Community+Outreach+Article


 * Please begin linking site to the guiding principles. We will use this information to write our article.

Introduction:** (Fulton)

1) Authentic, engaging and purposeful linguistic and cultural experiences occur in multiple settings within the school community and through outreach to a broader community. (Rauschenberg)
 * Guiding Principles:**

Link 1 Alliance Francaise members come into the schools to provide curriculum http://www.francedc.org/en/Abei.aspx Link 2 Students in service learningprograms engage in language learning: http://www.energizeinc.com/art/jser.html Link 3 Community partnerships provide books at a public library: http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060529/NEWS04/605290310/1006

2) “Community” must be defined before outreach can begin. The targeted community, whether it be local, regional, national or global, will influence the experiences pursued. (Fulton) Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

3) The experiences pursued support and sustain communities by providing increased, meaningful interaction among educators, students and community members, interaction that benefits stakeholders. (Naditz)

When teachers open their classrooms to the community and the community to their students, everyone benefits. Students find realistic, engaging opportunities to practice their growing language skills while at the same time developing a sense of civic responsibility. Teachers see increased enthusiasm among students, families and community members for their programs and sometimes even additional material benefits provided by their family and community partners. The community benefits from the participation of numerous volunteers who help to provide needed services and cultural enrichment to a variety of citizens. These benefits to all stakeholders have the potential to extend beyond the term of the service project. Once the connections are forged, students are forever impacted by their work, and community members and teachers often continue to work together on future projects that are mutually beneficial. As students pursue additional studies and careers that take them away from their communities, they often continue to seek opportunities to engage in community outreach projects.

// lfa// Link 1: ACTFL service learning articles from the Language Educator (awaiting permission to post link to these articles) Link 2: Rotary Club--http://www.rotary.org/ Link 3: Peace Corps--http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm

4) Stakeholders must be involved in planning, implementation, and reflection in an ongoing cycle. (Naditz) When planning community outreach activities, lessons from the business world can guide our work. In the business world, projects with clear beginnings and endings are directed by a Project Management plan. When reading the literature on project management, one key to success is reiterated by every author: involve all stakeholders. Not in cursory way, not just some stakeholders, and not just some of the time. Involve representatives from all stakeholder groups from the beginning and throughout the planning, implementation, and evaluation cycles of the project. For us, stakeholders may be students, parents, administrators, colleagues (including classified staff), community business and organizational leaders and government officials. Involvement may include invitations to participate in committee work, data collection from surveys distributed to stakeholders to inform project planning and implementation or to reflect upon project outcomes, and direct involvement in the running of outreach programs. Not every stakeholder is involved in every aspect, but the goal is to look at the perspectives, expertise and experiences of all stakeholder groups and use that information to invite appropriate representation and participation from all stakeholder groups to the greatest extent possible. // lfa// Link 1: Read Around the World (example of an ongoing service learning project—now in it’s third year—in which students, library management and teachers plan and implement the event). Information can be found at http://www.flagsteacher.com/RAW Link 2: Kansas University Community Outreach site—a model for sites that link students to opportunities and involve students in designing their own level and area of involvement. http://www2.ku.edu/~cco/cgi-bin/index.php Link 3

5) This ongoing cycle of community outreach supports and sustains teachers by providing interest in and promotion of world language programs. (Gaver) // lfa// Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

6) World language programs should include effective community outreach experiences as part of an integrated curriculum. (Gaver) // lfa// Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

7) An integrated curriculum, involving both classroom and community-based interactions, benefits students by providing authentic, engaging and purposeful linguistic and cultural experiences. (Rauschenberg) // lfa// Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

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=============================================---(1) Rauschenberg--- Authentic, engaging and purposeful linguistic and cultural experiences occur in multiple settings within the school community and through outreach to a broader community. --Community Outreach Focus Group, NFLRC, Summer 2006

One of the most critical tasks facing language teachers everywhere is engaging our students in using the target language in real ways that encourage the students to use what they've learned, interest them in learning more, and allow them to use the language is in "real life." Where can we find authentic, engaging and purposeful linguistic and cultural experiences for our students? Such experiences can occur in various settings within the school community and through outreach to a broader community. These settings may involve bringing members of the broader community into the school, sending students out to locations away from the school, or working within the community in a variety of other ways. An example of each may be seen via the following links. • Alliance Francaise members come into the schools to provide curriculum http://www.francedc.org/en/Abei.aspx • Students in service learning programs engage in language learning: http://www.energizeinc.com/art/jser.html • Community partnerships provide books at a public library: http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060529/NEWS04/605290310/1006

---(3) Naditz---

Benefits to Stakeholders and Involving All Stakeholders (Nicole)
 * Benefits to stakeholders**

The experiences pursued support and sustain communities by providing increased, meaningful interaction among educators, students and community members. --Community Outreach Focus Group, NFLRC, Summer 2006

When teachers open their classrooms to the community and the community to their students, everyone benefits. Students find realistic, engaging opportunities to practices their growing language skills while at the same time developing a sense of civic responsibility. Teachers see increased enthusiasm among students, families and community members for their programs and sometimes even additional material benefits provided by their family and community partners. The community benefits from the participation of numerous volunteers who help to provide needed services and cultural enrichment to a variety of citizens. These benefits to all stakeholders have the potential to extend beyond the term of the service project. Once the connections are forged, students are forever impacted by their work, and community members and teachers often continue to work together on future projects that are mutually beneficial. As students pursue additional studies and careers that take them away from their communities, they often continue to seek opportunities to engage in community outreach projects.

Links 1. ACTFL service learning articles from the Language Educator. Would we need permission to post these onto a web site? I have them saved as a pdf to my computer. 2. 3.

---(4) Naditz---


 * Involving all stakeholders**

Stakeholders must be involved in planning, implementation, and reflection in an ongoing cycle. --Community Outreach Focus Group, NFLRC, Summer 2006

When planning community outreach activities, lessons from the business world can guide our work. In the business world, projects with clear beginnings and endings are directed by a Project Management plan. When reading the literature on project management, one key to success is reiterated by every author: involve all stakeholders. Not in cursory way, not just some stakeholders, and not just some of the time. Involve representatives from all stakeholder groups from the beginning and throughout the planning, implementation, and evaluation cycles of the project. For us, stakeholders may be students, parents, administrators, colleagues (including classified staff), community business and organizational leaders and government officials. Involvement may include invitations to participate in committee work, data collection from surveys distributed to stakeholders to inform project planning and implementation or to reflect upon project outcomes, and direct involvement in the running of outreach programs. Not every stakeholder is involved in every aspect, but the goal is to look at the perspectives, expertise and experiences of all stakeholder groups and use that information to invite appropriate representation and participation from all stakeholder groups to the greatest extent possible.

Potential links:

1. Read Around the World (example of an ongoing service learning project—now in it’s third year—in which students, library management and teachers plan and implement the event). Information can be found at http://www.flagsteacher.com/RAW. 2. Kansas University Community Outreach site—a model for sites that link students to opportunities and involve students in designing their own level and area of involvement. http://www2.ku.edu/~cco/cgi-bin/index.php 3.

---(7) Rauschenberg---

An integrated curriculum, involving both classroom and community-based interactions, benefits students by providing authentic, engaging and purposeful linguistic and cultural experiences. --Community Outreach Focus Group, NFLRC, Summer 2006

When we integrate our language curriculum to include interactions both within the walls of the classroom and outside in the greater community, what do we gain? Our students are more engaged. They see what they are learning as more authentic. They have a purpose to accomplish with the skills and knowledge they gain in our classroom. Human beings are always more interested in working to learn when they feel a real need for the knowledge. Our students are no exceptions. So when our curriulum is structured in such as way as to combine classroom and community-based interactions, we find that our students are more engaged, interested, and motivated. Many state curriculum models encourage this, either in a small way, through cross-curricular connections with other content areas, or through connections to communities, local or otherwise, outside the school walls. Some examples can be seen in

Link 1 Massachusetts http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/foreign/1996/wlpart.html Link 2 Link 3