First year student perspectives of service-learning: Cultivating cosmopolitan literacies

Abstract: In service-learning research and theory, researchers stress the importance of connecting classroom learning with service, integrating reflection into the service-learning cycle, and enabling community partners to meet their own needs with student engagement projects (Bringle & Hatcher 1995; Butin, 2005; Halsed & Schine 1994; Jacoby, 1996) Since the rise in popularity of service-learning in the early 1990’s, scholars have claimed that students who engage in service-learning courses would develop a heightened sense of responsibility and civic engagement (Butin, 2015; Eby 1998; Honnet & Poulsen 1989; Jacoby, 2015; Locklin & Posman 2016), but scholarly publications focused primarily on student perspectives of this pedagogy are sparse. Utilizing a practitioner narrative inquiry methodology, the purpose of this project is to explore student perspectives of community engagement in their First Year Seminar course, specifically in relation to the development of cosmopolitan literacies. This roundtable discussion will focus on input and feedback.

Narrative: This input & feedback focused roundtable will be centered on the dissertation research I am currently conducting to complete my doctoral work in Literacy, Language, & Culture Education. The purpose of the study is to examine the development of cosmopolitan literacies in students enrolled in a service-learning course for first year students at a midsized private university in an urban, midwestern context.
My primary question is:
How do first year students develop cosmopolitan literacies through a service-learning humanities course that emphasizes the Newcomer experience?
Based on that focus, I have articulated two questions:
1. What scaffolding activities cultivate the conditions for students to develop and engage cosmopolitan literacies?
2. In what ways do students express their developing cosmopolitan literacies in their projects, reflections, and discussions?
The conceptual foundation of the project is based in cosmopolitan literacies as articulated by Appiah (2008). He defines cosmopolitanism: "We should begin by insisting that cosmopolitanism is a double-stranded tradition: in a slogan, it is universality plus difference" (p. 92). Understanding the universal truths of being human—each person eats, breathes, and has needs, while simultaneously appreciating that each human may do those things differently is the essence of rooted cosmopolitanisms.

While the study addresses the problematics of universality, the focus rests on linking cosmopolitan literacies in the university context to the 21st Century Skills movement’s 21st century student outcomes and support systems (2009) supported in high school curricula and student learning objectives related to civic engagement. As critical thinking and research skills are further developed and honed in college, global awareness and civic literacy skills also must continue to grow in parallel so that we, as a society, have future professionals who are well-rounded, empathetic professionals and leaders. Halsted & Schine (1996) summarize that, “the most important reason to encourage service may be because it teaches young people to be caring, compassionate human beings” (p. 255). Students need to understand their learning contextualized in ways that show them the implications their ideas and work in the lives of real people in different communities throughout the world, as well as their own. Professionals across all fields need to understand the nuances of global English; respect the customs, holidays, and work standards of global coworkers and collaborators; and see how local and national decisions impact those complex relationships. Cosmopolitan literacies address those needs. As students further develop cosmopolitan literacies through their service-learning courses, their own experiences inform, accentuate, and enhance the foundation upon which those future relationships are built. The “narrative imagination” (Nussbaum, 1998) developed as part of cosmopolitan literacies is essential to cultivating that compassionate world.

This research project has been designed utilizing a combination of practitioner inquiry and narrative inquiry. The stories that are being analyzed are gleaned from student work products submitted to assignments during the 2022-2023 academic year. The study is IRB approved at both the university where I am completing my doctorate and the university where I currently teach as a senior lecturer, ensuring that measures to protect student identities and support ethical research are followed. I am currently beginning the data analysis process utilizing Braun & Clarke’s (2006) narrative thematic analysis approach.

With the purpose of this roundtable as input and feedback, the majority of the time will be allocated towards discussion. I will give a brief summary of the study and then invite questions to further guide the session.

References:
Appiah, K. A. (2008). Education for global citizenship. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 107(1), 83-99.

Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3, p. 77-101.

Halsted, A. L. & Schine, J. C. (1994). Service learning: The promise and the risk. New England Journal of Public Policy, 10(1), 258-258.

Nussbaum, M. (1998). Cultivating humanity. Liberal Education, 84(2), 38-45.

Ohio Department of Education. (2016). Partnership for 21st century skills-core content integration. Partnership for 21st century skills. https://www.marietta.edu/sites/default/files/documents/21st_century_skills_standards_book_2.pdf