1.
Exploring Identity, Fostering Agency,
Discovering How Students Benefit
Monday, February 6, 2023 for the CLDE Forum:
Bridging the Divides, Including All Students:
Diversity, Equity, and High-Impact Civic Learning Pathways
Marina Barnett
Samantha Ha DiMuzio
Ariane Hoy
Paul Schadewald

2.
Thank You for
Joining Us for This
Session
● In the chat, please share
your name, title,
institution, and email
address.
● We’ll send notes after the
session.

3.
Who We Are
● Marina Barnett, Associate Professor of Social Work at Widener
University and Co-Director of the Academic Service-Learning Program
(Faculty Development)
● Samantha (Sam) Ha DiMuzio, Doctoral Candidate, Researcher, and
Instructor at Boston College (2024) and Bonner Alumnae 2016
● Ariane (Ari) Hoy, Vice President for Program and Resource Development
at the Bonner Foundation
● Paul Schadewald, Senior Project Manager for the Paradigm Project at
Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP)

4.
Our Aims Today
● We’ll share a few personal stories that have led us to work as
educators for civic identity, to transform education, and to
foster community engagement.
● We invite you to share your experiences and stories.
● Highlight some frameworks, lessons, and models that have
emerged from our collective experiences and practice – and
invite you to contribute yours.

5.
Relevant Terms (Learning Outcomes)
● Civic Agency: Ability to take action to address an issue or promote the public
good
● Civic Identity: Sense of commitment and responsibility as a member of a
community and society
● Diversity and Intercultural Competence: Understanding and capacity to
learn from and with diverse others
● Integrative Learning: Connects relevant experience and academic
knowledge
● Place- or Issue- Knowledge: Understanding of facets of a specific
community or issue
● Social Justice: Abilities to examine and act to promote fairness and equity

6.
Some Guideposts
for Our Time
● Honoring our knowledge
and experience
● Encouraging
self-reflection and
sharing of insights
● Grounding our theory
and practice

7.
Each of Us Will Share
● A brief story of our own civic identity development
● We’ll highlight an experience we had as a student,
scholar, and/or professional that has shaped us
● After we speak, we’ll pair participants and invite you
to do the same

8.
Harvesting Our
Connections and
Insights
● In the chat, please share
an insight about yourself
or this work that arose
from your listening and
sharing.
● We invite a few people to
speak.

9.
Emerging Insights & Frameworks
● Flashing forward, we’ll now share a few relevant ideas,
frameworks, models, or provocative questions
● In particular, we’ll showcase something that deepens or
enriches perspectives about how educators and institutions
can intentionally create learning environments, programs,
and experiences that bolster civic learning and engagement
● Throughout, we invite you to contribute via the chat

10.
The Art of Educational Inquiry
A humanistic introduction to research methods in education
Capstone course to undergraduate major in Transformative Educational Studies
What does it mean to
conduct educational
research, and what is
required in order to do
it well?
“Research is not an innocent or
distant academic exercise but an
activity that has something at stake
and that occurs in a set of political
and social conditions (Smith,
Decolonizing methodologies)
How does who you are come to
bear on your (approach to)
research?
● The questions you seek to
answer
● What you observe/notice
in the world, what is
obscured
● The intended impact of
your work
● Privilege, disadvantage,
power

11.
Research as a form of
making:
● more just futures
● new ways of navigating
oppressive systems
● a different kind of
relationality with others,
lands, waters (place)
● original contributions to
existing knowledge
“Making” as a arts-based framework for research
Making: a creative process of artistic generation (Barajas-Lopez & Bang, 2018; Danticat, 2013; Ingold, 2013)
Expansive “materials”
for making
“The dean also said a male
teacher of mine felt like my
body was a distraction to the
students; I sat at the front with
my back to the rest of the
students. That teacher was
never asked why he felt like a
minor’s body was disruptive to
his class.” -Marisol, Interview
Making exercises
“what difference does it make if
discussion is grounded in a
context of practical activity?”
(Ingold, Making)

12.
Asset-Based Community Development Values ABCD Institute, 2023
Start with Gifts:
Assets and strengths, not deficits and
needs, are the true building blocks of
healthy communities. Every individual,
association and institution has assets
that can contribute to community
well-being and justice.
Build Relationships for
Mutual Support:
ABCD believes that relationships are
the core of flourishing communities.
Relationships create trust and activate
gifts and power.
Value Small:
ABCD values small, grassroots,
resident - driven approaches that use
stories as the basis for learning,
sharing and acting for change.
Nurture Community-Led
Action:
ABCD values everyone’s voice and
contributions and prioritizes those
who live within a community.
Work for Equity and
Justice:
ABCD helps people use their gifts to
work in their communities to disrupt
systemic oppression and regenerate
power in new, creative and equitable
ways.
Believe in Possibility:
ABCD is rooted in hope. People in
communities, even in extreme
situations, can use their gifts to
imagine ways to create change.
Lead by Stepping Back:
ABCD shines a light on residents'
power to contribute to and make
decisions in their communities.
Include Everyone:
ABCD does not just invite people to
the table but builds a new table
where everyone has a true place.

13.
Academic Service-Learning Faculty Development Program
(ASLFDP)
The program
provides a
one-year
training
experience that
equips faculty
with
experiences
and resources
to:
Understand Place: Focus on understanding historical context
and the multiple narratives of the community.
Build Relationships: Asset mapping and connecting with
community partners to identify mutual interests.
Develop Curriculum: Create or modify an existing course with
an academic service-learning component
Evaluate Impact and Sustain Efforts: Student learning,
faculty development, and community impact. Grant writing, T&P
128 faculty have been trained through the ASLFDP. There have been
over 260 different academic service-learning (SL) courses taught at
Widener.

14.
Engaged Dept
Pathway Geography
Knowledge, Skills,
Values
Specific
knowledge/skills
& values/
perspectives
students need in
order to do these
things effectively
Learning Goal
To produce graduates
who can apply geographic
perspectives and/or
methods to collaboratively
enhance understanding of
community issues or
solving community
problems
Outcomes
Effectively use
geographic concepts
and/or methods of
analysis to help answer
community-generated
questions.
Knows how to support
collaborative work with a
community partner.

15.
Structure Pathway Opportunities
Reinforced
Students are
sufficiently familiar with
the learning objective
that instructors can
immediately move past
an introductory lesson
in future courses
Demonstrated
Students have
achieved the level of
skill in this learning
objective that would
be expected of a
graduating major
Introduced
Students are
introduced to this
learning objective by
the final day of class

16.
Course Trip
Orientation
and First-Year
Activities
Activity with
cohort, sports
team, or dorm
Student
Leadership
Program
Work
Engaged Student Pathways
Influencing factors:
● Identity
● Background
● Values
● Social circle
● Academic Questions
● Career/Vocational Goals
● Social justice commitments
Course
Projects
Internship
Leading a
student
program
Course
Project
Study
Away
Fellowship
Opportunity
Community--Based
Research Work
Senior
Seminar
Capstone
Leadership in a
student org
Keystone

17.
Intentional Developmental Scaffolding

18.
Guided Integrative Pathway Design

19.
Broader Evidence

20.
What Emerging
Models and
Frameworks Would
You Like to Share?
● In the chat, please feel
free to provide
comments, links,
documents, and more.
● We ask that you also
share any questions or
remarks you may have.

21.
Additional Resources
Please save handout in the chat (emails, links, scholarship):
● AACU VALUE Initiative (https://www.aacu.org/initiatives/value)
● Asset-Based Community Development Institute
(https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/Pages/default.aspx)
● Bonner Foundation (www.bonner.org). See publications here)
● Bonner Wiki (www.bonner.pbworks.com)
● Bringing Theory to Practice (www.bttop.org)
● College Civic Learning (https://www.collegeciviclearning.org/)
● Imagining America (www.imaginingamerica.org)
● Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
(https://ginsberg.umich.edu/mijournal)
● Project Pericles (www.projectpericles.org)