I was fortunate to spend some hours in the Dove Springs neighborhood of Austin last Saturday. As the professor of a service learning class that includes many students who have worked tirelessly over the past year to make this day a reality, I was proud to see my students in action - many tackling first time experiences like tweeting, editing photos, supervising and coordinating to name a few daunting tasks. It was a huge success for the students, community and university staff that poured so much of themselves into this community-university partnership.
In class we are discussing the larger context of service learning, community-university partnerships, reflection, and higher education's civic mission. Students are continuing their service beyond Project in a variety of ways - all of their choosing and design. We have a group oral history project at the request of the Project 2014 neighborhood in Holly Street area of Austin, which is the start of relationship building with that community. Other students are pursuing their passions through existing organizations they are members of and others are paving the way for next year's Project and applying lessons learned. At the end of the semester, they will present the projects and what they learned. Our focus is on the relational aspect of doing community work and building capacity over time. Community work is not a straight line, not much in life really is; however, we often judge ourselves and our work by a "perfect, predetermined outcome". I am hoping students find the magic in unexpected places, allow themselves to be surprised and redefine what success really means. There is so much we cannot possibly know at the onset of a project, and rather than find that terrifying, I am challenging you to open yourself to the possibility of the unknown.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
While driving home from Dove Springs I Saturday, I listed to an interview with Sir Ken Robertson on NPR. As soon as I got home I listened to his entire TED Talk. I thought about how creativity is choked in education and often forsaken for "practicality" or worse, a mistake free expectation in learning. My biggest breakthroughs were a result of discomfort, missteps, and unexpected roadblocks. I see my role as a teacher to help students navigate the obstacles, not to prevent them. In our quest to learn and build knowledge, and inspire positive change, mistakes are unavoidable, therefore a system that penalizes them is blocking a necessary ingredient to innovate and expand horizons. When we debriefed about Project, we started down that predictable road of identifying where things fell short. Do not get me wrong, feedback leads to improvement; however, turning our attention to what opportunities present themselves when things go off course is also important. What opportunities are we missing for our growth and development and the good of the community? There is no one right way, or one right answer; however, there are countless possibilities to seize if you are flexible and open. Efficiency can always be improved on, and a worthy endeavor that is; however, I caution you not to overlook the magic that is right in front of you.
One encounter, one day, one moment can lead to a lifetime connection and become a tipping point for you or some you touch. Be bold, visionary and passionate, and fly in the face of adversity. Let your mistakes be your teacher and dust yourself and your pride off when you stumble. I am proud of each and every one of you for your dedication and commitment to the UT Austin motto: "What starts here changes the world" and I look forward to the rest of the semester and helping to facilitate your growth and development - and of course learning along with you!
In class we are discussing the larger context of service learning, community-university partnerships, reflection, and higher education's civic mission. Students are continuing their service beyond Project in a variety of ways - all of their choosing and design. We have a group oral history project at the request of the Project 2014 neighborhood in Holly Street area of Austin, which is the start of relationship building with that community. Other students are pursuing their passions through existing organizations they are members of and others are paving the way for next year's Project and applying lessons learned. At the end of the semester, they will present the projects and what they learned. Our focus is on the relational aspect of doing community work and building capacity over time. Community work is not a straight line, not much in life really is; however, we often judge ourselves and our work by a "perfect, predetermined outcome". I am hoping students find the magic in unexpected places, allow themselves to be surprised and redefine what success really means. There is so much we cannot possibly know at the onset of a project, and rather than find that terrifying, I am challenging you to open yourself to the possibility of the unknown.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
While driving home from Dove Springs I Saturday, I listed to an interview with Sir Ken Robertson on NPR. As soon as I got home I listened to his entire TED Talk. I thought about how creativity is choked in education and often forsaken for "practicality" or worse, a mistake free expectation in learning. My biggest breakthroughs were a result of discomfort, missteps, and unexpected roadblocks. I see my role as a teacher to help students navigate the obstacles, not to prevent them. In our quest to learn and build knowledge, and inspire positive change, mistakes are unavoidable, therefore a system that penalizes them is blocking a necessary ingredient to innovate and expand horizons. When we debriefed about Project, we started down that predictable road of identifying where things fell short. Do not get me wrong, feedback leads to improvement; however, turning our attention to what opportunities present themselves when things go off course is also important. What opportunities are we missing for our growth and development and the good of the community? There is no one right way, or one right answer; however, there are countless possibilities to seize if you are flexible and open. Efficiency can always be improved on, and a worthy endeavor that is; however, I caution you not to overlook the magic that is right in front of you.
One encounter, one day, one moment can lead to a lifetime connection and become a tipping point for you or some you touch. Be bold, visionary and passionate, and fly in the face of adversity. Let your mistakes be your teacher and dust yourself and your pride off when you stumble. I am proud of each and every one of you for your dedication and commitment to the UT Austin motto: "What starts here changes the world" and I look forward to the rest of the semester and helping to facilitate your growth and development - and of course learning along with you!
There are so many good points in this blog post Paula... It honestly makes me sad reading this, that you aren't planning on staying at UT next year, and are applying to go elsewhere to teach. I think that a lot of what you're saying could be useful to every single individual at UT, but the vast majority of students never really ever take a Social Work class, especially one that relates to community engagement and our work relating to it. It's disheartening that only 2000 out of our over 50000 student body comes out to volunteer at our largest day of service, but at the same time, that number makes me feel great, because those are the ones that do care and want to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your blog posts, and hope that you keep them up, I have a lot to learn, and what you say doesn't only make a difference at the college level, or in social work, but in our lives in general.
You're awesome!
Cam
Paula, I truly loved the Ken Robinson talk and thought not only about my own creativity and how it had been stifled through traditional education but also my daughters experiences regarding the education path. Thanks for showing us this. I wish we had more classes like your global project development class that would allow us to take risks and learn and grow as individuals rather than so often being defined by a structure that doesn't see failure as a place of growth. You are an amazing and patient professor and I agree with Cam that UT will be losing someone who has so much to offer its students.
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