Modeling Mutuality through Critical Service-Learning for Graduate Students Studying Higher Education

Program History

Recognizing a need to engage graduate students in more hands on experience in social justice and advocacy, two faculty along with several graduate students designed a course that drew from a traditional introductory student affairs course and a history of the college student experience course. The faculty members collaborated to develop a course that would review both topics through a social justice and advocacy lens, aligning the curriculum with professional standards of social justice and inclusion (ACPA & NASPA, 2015). The new course would include a critical service-learning project that would demonstrate mutuality in service (Rhoads, 1997). The critical service-learning course became a required component to complement an introduction to the field of higher education administration and student affairs. The course topics include the historical and philosophical foundations of the field, changes and trends in the college student population over time, issues/challenges that face practitioners, and professional ethics and standards. The intent of the course coupled with the service-learning component is to encourage students to consider and enact social justice values that are central to the higher education profession. Through the dialogue around social justice, students learn from each other about their strengths and blind spots around social justice in higher education.

Partnership

Through an established critical service-learning partnership, graduate students are learning from TRIO about disparities in college access and the underlying causes; they are working with high school and undergraduate TRIO students to develop educational programs that counteract barriers to access and success; and they are building on direct service with TRIO by advocating for social justice in higher education. Together, TRIO and graduate students in the student affairs program course are working toward the “collaborative generation, refinement, conservation, and exchange of mutually beneficial and socially relevant knowledge that lies at the heart of community engaged work” (NC State’s commitment to community engagement).

Partners for the service-learning experience were intentionally chosen. TRIO programs have a long history at NC State and have a national reputation of providing support, care, and concern for students who are underserved and underrepresented. Furthermore, some TRIO staff at NC State were also alumni of the academic program. Having TRIO staff familiar with the academic program would not be a requirement, but at the same time allowed for a mutual understanding of the goals of the course and how TRIO supported those goals.

The primary role of the graduate students is to work with the TRIO staff in planning and implementing an annual conference that serves their pre-college and current college students. Immersed in conference planning, the graduate students learn about the TRIO programs from the program’s staff and current students. Working closely with the TRIO staff and students also prompts students to critically evaluate the historical and contemporary effects of key issues and events in the US higher education history on diverse student populations and the higher education and student affairs profession and identify the issues, concerns, and needs of diverse student populations. Guided critical reflections are also required as students engage in service-learning with the intent for the students to document their thoughts and beliefs around access for and inclusion of diverse college student populations.

Project Overview

The critical service-learning project produces a tangible outcome—a half-day college access and success conference that takes place during a weekend in the fall semester. Students enrolled in EAC 540 are expected to work with the TRIO professional staff in planning and implementing the conference for TRIO pre-college and college students. Each summer, faculty members meet with TRIO programs to discuss funding, scheduling, and expectations for the upcoming semester. TRIO professional staff and EAC 540 faculty members also discuss what went well and what did not during the previous semester. This conversation informs what faculty members share during the first day of class with the new EAC 540 students.

On the first day of class, the course faculty discuss the expectations for the critical service-learning project, reviewing the origination and rationale of the program. On the second day of class, TRIO staff engage with the students in the graduate class and present a review of TRIO programs and additional information on how this partnership supports the goals of TRIO programs. TRIO staff share their expectations for presentations to cover topics that promote academic success, financial literacy, and holistic wellness for their students.

A few weeks later in the semester, current TRIO students are invited to visit the EAC 540 class to work with EAC 540 students on developing a conference workshop. Each 540 student is required to submit two workshop proposals. The current TRIO students who visit the class assist the graduate students by giving honest feedback while helping with catchy titles and relevant topics. Submitted workshop proposals are then reviewed by the TRIO staff and EAC 540 conference chairs. Proposals are revised and assigned to a specified audience of pre-college or collegiate students. Pre-college students involved with TRIO programs are from local middle and high schools while the college students in TRIO programs are current college students enrolled at NC State.

The conference takes place in an academic building on campus providing exposure to the collegiate environment to TRIO high school visitors. EAC 540 students present programs on relevant topics including financial literacy, study skills, college choice, and other topics that meet students’ needs. They present in peer groups and in some instances with current TRIO students. The conference ends at lunch where graduate students and TRIO students eat together and reflect on their joint experience. The formal dialogue during the workshops and informal conversations during lunch provide opportunities to talk about personal experiences with access to higher education. What both TRIO students and the graduate students learn from each other in these conversations extend topics about how the student affairs profession identifies the issues, concerns, and needs of diverse student populations throughout the EAC 540 curriculum. At the conclusion of the conference, EAC 540 students submit guided critical reflections regarding what resonated with them about access for and inclusion of diverse college student populations.

Student Growth

In addition to documenting the development and growth of the partnership, we sought to understand students’ perceptions of their social justice behaviors. Students engage in traditional content in the course through readings, discussion, and course activities; learn about the TRIO program from TRIO staff and students; and participate in a critical service-learning experience. Students are asked to complete the Social Justice Attitudes Scale (Torres-Harding et al., 2012) prior to discussing the role of the class. The Social Justice Attitudes Scale is a 24-item scale composed of four subscales: attitudes toward social justice, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and behavioral intentions. The purpose of the scale is to measure attitudes: how students view social justice efforts and their perceived ability to make impact, what kind of environment students are in and how those around them support or discourage and participate in social justice related efforts, and future intentions to engage in social justice. Students respond on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree assigning points on a range from 1 to 7 respectively.

Prior to any class discussions about social justice, students were asked to complete the Social Justice Attitudes Scale. When comparing the pretest and posttest means, there were positive gains in every question item. In 9 of the 24 questions, the increases were found to be statistically significant (P < .05). Students demonstrated the most growth in perceived behavioral control suggesting that students felt more strongly about having the ability to make an impact. Class discussions and reflections submitted to the instructors suggest the critical service-learning experience provided them with the opportunity to make change therefore building their confidence and social justice agency.

In addition to understanding the student’s growth through the Social Justice Attitudes Scale, we captured students’ experiences through critical reflections. Research shows that the deepest learning occurs when students meaningfully reflect upon their experiences. In Daudelin’s (1996) “Learning from Experience through Reflection,” reflection is defined as “the process of stepping back from an experience to ponder, carefully and persistently, its meaning to the self through the development of inferences,” and learning as an outgrowth of reflection is “the creation of meaning from past or current events that serves as a guide for future behavior” (p. 39). Students were asked to reflect periodically through the semester describing their experiences (What?), why the experiences were significant (So What?), and what they will do in light of what they learned from them (Now What?). The reflection posts follow the DEAL model (Ash et al., 2008), which directly connects to the what, so what, and now what questions: (1) description of your experiences, (2) examination of your experiences (through personal, academic, and professional lenses), and (3) articulation of learning (in each of the above areas). Students offer reflections on the service project, course readings, course discussions, course activities, and more.

Students were encouraged to practice critical reflection throughout the course and were held accountable by requiring students to submit a total of six reflections. Reflections demonstrated the breadth and depth across student experiences. While some students reflected on personal biases about the demographic of students TRIO serves and acknowledged the role their attitudes and beliefs play in their preparation to work alongside students of difference, others expressed the personal familiarity with TRIO student experiences and affirmed their purpose for choosing to work in a higher education setting. Overall students positively reflected on this experience as one that would influence their perspectives on equity for the remainder of their studies and careers.

Mutual Benefits

The purpose of the collaboration between the EAC Class and TRIO Programs is twofold: (1) for pre-college and collegiate TRIO students to participate in a college access and success conference and (2) for masters-level students to engage in the creation and implementation of college access workshops for pre-college and collegiate students. As the graduate students prepare the conference, they increase their knowledge about students from marginalized backgrounds similar and different to their own experiences and increase their awareness of TRIO programs and alike that aim to serve students from diverse and underserved backgrounds. In many cases, we also observe the long-term benefits of participating in this critical service-learning experience. Recent alumni have shared how this experience sparked their involved in social justice advocacy in their professional and personal lives. Equally important, TRIO programs acknowledges the benefit of having a group of eager students to share their experiences with their peers who attend the conference. The interactions between the graduate students and TRIO students reflect the value TRIO places on developing meaningful relationships.

Conclusion and Implications

Student affairs educators are sometimes called to voice the concerns of their students to administration and can become advocates for social justice on their campuses. Students academically preparing for these roles in their master’s programs must be prepared to address matters of social justice with an evolving student demographic who is familiar with speaking out about issues important to them. Student affairs programs must offer courses that practically prepare students to enter student affairs positions. This course offered the rich historical and theoretical context of students in postsecondary education while also supporting student skill development in advocacy for change. Understanding how to positively contribute to conversations about inequities that are still common in education is an important skill. The mutual partnership with TRIO programs and the Higher Education graduate students models the reflective journey for transforming social justice values to action.

We identified three implications for student affairs programs. First, we believe critical service-learning is an effective strategy to bridge the theory to practice gap. Students in the course have the opportunity to read and reflect on the historical inequities in postsecondary education and then work to address those inequities. Second, this collaboration between the graduate students and TRIO lead to mutually beneficial outcomes. Student participants in this project exhibit positive change in their social justice attitudes and express meaningful learning outcomes through their reflection pieces. TRIO is able to offer their undergraduate students highly developed workshops at an annual conference. This exchange is reflective of the power of practicing social justice advocacy moving the focus beyond community service and living out Robert Rhoads’ mantra to “work with rather than working for” in critical service-learning. Mutuality is a powerful tool to learn to understand and enact in graduate school. Finally, in a current environment where inequities across social systems, including education, have been elevated, we are confident that critical service-learning experiences equip participants to move beyond reflection and act.