Immersion Through Field PlacementThe Casa de la Solidaridad is an opportunity for you to immerse yourself in "la realidad" of El Salvador on many levels. Your field placement, however, will be one of the most important parts of your immersion experience. After we talk with you about your academic background, personal interests, and professional goals, we will pair you up with a fellow classmate and give you a field placement in a local Salvadoran marginal community. You will work for two full days each week with that community for the entire semester. Through this learning environment, you will become more aware of and sensitive to the realities of those who are struggling to end social injustices while working to promote human dignity. You will become part of the Salvadoran society not as a volunteer, but as a learner. For more information on the specific praxis sites, please see the Placement Sites page and go from there. You will receive academic credit for your praxis experience. Below is the syllabus for the INTL 139 class. Field Placement (INTL 139)5 upper-division quarter units
Language of Instruction: The seminar will be in English but the field placement work will be conducted entirely in Spanish. Based on academic background, personal interests, and professional goals students are paired up with a fellow classmate and assigned a field placement in a local Salvadoran marginal / poor community. Students learn from that community two full days a week for the entire semester. This learning environment cultivates an awareness of and sensitivity to the realities of those who are struggling to end social injustices while working to promote human dignity. The primary source of learning / teaching in the course is in the context of a marginal community in El Salvador. Students enter the Salvadoran communities as learners and not as volunteers. This experience will not serve as practice; rather, these experiences are honored as vital sources of knowledge and as valued ends in themselves. Therefore, students enter this community as learners and are invited to immerse themselves in the “classroom” of the poor of El Salvador. Students’ field placements are intentionally linked to their other academic courses. Students bring their community-based learning into dialogue with classroom-based course work. In addition, this experience serves as a springboard for personal and communal reflection in and out of the classroom. Course Requirements Course Readings (10%): Students will be required to read selected texts. Journaling (20%): Students are expected to make journal entries of their field placement at least every other week. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to turn in their journals (via email). There are 2 parts to each journal entry: a) What did the experience mean for you? What struck you? What did you learn about your praxis community? What did you learn about yourself? What feelings accompanied the experience? How has the week impacted you? This should be more of a flow-of-conscious in which students reflect on their field experience. b) Relate the experience of your field placement specifically to what is being read, studied and discussed in your other course work. Think critically about the reality that you are experiencing and how that relates to your academic work. This aspect of the journaling is extremely important, as it is an opportunity to integrate what is being taught in other classes with the praxis, thus providing an avenue for integration of the learning experience. The third journal entry should focus on the following question: what is justice? The fourth journal entry should focus on the question: what is solidarity? Social Analysis (60%): Based on the reading Social Analysis: Linking Faith & Justice students are required to do a social analysis of the community with which they are working / learning. Minimum 6 pages single spaced (10 point) sent via email. Students receive feedback (including previous students papers) after their first draft. Attendance / Evaluation (10%): Students are expected to regularly attend their praxis sites on Monday and Wednesday. In addition, students must complete, in collaboration with their field placement supervisor, a mid-semester and final evaluation. This serves as a tool to assist the student, the placement, and the Casa praxis coordinator to better understand their expectations, which fosters a more effective learning environment. Semester Schedule, Spring 2005 January 24 Check-in; Overview of Seminar Course Readings |
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