EDUCATION: RIGHT OR PRIVILEGE? Lucía T. Varona, Ed. D. Santa Clara University Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand. Native American Saying

The Millennials Born after 1982 Sixth graders of September 11 Teens of Irak war College students of economic crisis Achieving. Style of learning is the result. Pressured. “Tropphy Kid” psyche. Conventional. Specific goal oriented. Technology oriented.

Why CBL is important To put human faces to what they read, see and learn in the classroom. To give them reflection time to let their lives speak to them. To expose them to other realities. To help them build character values and behavior as reflected in the ways we interact with each other and in the moral choices we make on a daily basis.

Incorporating CBL Stop, listen, observe and reflect What happened? How did I react to it? Why these things happen? What can I do to change? Interact: Use the Spanish you know. Take Action: Create something for the community that responds to an actual need.

The Five Cs in Language Learning Communication students use their Spanish in real context. Community students build community with the people in the community Comparisons students compare what they see with their own lives. Connections students connect what they experience with the classes they are taking not only with Spanish. Culture students learn more about their own and other people´s cultures.

Some reflections from my students. It never seizes to amaze me Jose’s smile and great humor. He comes every time directly from his eight-hour work to class. He always brings something for us, chips, or soda, whatever. He is always ready to start class. Many times when I don’t want to get up for my 9:30 class, I remember Jose and then realize I should not complain. “Today I spoke to Gloria, she told me she has a seven year old son. I couldn’t believe it, she is so young. She looks a little older than me, and I am only nineteen. She told me how she and her mother take turns taking care of her son. She said that no body can take care of a child better than the mother or the grandmother. She made me think of my family. My grandmother has her own life and I just can not ever see her taking care of one of us. We, in the U.S. love our relatives, but not the way the Mexicans do. I think it is very important that Mexicans don’t loose their values in the U.S.”

More reflections How frustrating it is for the ESL students when no one speaks their native language. I can see so much frustration in their faces. I wonder whether it is fair to do this to adults who come tired from work. Sometime I feel sad to see that in ESL classes nobody seems to be interested in learning more about the people taking the classes. For example in the quarter that I have been working there, not even once have we asked adult students about their families, how and what they eat, how they celebrate life. All we have done is rehearse scripts related to different kinds of jobs, job interviews, and so on. I wonder whether this way we are giving them the message that their families, culture, and countries don’t mean too much

Personal reflections Milleneal students are not so different from Professors. Freedom and civic engagement. Creates more work. Grading is not easy. CBL not easy but necessary Community Based Learning is not for everybody Those who do CBL are no better or worse than others but do have some sense of hope and a lot of a dreamer’s heart. There is a lot of CBL that takes place in the mind, and it is possible to measure quantitatively. But there is a whole lot more that takes place in the heart and it is just impossible to measure.

Invitation Start doing research, not about Service Learning, but using the basic principles of Service Learning to research with, for and in the community Connect more Academia and Community. Learning should be more an act of sharing at all levels than a privilege of the elite.