Service learning / en Celebrating 10 years of leadership and civic engagement: 91Թ's Centre for Community Partnerships /news/celebrating-10-years-leadership-and-civic-engagement-u-ts-centre-community-partnerships <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Celebrating 10 years of leadership and civic engagement: 91Թ's Centre for Community Partnerships </span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-02-01T03:29:03-05:00" title="Monday, February 1, 2016 - 03:29" class="datetime">Mon, 02/01/2016 - 03:29</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(all photos and video courtesy the Centre for Community Partnerships)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sarah-ryeland" hreflang="en">Sarah Ryeland</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Sarah Ryeland</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/future-students" hreflang="en">Future Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/service-learning" hreflang="en">Service learning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/community" hreflang="en">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Strengthening neighbourhoods, building communities</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>“These kids are my neighbours,” says <strong>Yusuf Yusuf</strong>.&nbsp;“We grew up on the same street, so I feel like I can relate. Kids in the area are saying ‘I’m not going to university.’</p> <p>“So we brought them to the University, showed them around and said ‘there are people like you here – people making change.’ Right there you see it has an effect on them.”</p> <p>Yusuf walked into the<a href="http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/ccp/10th-anniversary"> Centre for Community Partnerships</a> office in his second year at the 91Թ to speak with someone about how to get involved, and discovered that 91Թ students were already working in his own neighbourhood.&nbsp;</p> <p>Now in his fourth year of studying medical radiation sciences, Yusuf serves as co-chair of the Student and Alumni Advisory Committee – a group that evaluates CCP programming and gives feedback to the department – and a CCP student staff outreach coordinator, organizing volunteer mentors at schools in his neighbourhood.</p> <p><img alt="photo of female student showing little kids how to use power drill " src="/sites/default/files/2016-02-01-power-tools.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 425px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <p>Combining community service with coursework and reflection, the goal of CPP is to use in-class material and co-curricular community-engaged learning to enhance students’ leadership development skills and commitment to civic engagement.</p> <p>On January 21, more than 150 students, staff, alumni, faculty and community partners gathered to show their appreciation for the decade of important work done at the Centre, whose staff works with faculty and community agencies to develop academic courses taught with a service-learning approach.</p> <p>President <strong>Meric Gertler </strong>started the evening off by thanking the hundreds of community organizations that partner with the Centre and have provided placements for more than 18,000 students over the past decade. He also praised the CCP for encouraging students to become civically-minded individuals and advancing his priorities for 91Թ students.</p> <p>“Whether it be for a day or a year, all the students involved have been given the opportunity to meet new people and to face unique challenges,” said Gertler (pictured below with CCP students). “They’ve discovered meaningful ways to apply their skills and knowledge to real world scenarios.</p> <p>“They’ve also gained a new perspective on their academic work and a renewed sense of civic engagement which, as you know, is one of my very highest priorities for this university.”</p> <p><img alt="photo of Gertler with students" src="/sites/default/files/2016-02-01-gertler-students-embed.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 400px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <p><strong>Alison Chan</strong>’s first experience with Service Learning was as an undergraduate and urban studies major, enrolled in INI235 - A Multidisciplinary Introduction to Urban Studies. The course incorporated community-engaged learning by placing its students in local grassroots or non-profit organizations for a period of about eight weeks and she was placed in a community centre in Parkdale as a children’s tutor.</p> <p>Since then, Chan (pictured below) has gone on to be a national coordinator for Girl Guides of Canada, and has served on the board of directors for three non-profit organizations.</p> <p><img alt="photo of Chan" src="/sites/default/files/2016-02-01-ccp-chan.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 400px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <p>“Many of the residents who came to the centre had fascinating life stories filled with trials and barriers,” she says. “When you take the time to understand each person’s life story, you begin to understand root causes as well as the complexities of common social issues and why the work of these organizations is so important in supporting these residents.</p> <p>“As clichéd as this may sound, I sometimes wonder how differently my life would have turned out if I had never participated in service learning,” she says. “There is no lecture or textbook that could have given me the skills and insight that I gained through my service learning experience.”&nbsp;</p> <p>For <strong>Angie Hocking</strong>, an outreach coordinator at Toronto’s Church of the Redeemer, community service fosters reciprocal relationship.</p> <p>“We see our role as two-fold: doing this important work while also educating students who are going to be working soon. They’re the people who are going to be making change and they’re the ones who’ll have important voices.&nbsp;</p> <p>“So if they’ve had experiences like this in their lives, that’s going to change how they look at politics, how they look at their neighbours, how they care for each other. We really see it as integral to our calling and what our work is – to be a place of hope for our community.”&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="photo of student reading to little kids" src="/sites/default/files/2016-02-01-ccp-little-kids.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 399px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <h2><a href="http://studentlife.utoronto.ca/ccp/10th-anniversary">Learn more about the Centre for Community Partnerships&nbsp;</a></h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><iframe allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LGpSbxMYLq0" width="560"></iframe></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2016-02-01-ccp-group.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 01 Feb 2016 08:29:03 +0000 sgupta 7622 at How urban studies led the way in community engagement, service learning for undergrads /news/how-urban-studies-led-way-community-engagement-service-learning-undergrads <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">How urban studies led the way in community engagement, service learning for undergrads</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-10-02T09:15:27-04:00" title="Friday, October 2, 2015 - 09:15" class="datetime">Fri, 10/02/2015 - 09:15</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Shauna Brail (photo by Darren Calabrese)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/peter-boisseau" hreflang="en">Peter Boisseau</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Peter Boisseau</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/features" hreflang="en">Features</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/teaching" hreflang="en">Teaching</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/service-learning" hreflang="en">Service learning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/learning" hreflang="en">Learning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innis-college" hreflang="en">Innis College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/education" hreflang="en">Education</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/community" hreflang="en">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">“Using those skills you are learning in school and then applying them in practice was a superbly valuable experience,” alumnus says</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Just over 40 years ago, a bold alliance of city builders scaled the ivy-covered walls of the 91Թ and planted the seeds of the urban studies program.</p> <p>Now the program is a catalyst in a dynamic new landscape for the university, students and city.</p> <p>Firmly rooted in community engagement and experiential learning, the program has placed over 300 volunteers and interns at non-profits, civic services and community organizations over the past five years alone.</p> <p>Many of its graduates are playing key roles in a new era of urban transformation, starting their own non-profits, working in government and the private sector and running community initiatives.</p> <p>“If we look at where all of those students are and the contribution collectively that they are making, it is really very impressive,” said <strong>Shauna Brail</strong>, a graduate of the urban studies program and associate professor, teaching stream.</p> <p>“They are really starting to make a difference in terms of some of the issues at the forefront, the things that make for a good, strong healthy city.”</p> <h2><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/rise-of-the-teaching-class-changing-makeup-of-canadasuniversities/article26603696/">Read <em>The Globe and Mail </em>story on Shauna Brail and the rise of teaching</a></h2> <p>Brail directed the experiential learning initiatives for urban studies for the past decade, and is widely acknowledged as the driving force behind the program’s growth.</p> <p>Enrolment has more than doubled since she arrived in 2005, to about 200 students today. Although relatively small and lean, the program exerts an influence well beyond its size and boasts a number of distinctions.</p> <p>Founded at Innis College in 1974, urban studies is the oldest college-based academic program at 91Թ, and its internship course is the longest running at the university. The program’s second-year gateway course – Multidisciplinary Approaches to Urban Studies – is the largest experiential learning course in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science.</p> <p>The program has a strong reputation for collaboration both within and outside the university.</p> <p>Other departments and even universities from the United States seek out urban studies instructors for their expertise in creating hands-on learning experiences, and the program’s growing legacy of building bridges to key initiatives in the city has not gone unnoticed.</p> <p>Brail was recently tabbed by 91Թ President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong> –&nbsp;a long-time champion of the program – as a special adviser charged with helping faculty and departments from all three university campuses to connect with surrounding communities. (<a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/urban-advisers-forge-stronger-links-between-u-t-and-city-expand-opportunities-students">Read more about the urban affairs&nbsp;advisers</a>.)</p> <p>“One of the top priorities I’ve articulated for the 91Թ is to strengthen our contribution to city-building in the urban region we’re privileged to call home,” said Gertler.</p> <p>“So I’m absolutely delighted that Shauna Brail has agreed to take on the task of coordinating the efforts of our academic community to that end.”</p> <p>Brail and the program hope to add to the contributions they are already making to city-building, playing key roles in everything from the revitalization of Regent Park – Canada's oldest and largest social housing project – to promising new citizen-based initiatives that are just getting started.</p> <p>(<em>Below: Regent Park during demolition, January 2015/photo by Timothy Neesam via Flickr</em>)</p> <p><img alt="photo of Regent Park during redevelopment" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-01-urban-studies-regent-park.jpg" style="width: 625px; height: 417px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <p>All of which makes it hard to believe there was a time when the urban studies program had to struggle for its very survival.</p> <p>The program grew out of a groundswell of citizen participation and community-based development in Toronto in the 1970s, recalls former director<strong> Patricia Petersen</strong>.</p> <p>From its beginnings, the urban studies program went against the grain. The college system had not originally been intended to run academic programs, and Innis College enlisted reform-minded councillors such as Jack Layton to help set up and teach the curriculum.</p> <p>Petersen says it was an attempt to connect the university to the rapidly changing world outside its ivory towers, but the program had to hang on through some lean years as enrollment fluctuated, kept alive largely by the efforts of then-college principal <strong>Frank Cunningham</strong> and supporters such as Gertler, an urban geography professor at the time.</p> <p>“Our message always was: “Guys, the world is urbanizing. Toronto is growing up,’” says Petersen.</p> <p>The program’s multidisciplinary approach – students have to take courses in related departments such as&nbsp;geography to complete their degree – is a key strength, and a turning point came in 2006 when urban studies was allowed offer a minor.</p> <p><img alt="photo of Tony De Franco" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-tony-de-franco.jpg" style="width: 275px; height: 275px; margin: 10px; float: right;">The minor has generated hundreds of enrolments since its inception, attracting the likes of former student <strong>Tony De Franco</strong>, now working on several downtown city renewal initiatives as a planner with Urban Strategies.</p> <p>De Franco (pictured at right)&nbsp;did his urban studies internship at the city’s planning department before going on to take his master’s degree and starting his career.</p> <p>“Toronto is its own kind of urban laboratory – it’s incredibly diverse – and so using those skills you are learning in school and then applying them in practice was a superbly valuable experience,” he says.</p> <p>The fourth-year internships are the most sought-after in the program, an academically rigorous combination of seminars, course readings, written assignments and eight hours a week at a work placement outside the university.</p> <p>Brail had 45 applications this year for 20 placements, which are reserved for the highest achievers. The course also provides some of the most important “win-win” relationships between the city and the university.</p> <p>“The students get to see what the bump and grind of politics is all about, and we get to interact with the academic and intellectual rigour that these students can provide,” said Toronto Councillor Joe Mihevc, who has taken on several interns over the years.</p> <p>“If we want to have a more thoughtful approach to city-building, I think these kinds of relationships are really important.”</p> <p>Urban studies graduate <strong>David Fitzpatrick</strong> interned at the city’s planning office in 2006 and now works as special projects coordinator in the chief planner’s office.</p> <p>“The internship not only gave me great insight into how the city actually works, but now I work professionally side by side with people I met while I was interning.”</p> <p>Brail worked in economic development for the province and in the private sector – where she connected with the late city-building guru David Pecaut, among others – before a retiring Petersen encouraged her to apply for her job in 2005.</p> <p><em>(Below: Regent Park community housing manager Barry Thomas speaks with Urban Studies students/photo by Brianna Goldberg)</em><img alt="image of students at regent park" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-regent-park-1.jpg" style="width: 680px; height: 453px; margin: 10px;"></p> <p>She arrived with the goal of diversifying the internship course, and now places students in a range of city planning and economic development offices, as well as non-profits and community groups such as The Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), Jane’s Walk, the United Way, Evergreen Cityworks, the Centre for Learning and Development in Regent Park, and research organizations such as&nbsp;91Թ's&nbsp;<a href="http://martinprosperity.org/">Martin Prosperity Institute</a>.</p> <p>Many of those relationships were forged by Brail after attending events or making cold calls to organizations she identified as a good fit for students, the program’s academic goals and the city’s needs.</p> <p>The ripple of benefits for both students and the city has been undeniable.</p> <p>“Shauna Brail came to me and said we can give you a student for a year,” recalls Tonya Surman, the CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI), which provides work space and support for startups with a social mission.</p> <p>“That was around 2006, and at that time we only had three staff, so having one more set of hands, even for a day a week, was huge” for CSI, which now boasts 50 staff and includes 800 organizations in three Toronto locations, generating 1,700 jobs and $250 million in revenue a year.</p> <p>As an intern, <strong>Erin Kang</strong> was involved with the opening of CSI’s Regent Park office, which Surman calls a “beautiful example” of the synergy between the academic work Kang did as a student with the centre’s mission.</p> <p>Now she is CSI’s events coordinator and one of Surman’s key staff members.</p> <p>(<em>Below, Kang talks about her experience with experiential learning and how it helped her put her education to practical use during the launch of the Council of Ontario Universities report, Bringing Life to Learning at Ontario Universities last year/photo courtesy the Council of Ontario Universitie</em>s)</p> <p><img alt="photo of Erin Kang" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-erin-kang.jpg" style="width: 625px; height: 417px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> <p>“That’s why the internship program was so valuable,” said Kang. “A lot of it is all about making connections, and those connections result in a lot of their own ripple effects.”</p> <p>Since finding her calling at CSI, Kang notes she’s also built relationships with many other parts of 91Թ, such as student groups at the Rotman School of Management, the 91Թ Alumni Association and the 91Թ&nbsp;Scarborough.</p> <p><img alt="photo of Matt Blackett" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-matt-blackett-spacing.jpg" style="width: 275px; height: 275px; margin: 10px; float: right;">Another Centre for Social Innovation “alum” is&nbsp;<strong>Matt Blackett</strong> – publisher and creative director of <em>Spacing Magazine </em>and store (pictured at right at&nbsp;<em>Spacing</em>'s first anniversary.)</p> <p>Blackett&nbsp;is another who counts his relationship with Brail and the urban studies program as an important connection.</p> <p>“One of the great things about the people who come to us from this program is they have very strong research skills and a pretty deep knowledge of urbanism,” said Blackett, noting that many still contribute to the civic-minded publication.</p> <p>“They are all people just like us who care about the city and are trying to improve it.”</p> <p>The popularity of the internships with both placement organizations and students alike led to the creation of another experiential learning stream in 2009. To give students an earlier exposure to the concept, the program’s second-year introductory course was expanded from 40 to about 100 students and a new “service learning” option added. Brail teamed up with 91Թ’s <a href="http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/ccp">Centre for Community Partnerships</a> which provided&nbsp;support to the program.</p> <p>Now referred to as “Community Integrated Learning,” service learning was meant to match community needs with learning experiences. This past year, the program placed 54 students at 15 non-profit organizations such as food banks, shelters, community centres and neighbourhood associations.</p> <p>(<em>Image below: Brail with students at food bank/courtesy Donna Santos</em>)</p> <p><img alt="Phioto of Shauna Brail at food bank with students" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-brail-food-bank-sized.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 399px; margin: 10px 35px;"></p> <p>Every student placed at an organization spends 12 hours volunteering and writes a reflective journal about their experiences that integrates what they learned at the placement with course readings and materials. Well over half of all students choose the service learning option each year, said Brail.</p> <p>“It excites them in terms of being able to understand concepts we’re talking about in class and to contribute to the city.”</p> <p>A study she did based on a review of 31 reflective journals submitted by students over a three-year period (2009-2011) concluded experiential service learning creates ongoing benefits for students and placements alike, a fact urban studies graduates continue to demonstrate.</p> <p><strong>Taylor Brydges</strong> did her service learning placement at the Fort York Food Bank and her internship at the Martin Prosperity Institute.</p> <p>She continued to volunteer at the food bank for several years after her placement, and wrote her undergrad thesis on the gentrification of the surrounding neighbourhood. Brydges later wrote her master's&nbsp;thesis on fashion retailers in the area and worked as a researcher for the institute after her internship.</p> <p><em>(Below: Urban Studies students walk through a development area of Regent Park/photo by Brianna Goldberg)</em><img alt="students walk through regent park" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-regent-park-2.jpg" style="width: 680px; height: 486px; margin: 10px;"></p> <p>Now doing her PhD at Uppsala University in Sweden on the Canadian fashion industry, Brydges says experiential learning is where she really saw the rubber hit the road.</p> <p>“Urban studies facilitated those opportunities for me. And faculty like Shauna are still some of my biggest mentors and supporters. They just care about their students.”</p> <p>Brail says the work that goes into supporting students and maintaining program standards cuts both ways, turning out “top-notch” graduates and building the program’s reputation but limiting its ability to expand their internship course, for example, within their current resources.</p> <p><em>(Below: listen to a podcast story&nbsp;featuring Shauna Brail's class touring Richmond and Spadina)</em></p> <p><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205303821&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p><em>(<a href="http://media.utoronto.ca/podcasts/ep-5-really-seeing-richmond/">Transcript available here</a>. <a href="http://news.utoronto.ca/podcasts">Listen to more episodes&nbsp;of The Cities Podcast</a>.)</em></p> <p>“I think the greatest challenge is sorting out, both institutionally and departmentally, how to support the development of these types of courses and demonstrating an appreciation of the intensive work required to run them successfully over the long term,” she said.</p> <p>“This is a problem that has been documented elsewhere as well and it is not unique to 91Թ.”</p> <p>That’s why Brail is understandably excited about the chance to create more opportunities for student placements by expanding collaboration with colleagues at 91Թ through the new adviser role and helping them leverage their expertise to connect with community needs.</p> <p>She notes a solid foundation is in place through the work the urban studies program is doing in places such as Regent Park and elsewhere throughout the city, and their advice is already widely sought after by other departments trying to develop their own internship and experiential learning programs.</p> <p>“Increasing the number of experiential learning opportunities for our students is a key part of what we hope to accomplish, and Dr. Brail has a brilliant record of leadership and innovation in teaching and learning outside the classroom,” said Gertler.</p> <p>“In particular, she has shown tremendous skill and energy in building relationships with internal and external stakeholders, to provide invaluable opportunities for our students to learn by doing, in urban-focused settings.”</p> <p>(<em>Photo below of Brail with students at 401 Richmond by Brianna Goldberg</em>.)</p> <p><img alt="photo of Shauna Brail with students on roof of 401 Richmond" src="/sites/default/files/2015-10-02-Shauna-Brail-with-students-on-roof-sized.jpg" style="width: 625px; height: 469px; margin: 10px 25px;"></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-10-01-ShaunaBrail.jpg</div> </div> Fri, 02 Oct 2015 13:15:27 +0000 sgupta 7316 at Urban studies students make an impact in the community /news/urban-studies-students-make-impact-community <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Urban studies students make an impact in the community</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2015-03-31T09:16:18-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - 09:16" class="datetime">Tue, 03/31/2015 - 09:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Urban Studies student Samson Okungbowa (photo by Diana Tyszko)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/elaine-smith" hreflang="en">Elaine Smith</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Elaine Smith</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/urban-studies" hreflang="en">Urban Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/service-learning" hreflang="en">Service learning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation-education" hreflang="en">innovation in education</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/community" hreflang="en">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/city" hreflang="en">City</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/features" hreflang="en">Features</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Service learning program touches organizations across the city</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p> While teaching youngsters to create papier mâché figures, <strong>Samson Okungbowa</strong> learned his own valuable lesson during a recent service learning placement at <a href="http://artcitytoronto.ca/">Art City</a> in Toronto’s St. Jamestown neighbourhood: he discovered the value of experiencing neighbourhoods firsthand.</p> <p> “There’s a stigma built up around St. Jamestown, but when you come to check it out, the social capital outweighs everything else,” Okungbowa said. “It’s all about breaking the stereotypes.”</p> <p> Okungbowa is one of 54 second-year Introduction to Urban Studies students who chose the option of a service learning placement with a community organization over the alternative, a research paper. About two-thirds of the class fanned out to spend 12 hours apiece assisting programs such as Art City, <a href="http://www.ootc.ca/">Out of the Cold</a> and the <a href="http://www.tccld.org/programs/td-centre-for-learning/">TD Centre of Learning in Regent Park</a>. Afterward, they were each required to reflect on their experiences in a journal.</p> <p> “Service learning helps students both reinforce the class content and learn more about issues such as urban inequality, civic engagement and gentrification,” said <strong>Shauna Brail</strong>, an urban studies professor and the director of experiential learning for the <a href="http://sites.utoronto.ca/innis/urban/">urban studies program</a>.</p> <p> “In a general sense, it also deepens their commitment to community engagement and strengthens their ability to be critical thinkers.”</p> <p> Interested students in the full-year course have the choice of approximately a dozen organizations for placements. Brail works hard to match each student with one of his or her top choices. The students get information about the available placements in December and receive their assignments in January, the month they also attend an orientation session to meet representatives from the partner organizations and hear from students who have participated in previous years.</p> <p> The students then head off to their placements in teams of two to five students that, said Brail, “allows students in a class of 80-plus to get to know each other better. It also gives them a real diversity of perspective, because they have one another to talk to and can learn from each other.”</p> <p> The community organizations like Art City also reap benefits.</p> <p> “We really rely on our volunteers to a certain extent,” said Jared Peters, the director of this free, multi-disciplinary art program for children, many of them newcomers to Canada. “They come and provide one-on-one attention for the kids. They may help them with homework and they help them to realize a specific vision for their artwork.”</p> <p> “The four 91Թ students who joined us had a really great energy about them, and the kids really loved them.”</p> <p> Okungbowa said he can already see lasting benefits from the experience.</p> <p> “Just my openness to meeting new people has changed,” Okungbowa said. “Everyone has a story that is unique and important. There are a lot of connections to be made; why not go out and make them?”</p> <p> “In lectures” he added, “I can connect things we’re discussing to Art City; I have real life connections to the material now.”</p> <p> Brail is always delighted when the placements have the desired effect.</p> <p> “Most research shows that the students who experience service learning show greater tolerance and understanding afterward,” Brail said. “It’s amazing to watch them grow through it and make connections.”</p> <p> For his part, Okungbowa is ready for more.</p> <p> “If I could do service learning every year as part of a course, I’d do it,” he said. “It’s so much fun, and it reignited my interest in the coursework.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2015-03-31-service learning-samson_okungbowa.jpg</div> </div> Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:16:18 +0000 sgupta 6920 at