Question: How can the arts be used to bring effective community involvement and service learning in a community?
The arts allow for emotional growth and authorize one to build character. It is always easier to participate and learn more about something you like to do. Having the arts being involved and integrated in one’s everyday life brings opportunity to express themselves through the various art programs that can be found through service learning. “Serving-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” Service learning can take on many different forms. From theater, to instrumental instruction, to the basics of using crayons and paint to create an art piece, to using clay to create an art sculpture, one is found to be more likely involved and engaged in their learning. As one builds on their character, they will learn to understand themselves as individuals as well as understanding their role in their society and their surroundings. Entering doorways that will allow them to critically think, be attentive, and be able to connect the arts to their daily curriculum allowing them to be healthy.
Service learning is hands on learning through community service that enhances our understanding of how knowledge is important to our everyday life. “When students are feeling apart of the learning process rather than an object of the learning process, than they can truly be engaged” allowing for a students’ academic performance to be impacted in a positive way. “Learning through arts in general achieves greater education … children are able to retain a lot more information”. “The art of promoting constructive interaction among people in public spaces… [creates] places that encourage social interaction.” Robert Putnam proved that the lack of a “strong social connection” within a community’s social bonds results in economic failure.
Community involvement may be used as a medium, as a tool to build ones character. “Students build character and become active participants as they work with others in their school and community to create service projects in areas such as education, public safety, and the environment.” With community involvement, people so not only give to others but also give to themselves. One inherits different characteristics that will allow them to move forward and be a better person in general. Community engagement forms one’s ability to tackle a problem on their own, rather than waiting for another person to do so. One also acquires civic responsibility and learns how to affectively work together as a team work for the fact that being involved with your community requires you to work with those who are also engaged and who have different roles within the work you are both undertaking in your community. According to the Higher Education Research Institute, student who participated in their community and were involved had a higher chance of being admitted to graduate programs when compared to students who were not involved in their community.
Community service allows for one to “become aware of needs outside themselves.” The practice of community involvement “takes you out of your comfort zone a bit and gives you a new perspective” (Jennifer Bizarro, a sophomore pre-business major at University of Georgia). Students cultivate their leadership abilities and “their community service work teaches them to be stewards of the community.” In addition, “Personal and career growth” are the results of a one who contributes community service and involvement to their community. JB Reed, a Terry MBA student who coordinates community service programs for students states that, “Students develop relationships with local leaders and residents. They take away valuable workplace ethics — how to be on time, to fulfill obligations, and how their performance, good or bad, impacts the organization for which they are working. These are the types of things you learn in the workplace, not in the classroom.” Lastly, Jennifer Bizarro, a sophomore pre-business major at the University of Georgia, reinforces the statement that the process of volunteer work “definitely builds character."
There are many factors that keep people from getting involved in their community. Although, “time and information are the major barriers that people must overcome if they are to become more involved. To 67% (two-thirds) of the population the number reason that stops people from being involved in their community is time. There are two reasons for why this may appear as one’s barrier. The first reason is “getting involved means making a regular time commitment” for 63% (six out of ten) of people. The second reason is that getting involved for 61% of people, means setting aside big chunks of time in order to be more involved. “While this perceptual issue is a barrier for just over a third of all adults (36%), not being a leader or activist is a barrier for four in ten (42%) of those who are not currently involved but want to be.” This comes with the big idea that people just don’t see themselves as leaders out in their community. A good way to changing that is actually stepping in, taking that chance, that risk in being more engaged and more tied up with your community. People who are in fact engaged in community happenings know that problems can be solved when working together with others. “The more people feel like they can make a difference in solving problems, the more likely they are to be involved in community activities and issues. Shown on the Efficacy and Involvement table below people who believe and have faith that they can actually make a difference in their community, “are three times more likely to be involved in community issues and activities” that is 73% more. On the other hand, people who do not believe they can, are 24% less likely to be involves and engage themselves and more probable to feel the need to be involved in such ways. “In contrast, without a developed sense of efficacy, many disengaged people said they would not become involved unless someone asks for their participation and leads the way.”
Efficacy and Involvement Table
How much difference can you personally make in working to solve problems?* | % currently involved | % desire more involvement |
A great deal of difference | 73% | 55% |
Some difference | 66% | 49% |
A little difference | 52% | 45% |
Almost no difference | 40% | 41% |
No difference at all | 24% | 36% |
*Half the sample was asked: Now, thinking generally about problems in your community, how much difference can you personally make in working to solve community problems? The other half of the sample was asked: Now, thinking generally about problems you see, how much difference can you personally make in working to solve problems you see? | ||
One effective way to increase community involvement is through the arts. The different types of arts go all the way from performing arts to painting, from creating music to creating murals, and even from acting out a dance to building art forms for the public to enjoy etc. In Downtown Providence, RI, the Providence Waterfire is a great example for a public arts event. The Waterfire brings people together and makes one feel like they belong. From the volunteers and supporters who help to maintain. “It instills pride … interactions and human connection” while involving music through performance, boat rides, bonfires, and even the people. The youth and the adult are given a place to share together. “Research in civic engagement by the League of Women Voters indicates that the factor most likely to get people more involved in community affairs is helping to improve conditions for youth. “Issues related to children, including mentoring and coaching, and education are those most likely to mobilize the untapped reservoir of volunteers.””
“In creating performing arts enables students to move through five essential, often overlapping, stages of learning:”
Stage 1. Using the receptive mind
Stage 2. Becoming a productive member of an ensemble
Stage 3. Creating original work
Stage 4. Using the rehearsal process
Stage 5. Performing what has been created
“These stages engage students simultaneously as performers, spectators, artists, and critics.” A receptive mind is a ready mind, and with this mind, one is able to actively participate, reflect on what is going on, “be a good audience, concentrate, and stay focused.” A flexible mind that is open to new thoughts and ideas. “Much of the receptive mind learning…is physical in nature.” For example, in a classroom where students are always sitting and thinking will not be as effective as that student getting up and moving around, participating in activity, that involves physical action. An exercise may include Characters from the Freeze and Frozen Sculptures which show position of the body that stirs conversation.
Acting is an effective method of engaging students and these exercises augment learning through body movement. “The command to “freeze” in the exercise Characters from the Freeze and Frozen Sculptures “asks that students try absolute stillness … and remain that way for a specific period of time, considering what has happened and listening to the coachings. The freeze is a multipurpose tool for building a receptive mind that” allows for focus, pushes for metacognitive thinking, allows for you to stay in “character”, gives the teacher opportunity to evaluate. Metacognitive thinking comes from the knowledge you attain of your own individual thoughts and the parts that actually influence your thinking. As individuals amongst members of groups and ensembles, students are able to create “[their] own story, and theatre is about that. It’s wonderful to recognize that in shaping stories we make connections with people, in human ways, caring ways, respectful ways, fun ways.” (Shirley Brice Heath)
Finally, the arts attract one to be more involved in their community. The involvement with the arts while giving back to our communities, gives one a way to express themselves. It’s a win-win situation providing the people around us a better place to live as we help each other through community involvement and engagement. Through the many art programs and activities that allow for us to get us out there and working to better our community we learn to better ourselves and to better our community. Step by step, getting ourselves working, participating and engaging in our own communities give each and every one of us the opportunity to remodel, remake, redesign, reconstruct, renovate, and mend, our communities, our homes, the places we live, and reside for the better.
Work Cited
Astin, A.W., Vogelgesang, L.J., Ikeda, E.K., Yee, J. A. (2000). How Service Learning Affects Students. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA.
"BUSN 1020: Student Volunteers Help the Community and Build Character." Terry College of Business - University of Georgia | The Flagship Business School in the State of Georgia, Founded in 1912. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. <http://www.terry.uga.edu/news/releases/2007/busn_1020_student_volunteers.html>.
Eyler, Janet, and Dwight E. Giles. Where's the Learning in Service-learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. Print.
Mandell, Jan, and Jennifer Lynn Wolf. "Chapter One: The Receptive Mind." Acting Learning & Change. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 1-211. Print.
Paxton, Rachel. "Building Teen Character: Volunteering for Community Service." Self Improvement from SelfGrowth.com. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. <http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Paxton1.html>.
The League of Women Voters, Lake Snell Perry and Associates, and The Tarrance Group. "Opportunities and Barriers to Participation: Working Together: Community Involvement in America." Opportunities and Barriers to Participation. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. <http://vcn.bc.ca/citizens-handbook/lwv/opportunities.html>.
"What Are the Characteristics of Service-Learning? | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse." National Service-Learning Clearinghouse | America’s Most Comprehensive Service-Learning Resource. Web. 09 Mar. 2011. <http://www.servicelearning.org/what_is_service-learning/characteristics/index.php>.
"What Is Service-Learning? | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse." National Service-Learning Clearinghouse | America’s Most Comprehensive Service-Learning Resource. Web. 04 Feb. 2011. <http://www.servicelearning.org/what-service-learning>.
