Institute on Academic Service-Learning at
the St. John’s Staten Island Campus
On January 22, 74
people attended the Institute on Academic Service-Learning,
co-sponsored by St. John’s University’s Office of Academic
Service-Learning (AS-L) and New York Campus Compact. While the
Office of AS-L has hosted many Certificate Programs in the past,
this year’s Institute was unique in two ways: It was the first time
it was held at the Staten Island campus, and it included 2 distinct
groups of educators: K12 teachers, pre-service teachers and
administrators, and higher education faculty and
administrators.
The Institute was
co-facilitated by Dr. Edward Zlotkowski, Professor of English at
Bentley University, who is known nationally and internationally in
the field of service-learning and founded the Bentley
Service-Learning Center, and Dr. Julie Carter, Associate Professor
and Coordinator of Adolescent Education, Department of Curriculum
and Instruction, at St. John’s University. Dr. Zlotkowski focused
on AS-L in higher education, and Dr. Carter focused on AS-L in K12
education. Some parts of the Institute brought the whole group
together, while other parts of the Institute had the 2 distinct
groups of educators work with their respective facilitators.
“This was an important educational opportunity for faculty and
teachers because it allowed us to work with multiple strands in
education – kindergarten through graduate. Very few educational
workshops do this,” said Dr. Zlotkowski.
Institute
participants were welcomed by Dr. Jerrold Ross, Executive Vice
President for the Staten Island Campus, and Dean of the School of
Education, and Lynn Stravino, Director of Academic
Service-Learning. During the morning session, Drs. Zlotkowski
and Carter gave an overview of the Academic Service-Learning
pedagogy. The overview included a discussion of the place of AS-L
and civic engagement in education. Dr. Regina Mistretta,
Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Department of
Curriculum and Instruction, St. John’s University School of
Education, then facilitated a session about community partnerships.
During the session, Dr. Sandra Abrams, Assistant Professor,
Department of Curriculum and Instruction and representatives from
the non-profit organization, Lifestyles for the Disabled, along
with Dr. Julie Carter and a representative from PS 189M, spoke
about their partnerships. Dr. Mistretta commented, “The
professional learning community atmosphere cultivated at the
Faculty Institute provided a means for both the Staten Island
campus and neighboring community to collaborate on ways to learn
while serving.”
In the afternoon,
Dr. Zlotkowski and Jessica Cook, Associate Director of Academic
Service-Learning, led a session about the role of reflection, and
facilitated a group case study exercise. After the case study, Drs.
Zlotkowski and Carter led the group in redesigning courses they
currently teach to include AS-L. Individuals or small groups
developed ideas for AS-L projects that were in line with course
learning objectives, and included the principles of reciprocal
community partnerships. During this highly interactive exercise,
all Institute participants redesigned courses and then gave
feedback to other participants about their own courses.
Finally, Dr. Laurie Worrall, Executive Director of New York
Campus Compact, led a wrap up and reflection on the
day. Loreta Anderson, Ed.D (St. John’s University, 2011), a
teacher at the Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, wrote,
“Thank you…for providing us with such a unique and necessary
experience. We truly enjoyed learning about AS-L in such an
intellectually stimulating and very welcoming
environment.”
For any questions regarding the Faculty Institute or the St.
John’s AS-L program, please contact Lynn Stravino, Director of
Academic Service-Learning, stravinl@stjohns.edu, (718)
990-7902.