Disciplinary Pathways to Service Learning

Local Stories Local Style:
Service-Learning and Composition

Irena Levy, Language Arts
Kapi'olani Community College
Honolulu, Hawai'i

Every time I observe my culinary arts students at work in their labs, I'm envious. As a writing teacher, I want all of my students to experience the connection between theory and practice, concept and application, that I see occurring in culinary education.

Students in writing classes need real reasons to write, content and readers that are meaningful. Through sequenced thematic assignments, I have had some success in giving students something to write about and real audiences for whom to write. Classmates, friends, family, experts in the field, even the Dean of Instruction at Kapi'olani Community College, have served as intended readers of my students' essays.

Opportunities for experiential learning were rather limited for liberal arts students, until Fall 1994 when principal investigator Bob Franco brought a service-learning grant to our campus. On one occasion while visiting my students, Bob told them about service-learning: "You'll take what you're learning and practice it, use it to help others who want and need it. You'll connect what you're learning to serve our community." My students were encouraged by Bob's words. Their effect on me was epiphanous: I felt instantly that service-learning would bring my students closer to the connected learning I observed in culinary education.

This narrative traces the successes and pitfalls my students and I have since experienced through service-learning and discusses the relationship between experiential learning and local pedagogy, a focus of my work as a community college educator.

One Way of Serving

I first offered a service-learning option in Fall 1995 to students in my introductory and transfer level composition classes. I created a one page handout in question-answer format describing the option and its requirements. To earn credit, students needed to (1) provide 25-30 hours of service; (2) complete a weekly reflective log; (3) attend training and supplementary meetings or workshops; (4) use their service-learning experiences as the basis for their research projects due at the semester's end.

Students could select virtually any opportunity listed in the Service-Learning Opportunities Book compiled by our service-learning coordinators. These coordinators have created extensive links to community agencies, and in lieu of a volunteer center at Kapi'olani, the coordinators distribute the booklet to every participating faculty member. Students or their teachers make the initial contact with the service agency. The coordinators are available for consulting with faculty both individually and at meetings held throughout the semester.

Ten students in Fall 1995 chose the service-learning option. At first I was disappointed that only 9% of my students would select service-learning, despite knowing that, like most community college students, Kapi'olani students have "a lot on their plates." As it turned out, I couldn't have adequately worked with more. I individually conferred with students to help each choose a service site, called agencies as needed for more information, and advised students regularly on their projects.

Most students helped elementary students learn English, provided care to elders and respite to their families, or tutored in our learning center or other classes (at Kapi'olani, on-campus service is a legitimate option).

Because of the diversity of students' activities, I used "literacy" as the common theme to bring students into dialogue with one another and to focus their written reflections. Students weekly wrote responses to one of several generic questions, including, "How did you use your literacy (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) this week to assist your clients meet their goals this week?" I also customized log prompts throughout the semester, depending on the student's service activity and issues or challenges raised in previous logs or conferences.

As the semester progressed, I especially liked the new context in which students and I were talking: real people, real situations. Even mundane operational problems offered new opportunities for talking and problem solving. Students, of course, liked the service option; they knew they were doing something useful and earning course credit for it.

But I also sensed that the connections students were making between learning and serving needed more visibility. From my conferences with them and by reading their reflective logs, I noted that students were focused on the service but relatively unconcerned with how specific writing competencies were developing or were enhancing service. I believe this is not unusual for students enthusiastic about experiential learning, but for me, the interaction between serving and learning is a critical variable in defining a valuable service-learning experience. I consider it the instructor's responsibility to create the conditions by which students see the connections between learning and serving.

I also wanted to integrate the service-learning option more carefully within the assignments, themes, and issues underpinning the transfer level course, which explores multicultural ways of knowing: oral and written traditions of language, home and school literacies, critical and creative writing. These are issues important in a multicultural writing course, critical for Hawai'i's local students, often Hawai'ian Creole speakers who bring multiple literacies to college that "school" literacies resist. Further, my work in our college emphasis on Asian-Pacific education led me to question the agency-centered structure of service-learning as opposed to other structures of service traditionally practiced in the Pacific. Using oral histories as a departure point, I began to design a service-learning project foregrounding these issues.

Another Way of Serving

While I was designing the project late in the fall semester, a friend passed away suddenly. He was the father of a family who many years earlier had "adopted" me. One of the first memories I recalled, after learning of his death, was a trip to the island of Hawai'i to visit his childhood home. I remembered the specific spots in Wood Valley he pointed out: the family's first house, the path to school, the mountain apple tree. And from that remembrance came a flood of stories he had told me, usually late at night at the kitchen table: his bitter experiences of early schooling, his encounters with obake (ghosts), work in the cane fields, the early years of his marriage. Although I didn't record enough, some of his stories I did write down as fictions, reading them aloud to friends and students. I think I was privileged to his stories because I was a good listener; I wanted to know his past, and we already had an established connection. His story telling helped us to know one another better, I think, because it was also his way of teaching me, an outsider to Hawai'i, something of second generation Japanese life on Hawai'i's plantations. His storytelling was a powerful way of knowing.

Surrounded by these memories, I developed a multigenerational story telling project for service-learning. As designed, students make regular visits with elders in transition who want company and enjoy conversation. In the course of their acquaintance, students "capture" detailed stories from the elders. Students then re-create in writing one of the stories, as if it were fiction. They also add formal research to establish the historical context and in a narrative frame acknowledge the elder as the source of the story. The resulting stories are subsequently available to service-learning students opting to perform or read aloud for a younger audience.

The project, first offered in Spring 1996, meets the following course competencies in expository writing:

• make accurate and insightful observations;
• discover, gather, and select information;
• organize ideas and evidence according to purpose and audience.

It also promotes the connections to language issues raised in the course: the use of local voices and dialects, the shifts from oral to written to oral retellings, and the conscious blurring of fact/fiction and critical/creative modes. Through narratives are passed on the stories of Hawai'i's elders to younger generations who, because of changes in families and social structure, may not otherwise hear such stories or learn the history behind them.

One of the first pitfalls was budgetary: The agency providing me contacts with elders closed without notice, and I had to establish new connections. The delay reduced the number of participating students during the first semester.

To date, the project's outcomes reveal themselves best in the experiences of Crystale Engle, one of five students who participated during Spring 1996. A second semester freshman with a career interest in teaching, Crystale has a strong service ethic. She had completed service-learning projects the previous semester in my introductory composition class and in one of Bob Franco's anthropology courses. Previous assignments in narrative and observation provided some basics for Crystale's work.

Crystale was paired with Mrs. G., a resident of an elder care home in Palolo Valley, a target district of Kapi'olani's service-learning project. Crystale visited Mrs. G. two or three times weekly for several weeks. As their acquaintance grew, Crystale learned that Mrs. G. had been born and raised in Haleiwa, a former plantation town on Oahu's north shore where Mrs. G.'s family ran a small vegetable store. Interested in this history, Crystale focused on Mrs. G.'s early years to collect her stories.

An early and constant challenge for Crystale was the lack of detail and specific stories Mrs. G. offered about her childhood in Haleiwa. Despite her planned follow up questions, Crystale continually noted this problem in her reflective log and in our conferences. I had not anticipated this pitfall; in my experience, elders have a rich repertoire of stories to share. Although we had carefully articulated our project to our agency contacts, we concluded that the care home may have had other motivations for pairing Crystale with Mrs. G.

Working with these givens, Crystale began bringing her young daughter along on the visits to stimulate Mrs. G.'s interest. The presence of a young child indeed increased Mrs. G.'s active involvement in the visits but did not elicit fuller stories. At one point however Mrs. G. mentioned the Haleiwa Hotel where she had played as a child. Unaware of the hotel's existence and curious, Crystale decided to build a story around Mrs. G.'s family store and the hotel, using the elder's narrative fragments as plot incidents and clues to Mrs. G.'s childhood character. To learn more about Haleiwa Hotel, Crystale conducted research at college libraries and the Bishop Museum.

Several weeks later Crystale read a draft of her story, "Running in Haleiwa," to several of my students attending a supplementary writing studio. Significantly, students responded that her story sounded like the stories in The Speed of Darkness, a local collection by Rodney Morales, assigned for the course. Crystale confirmed that she had used the Morales stories as models for her own writing. To the enjoyment of her class, Crystale performed this story at semester's end. I encouraged her also to read the story to Mrs. G. and her family. Crystale planned to revise the story again and to continue her visits with Mrs. G. "Running in Haleiwa" is one of several stories now available to my students who choose performing and reading with elementary school children as their service-learning projects.

Crystale succeeded in many of the project goals, both intended and unexpected. First in her reflective logs and our discussions, Crystale wrestles with several issues of language as she shaped and revised her story. Among these was the correct use of written Hawai'ian Creole English and words from other languages in the story. She also explored narrative points of view and plot structures to weave accurately what she had learned about Mrs. G. and Haleiwa. For example, Crystale had recorded this autobiographical fragment in her reflective log:

"She said that her father was strict and they used to sneak out of the house when
their father wasn't there to go to the movies. Then they would sneak back in. I
asked her where she got the money from and she said her mother gave it to her.
This made her remember that she used to steal money from the register to buy
candy."

In "Running in Haleiwa," Crystale transformed this fragment into first-person fiction:

"... I snuck behind the counter, keeping an eye on Mama. My fingers slowly crept
to the cash register, felt some change, grabbed it, and quickly retreated. I skipped
out the door like nothing had happened. Both my fists were squeezed tightly
holding the money. As soon as I was out of sight, I ran towards the... candy
store."

Through the library research Crystale also learned more about plantation life, a critical period in Hawai'i's history, now less and less accessible to our younger generations. In the narrative frame acknowledging Mrs. G. as the story's inspiration, Crystale provides a brief history of Haleiwa: "... a very popular Haleiwa Hotel where Seaview Inn now stands. The hotel was built in 1899 and with it came a special railroad extension..."
In reflecting on Crystale's experience, I am most impressed by the interaction between learning and serving in a culturally appropriate way. Crystale uses her observing skills to "follow" the elder instead of insisting on capturing complete stories, an original stipulation of the project. Exemplifying local ways of relating across generations, Crystale brings her own culture to service-learning when deciding to include her daughter in visits with Mrs. G. People of Mrs. G.'s generation are especially at ease around very young children. In changing the social structure of those visits, Crystale enhanced the experience for Mrs. G. and others at the care home.

In her logs, Crystale writes about the present and future conditions of elders in Hawai'i. In one of the most poignant moments she reflects on the relationship she is forming with Mrs. G.

"On my next visit to Mrs. G., she asked me where my daughter was. I told her I
was sorry and I didn't bring her because I was going straight to school after. She
said that she made cookies for her. I thought that was so sweet, and I felt bad because it was like she was waiting to see my daughter more than she was waiting
to see me."

What Crystale and I first thought was a serious weakness in the project--the lack of complete stories to record--actually became a strength. It challenged Crystale to work deeply with important issues of writing. She used her resourcefulness to make Mrs. G. more comfortable and active. In that sense Crystale's project achieved a local style of serving I could not have anticipated.

Crystale's experiences with Mrs. G. have helped me to revise my service-learning project. It is a demanding activity which may attract only the most confident students. Some stipulations of the original project are relaxed to accommodate the range of elders students may encounter. In addition to agency contacts, students can connect with elders through friends or extended families. Other extensions of the project include collecting stories from different populations; with Kapi'olani's increased focus on HIV/AIDS, people residing in hospice may be another source of stories. With an increased number of students and elders participating, an ongoing opportunity to reflect in community, also a feature of local style, will be available to students.

As a form of experiential education, service-learning offers a balanced interaction; ideally, students and elders in this project benefit equally. As a pedagogy, hopefully suggested in this narrative, service-learning benefits instructors by its compatibility with specific issues they wish to emphasize in their courses. Like writing, service-learning presents the opportunity to reflect recursively on the whole course and its effects on students' learning. And that is a powerful way of knowing.

Irena M. Levy

Welcome to English 100. This course offers opportunities for developing critical reading skills, analyzing expository essays, and practicing writing for various expository purposes. The course emphasis is on critical thinking, principles of effective organization, and elements of effective written communication.

This course assumes that, regardless of topic or purpose, all meaningful writing is a creative act involving exploration and insight through language and imagination. Therefore, real writing happens when a writer discovers what to say and how to say it; there are no rigid formulas. Sometimes, confusion and difficulty are normal feelings in the process of creation.

In this course it is expected that writers will continuously shape and revise their writing, using their uniqueness to meet each writing situation. When writing to communicate, good writing is an appropriate response to the specific writing situation. Creativity and communication are nurtured when writers write for themselves and for real readers. This English 100 course is structured as a workshop, not a lecture course, so success is based on every writer's commitment and effort. As a writer, your work is to actively participate in your learning by conscientiously practicing writing, completing reading assignments, being prepared for class, working actively with others, and submitting all formal assignments and homework regularly.

Because peer responding is a regular feature of this course, students come to rely on their writing groups for important feedback throughout the writing process. Responding to another's writing is a generous act which helps readers and writers. I will show you ways of giving and getting meaningful, constructive, and non-threatening responses. To create a positive writing environment, we will practice the values of our host culture: kuleana, lokahi, and malama. I will explain these terms early this semester.

As your writing instructor, my work is to facilitate the development of your writing. In English 100 I like to serve as a coach, responding in ways that move you forward toward each graded draft. Forms of assistance include: responding to your writing in progress, conferencing, giving specific suggestions where relevant for improvement, informing you of your grade in progress, and praising your strengths.

The purpose of this course is to assist you to write informatively and persuasively for academic and professional purposes. My goals for you as writers include: increased confidence in your writing; increased ability to assess a new writing task; discovery of a successful writing process reflecting your uniqueness.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to demonstrate your ability to write clear, correct, and concise university-level papers, including the competency to:

1. Make accurate and insightful observations (from experience, conversation, and readings).

2. Discover, gather, and select information.

3. Use the library to find source material when appropriate.

4. Limit and develop a subject.

5. Make valid generalizations and inferences to generate and support a thesis.

6. Abstract ideas from and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of written materials,

professional and/or peer.

7. Use the writing process to clarify ideas and develop new perspectives.

8. Organize ideas and evidence according to purpose and audience.

9. Evaluate one's own writing, considering purpose, audience, and tone.

10. Revise as necessary to improve unity, support, and organization.

11. Edit and proofread your own writing for Standard American English.

12. Work successfully in groups to build your skills in language and teamwork.

In this course you may substitute formal assignment #4 (the research paper) for a service-learning option. A national movement, service-learning encouraged students to serve their community by using what they are learning in their college courses. I hope you will participate in the service-learning project; details are coming to you in a separate handout.

What is it? In Service-Learning, you use what you are learning in a course to serve the nearby community in some way. For our course you will collect stories form someone, and you will re-create one of those stories in writing. This activity connects to language and literacy in oral and written forms.

Who is involved? You may be paired with an elderly resident of Honolulu, a medical patient, or someone else who has valuable stories to share.

Where and when? Once you have been paired, you will arrange hours and days. You should expect to put in 10-30 hours during the semester meeting with the storyteller and writing up at least one collected story. Campus meetings and workshops related to the Service-Learning Project will require additional time.

How does Service-Learning give me credit in my English class? To complete a service-learning project, you will

1) Meet regularly with your partners between 10-30 hours this semester, and write down the stories s/he shares with you; complete weekly a reflective learning log about your visit. If you complete this part with quality, you receive 25 bonus points for this activity.

2) Using the collected stories, and a little library research, you will re-create in writing one of the stories your partner shared with you. You will write up this story for a new audience--perhaps elementary school children, the family of your partner, or perhaps your classmates. The written story will be printed in a booklet for future use by other Service-Learning students. This story substitutes for the I-Search research project required in our course.

Why should you participate in service-learning? By volunteering in service to the community, you will be applying the skills you are building in English 100 to real life contexts, on behalf of people who need those services; you will make more connections to your learning, and it will be more meaningful to you. You may discover new skills and talents in yourself formerly unsuspected. You also will learn something more about the community. You will be healthier than people who don't volunteer (there's research on this). You will feel good about yourself.

How do I find out more about Service-Learning? Meet with me soon in my office. I can offer only 5 students this Service-Learning option. I look forward to discussing this learning option with you!

Robert Coles, noted professor, psychiatrist, and writer, defined Service-Learning at an April 1995 meeting of the American Association for Higher Education, as learning which transforms "ideas in the head to actions of the heart."

KCC's Mission statement for its year-old Service-Learning emphasis is to use Service-Learning to build on the unique cultural capabilities of the diverse student population and create stronger support systems for individuals confronting multiple risks. We need to recast Œrisks

to be feared into challenges to be faced' and see that no one has to
face them alone. Through community service and thoughtful
reflection students will help develop communities in central and east Honolulu, and empower themselves.

In English 100 I am offering a Service-Learning component of the course for the third time. While I strongly believe in the value of Service-Learning and would like to require it of every 100 students, this component is optional for very practical reasons. I am aware that not every student will be able to incorporate Service-Learning into his or her schedule. Nonetheless, I would like to ask students who might be interested in participating in this exciting, innovative, rewarding, and valuable project. Many KCC students found their Service-Learning Project option a satisfying and meaningful learning experience.

Service-Learning options might include tutoring, working with the elderly, helping youth at risk in after-school activities, working with teachers in classes, collecting oral histories, tutoring at the LAC, or working at the Waikiki Health Center.

A booklet describing many nonprofit organizations which welcome KCC's service-learning students is available for you to make your selection.

Connections between Service-Learning and Course Content

-make accurate and insightful observations

-discover, gather, and select information

-use the writing process to clarify ideas and develop new perspectives

Specifically, you will need to:

(1) commit yourself to a minimum of 20 hours (or 2 hours a week) per semester to a
community agency of your choice (there is no maximum)

(2) select an organization or site

(3) obtain my approval prior to contacting the organization

(4) attend campus-wide meetings conducted by the Service-Learning coordinators

(5) contact the agency regarding training, your responsibilities, your hours, etc.

(6) complete a Service-Learning Application; a University of Hawai'i Assumption of Risk, Release, and Waiver form; and a Service Agreement with Site Supervisor form

(7) keep regular and detailed journal entries that include your reflections about the
relationship between your experiences and the course content, your observations,
and your thoughts and feelings about the experience (I will give you more detailed
information on reflective journal writing.)

(8) agree to attend orientation/training sessions of your agency requires them

(9) share your project experiences in class

(10) write a final evaluation of the community service experience

Grading:

Your grade will depend upon your consistent participation in all aspects of the Service-Learning project, as listed above, and on the quality of your reflective journal. Your participation in this project may serve as the basis of all four papers, or any one of the four required papers. If you opt to use your service-learning as the basis for your research paper, you will be required to use fewer library resources. You will receive an additional 10% for participating in this project.

Schedule:

(1) Beginning of second week of class--your application is due

(2) End of second week--select an agency or site and make contact with a supervisor

(3) End of third week--confirmation of placement in an agency or at a site

(4) Weeks 4 -14--training and term of service

(5) Week 8--first portion of Reflective Journal due

(6) Week 15--agency evaluation due

(7) Week 16--Reflective journal due

You should choose Service-Learning as an option only if you are certain of your interest and certain that you have the time.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in this option.

		Service-Learning and the Humanities
		Business and Management
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