Service learning in a Catholic school setting: Using the church's mandate for social justice to strengthen Catholic culture and identity.

摘要

This action research study details the journeys undertaken in a large Midwestern diocese by two Catholic elementary schools that design and implement their own unique and identifiably Catholic standards-based Service Learning program and the impact this process has on the Catholic culture and identity of those who create the program. This case study approach is described through the structure of a three-article dissertation, each article reflecting a separate stage of the research study: identification of strengths and challenges for implementation of a program, designing a solution to address the challenges, and evaluation of the impact of the process on the participants of the study.;Researchers first carried out a problem-based consultation with principals at the schools to identify the common challenges that the schools faced that could impact the design and implementation of a program in their school, as well as identifying unique strengths and challenges for each school. Lack of knowledge about service learning as a pedagogy and its curriculum standards, lack of understanding of the relationship between service learning and social emotional learning, and lack of explicit connections between the social teachings of the Catholic Church and service for justice were found to be common challenges. The proposed solution to address these challenges, and to build on the strengths that each school brought to the process, was to design tailored professional development around standards-based service learning, social emotional learning, and church teachings in the area of social justice.;The professional development stage of this study was carried out in two parts, in June and in the following August. At this point the participant schools began the design phase for their own unique program, which they implemented throughout the Fall semester of the school year.;Throughout the three phases of the study, the researchers collected data in the form of journals, exit slip reflections as follow-up to professional development, focused discussions, and field observations.;The findings indicate that each school applied the knowledge gained through the tailored professional development to design and implement an identifiably Catholic and standards-based service learning program. Significant shifts in understanding occurred for the participants in the study that suggested an impact on the Catholic culture and identity of the school communities as measured through these shifts and through the teachers' perceptions of impact on their students.