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Massachusetts Campus Compact is pleased to offer grants to Education faculty interested in revising or developing courses to include service-learning pedagogy as a key component of undergraduate and graduate-level teacher instruction. Grants are designed to support the INSTRUCTION of service-learning as a K-12 teaching and learning strategy rather than the USE of service-learning in the course structure. This awards program will support faculty members interested in teaching pre/inservice teachers about service-learning as a K-12 pedagogical approach. Seven $1,500 grants will be awarded to faculty to develop or revise courses that will be offered during the spring 2009 semester. In addition to the grant awards, faculty will receive training and technical assistance related to service-learning practice and syllabus construction. This project, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education, is designed to increase the number of K-12 teachers who understand service-learning and use it in their classrooms. Through investment in higher education faculty, Massachusetts Campus Compact and the Massachusetts Department of Education seek to develop more opportunities for Massachusetts teachers to learn about this effective teaching and learning strategy for engaging K-12 students.

Grant Opportunity for Education Faculty: Incorporating Service-Learning into Teacher Education Curriculum
April 2008

Applications are due June 2nd, 2008. Click here for information and the application.

Massachusetts Campus Compact Grant Opportunity for Education Faculty
Teacher Instruction on Community Service Learning
October 2007

Massachusetts Campus Compact is pleased to offer grants to Education faculty interested in revising or developing courses to include service-learning pedagogy as a key component of undergraduate and graduate-level teacher instruction. Seven $1,500 grants will be awarded to faculty to develop or revise courses that will be offered during the spring 2008 semester. In addition to the grant awards, faculty will receive training and technical assistance related to service-learning practice and syllabus construction. This project, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education, is designed to increase the number of K-12 teachers who understand service-learning and use it in their classrooms. This begins with teacher education. Through investment in higher education faculty, Massachusetts Campus Compact and the Massachusetts Department of Education seek to develop more opportunities for Massachusetts teachers to learn about this effective teaching and learning strategy for engaging K-12 students.

Faculty Participation Requirements:

• Incorporate service-learning instruction into a spring semester course.
  Service-learning content should be a substantive component of the course. Faculty will be required to submit a copy of the final course syllabus.
• Attend one full-day workshop.
  Tentatively scheduled for Thursday, November 8th at a Worcester location, the workshop will include training on service-learning pedagogy, an overview of resources for service-learning instruction, time for course construction, technical assistance, etc. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Funding to offset the cost of travel is included in the faculty award.
• Host a departmental brown-bag lunch.
  During the spring semester, faculty will be asked to host a department gathering to discuss service-learning instruction within the department. Massachusetts Campus Compact will provide lunch and facilitation.
• Complete an end-of-term report.
  Faculty will be asked to submit a brief report on an evaluation of the course and achievement of educational objectives.
• Take advantage of technical assistance as necessary.

Resources and Support:

• $1,500 faculty award for time and other costs associated with syllabus revision
• High quality training on service-learning pedagogy
• Technical assistance for course construction
• Service-learning publications for individual faculty and department use
• Funding for faculty/K12 teacher teams to attend the Massachusetts Department of Education's annual Service-Learning Conference

MACC's 2007 Service-Learning in Teacher Education Initiative

View award winners.

Ann Benjamin, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Will be revising a course in Child Development and Assessment to include service-learning instruction. The course encourages appreciation of the interrelatedness of theory, research, and applications, including instruction on anti-bias curriculum and discussion about the role of children and teachers as change agents. Students will be engaged in planning and carrying out service-learning projects as part of their work in linking theory to practice.

"Helping pre-service teachers appreciate the reciprocal nature of service learning (and related civic activities, such as philanthropy, community service, volunteerism, etc.) may increase the likelihood that new teachers will incorporate similar activity into their work when they become teachers themselves."

Margaret Bouchard, Associate Professor, Education, Worcester State College
Will be revising a course in Elementary Reading, Language Arts and Literature to involve students in the planning and implementation of service-learning projects with elementary school students. The course, which provides pre-service teachers with a strong foundation in current knowledge, perspectives and procedures for teaching literacy, will demonstrate the use of service-learning as an effective teaching strategy through hands-on experience.

Ricardo Dobles, Assistant Professor, Education, College of the Holy Cross
Will revise a course, Schooling in the United States, to link service-learning instruction to theories of learning, theories of educational inequalities and philosophies of education to provide students with a community-based context for applying theory.

Sue Fan Foo, Assistant Professor, Education, Worcester State College
Will revise a course in early literacy for young children to include instruction on service-learning as an educational tool for supporting literacy education. The course, providing skills and techniques for presenting emergent reading and teaching early literacy to young children, will engage pre-service teachers in the design of a service-learning home/school project.

John Giordano, Associate Professor, Art Education, Massachusetts College of Art
Will revise a course titled: Exhibitions: Concept, Context, Audience. Students will be engaged in the development of a service-learning gallery education project with a middle school class to encourage learning about how service-learning/civic engagement both augments the objectives of the art curriculum and introduces a hands-on way for art to encourage a commitment to providing learning environments in which young learners use the visual arts to address complex issues and problems.

Daren Graves, Assistant Professor and Director, Urban Elementary Master's Program, Simmons College
Will revise a course focused on urban education to offer students pedagogical and curricular tools to create a classroom culture that will affirm and allow students to explore their racial/ethnic identities and to build the skills and philosophy of learning and teaching that will enable teachers to become change agents in their schools and students' communities. Course revision will help urban school teachers incorporate service-learning into their practice.

"If urban school teachers can incorporate service learning into their curricula, this will be an important first step in helping teachers forge connections between their students' home and school cultures in meaningful ways."

Molly Munkatchy, Assistant Professor of Education, Western New England College
Will revise a Principles and Problems in Education course to include instruction in service-learning pedagogy. The course explores a variety of historical and contemporary issues in educations which are examined through the perspective of a diverse group of stakeholders, including families of K-6 students. Service-learning instruction will focus on service-learning as a strategy for building connections between schools and families.

Sample Syllabi: Sample 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Training and Conference Photos