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Interview
First of all, can you tell me a little bit about your community-engaged course?
I teach the Sociology capstone seminar each spring with a community-engaged learning component. The main purpose of the course is to guide students through the process of reflecting meaningfully on the sociological concepts and skills they have gained during their time in the department. The course is also designed to help students develop six of the College of Liberal Arts’ Core Career Competencies: Career Management, Analytical & Critical Thinking, Innovation & Creativity, Oral & Written Communication, Engaging Diversity, and Active Citizenship & Community Engagement. (To learn more about the College of Liberal Arts’ (CLA) Career Readiness initiative, click here.) Community-engaged learning is a large part of how our students are able to practice and articulate these six competencies, and it is also central to the development of their written capstone portfolio.
How do you assist students in choosing their sites for the semester? Do you have any sort of process?
We utilize the fact that this is a capstone focused on career readiness to set the tone for both the course and the engaged-learning experience. So, during the first class period, I ask the students to look at the 10 Core Career Competencies identified by CLA and identify one that they feel is a strength and one they feel is more of a weakness that they would like to work on post-graduation. I have them acknowledge what they’ve chosen in front of their classmates which is a little scary for some, but it also allows them to take more ownership over what they chose. Then, I ask them to think about this in context of the site that they choose for the semester. I believe this gives them more direction for which site to choose and also plants a seed for how they will show up at their site.
Why do you see that Community-Engaged Learning is particularly important to students in the sociology capstone rather than other types of experiences such as research or field placements?
One of the core ideas of this course is to leave students with a grounded understanding of the fact that sociology is everywhere and that no matter where you are, sociological thinking can be applied. In that sense, we could utilize any type of experiential learning in this course, however, it is particularly relevant for student to be working in spaces where they are more likely to encounter staff and community members who are actively aware of and attempting to address issues of systematic power and privilege. I also find that these engaged experiences make this concept come more alive for students than a research paper alone, which is why I combine the two experiences. The community work along with a research paper allows students to both look back at their studies as well as forward to their careers.
Given this focus, have you ever had any challenges with students working in the community for this course?
Well, yes. The first time I taught this course, I had a particularly bad experience regarding one student’s understanding of racial dynamics at their site. A white woman in my class was volunteering at a computer lab for individuals experiencing homelessness and while she was there, the people who came to use the computer lab – many of them African American males - wanted to use the computers simply to surf the internet and not to write and update their resumes, which was the overall purpose of the computer lab and her understanding of what she was supposed to be assisting with at her site. After a few of her reflections on her experiences, I realized that her understanding of the situation lacked both a reflection on how she was showing up in the space but also a lack of connection between concepts I expected her to apply from her education to this experience.
How did you address this issue?
I realized that I needed to change my curriculum! I now have several articles and reflection assignments geared specifically toward unpacking ideas of race and racism. I also realized I needed to directly address ideas about the ‘white savior complex’ directly with my students, especially given the demographics of this institution. I find that these conversations are also helpful for students of color in the class, because in some instances it gives them new language to understand their experience, and in others it simply signals to them that they are allowed to express concerns with me and also with their peers.
Even given challenges such as the one you’ve described above, what would you say the benefits to incorporating engaged-learning into the capstone have been for the students?
I truly believe students see it relating well to their future. I see them specifically thinking through their own competencies, and taking advantage of an opportunity to work on something they are already good at or work to improve a particular skill set. I believe this shifts their mindsets as they look forward to their careers. We also have a lot of conversations about how to incorporate this experience into job interviews, which the students find useful. On the whole, I have noticed that many students find this experience fills a particular gap on their resume and as a faculty member I find that it solidifies their sociological knowledge, all while providing a valuable service in the community.
Finally, I’m hoping you’ll be willing to pass on a little advice to your colleagues. What would you tell faculty and instructors who are new to community-engaged learning that you wish you would have known when you first started?
From my perspective, I would say to set a specific expectation for how the community-engaged learning component will be graded in the course and to be clear about that up front. In my course I give weight to the number of hours completed and I find that this allows students to easily make decisions about how they spend their time in the course. There are 30 hours required, but I give full points to students who reach 28 hours or above. For every hour less than 28, students lose half a percentage point (out of 14%). This allows me to recognize that my students are autonomous adults, typically doing their best, and that this strategy for grading hours allows them to know up front how their grade will be impacted if they choose to, for example, complete 24 instead of 30 hours. In addition to this portion of the grade, students receive 6% of their grade for the three reflections they complete over the course of the semester. So, a total of 20% of the grade is given for their work in the community.
The other piece of advice I would give is related to the challenges I’ve faced with addressing issues of power and privilege as I mentioned above. I would recommend that white faculty think deeply about what it means to be sending students into the community to do this work from a predominantly white perspective before they take it on. Incorporate moments in your course to unpack these ideas, own them out loud in front of your students, and do your best to be a safe sounding board for your students from marginalized backgrounds. I believe that opening these avenues for conversations are a key component of doing this work.
