unexamined thoughts and ideas about the visual
environment. The final presentation of their projects to their
host institutions affirms that the classroom is the community
and the community is the classroom.
In addition, two
questionnaires at week four and six led them through the
design and implementation process of their projects and toward
projected completion and self-evaluation. The projects differed
in the degree of autonomy they offered in their design and
execution, and they enabled students to match their self-identified
skills and abilities with the project. Some chose to work
with partners because of shared interests or learning style
preferences.
Reflecting on the Future
As this first experience with service-learning in the classroom
ends, I can affirm that it will form an essential component
of my Exhibition Theory and Practice class in the
future. I look forward to developing further ties with local
and regional communities interested in fostering the visual
arts. The feedback from students will be a critical factor,
and the projects they produced will play an important role
as a teaching tool for those to come. How this class enabled
students to achieve the course goals and objectives will be
an important assessment issue. Some have mentioned that they
intend to work in arts-based organizations or plan an advanced
degree targeting non-profit organizations.
For teachers at the university, the course will be valuable
because it demonstrates that one can integrate service-learning
into an existing course. For instance, those who use an inquiry
based model, or who use case studies as a tool for the development
of critical thinking and problem solving abilities, can find
strategies of value for implementation in their own courses.
Others in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, or anthropology
might be drawn to the course's focus on issues of community
identity. The rewards of service-learning cannot be limited
to any one of the previously mentioned strategies; rather
they affirm the relationship between theory and practice for
both teacher and learner within the community and beyond the
classroom.
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