Community organizations in metropolitan San Jose may become community partners of departments, faculty and student "community learners.” The Center for Community Learning & Leadership and its programs facilitates and supports these partnerships.
Community learning is a teaching method that promotes student learning through active participation in meaningful and planned service experiences in the community that are directly related to course content.
Students in many disciplines explore community issues that relate to their courses, find relevance in their academic learning, gain valuable skills, and experience a deepened sense of civic responsibility, social justice, and commitment to the community.
Community learning differs from volunteering and community service. Community learners focus not only on the service they provide, but also on the academic and personal learning they gain as a result of that service experience. Community partners work closely with SJSU staff, professors and students to design the service and learning experience.
Management information Systems:
Student design software training programs for nonprofit staff and for teenagers in schools and community centers
Special Education:
Students studying special education are paired with special needs children to provide tutoring, assessment and language intervention
Civil Engineering:
Students learning about wood structures design footbridges for the Los Gatos Creek Trail
Communication Studies:
Students learning about organizational and small group communication conduct analyses of nonprofit organizations’ communication strengths/challenges and propose strategies for improving communication patterns; students in another class conduct workshops on communication related topics for teenage and adult clients in various agencies
Environmental Studies:
Students learning about environmental impact assessments provide community education on planned local energy projects
Gerontology:
Students provide ESL tutoring and coach elders in preparing citizenship exams
Community partners are nonprofit organizations, public agencies, government offices, schools, and certain private business where students provide community service as an integral part of their academic courses. Service may include direct service with clients, special projects, research, or other activities that are identified by the community partner to meet a real community need.
Partners serve as co-educators, engaging students in meaningful service activities that support students’ personal, academic and civic growth. Effective community learning partnerships involve joint planning and ongoing communication among SJSU professors, students and community partners.
Successful community learning demands a commitment of energy, planning and communication from faculty, students and the community partners.
Community learning community partners:
Students are a source of enthusiasm, skills and knowledge and can be a great resource for community partners. Whether the students provide direct service to clients or work on specific, short-term projects for the agency, community learning students get things done! Unlike unaffiliated student volunteers, community learning students are working toward specific goals under the guidance of professors.
Faculty and community partners work together to identify meaningful service activities that are appropriate for the skill level and learning objectives of the students involved. The project may engage individual students, small groups or an entire class, depending upon the needs and capacity of the community partners.
New community based agencies, schools, and institutions interested in developing community learning partnerships are encouraged to:
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