The Benefits of Community Based Learning in School Guidance

Abstract

In this article we explore how higher education partners, in this case a small Jesuit liberal arts institution, can partner with local public schools in an effort to improve student motivation and resiliency. Using the case study of one undergraduate course’s field-based experience component we examine the initial impact on one local high school population. Given the economic constraints facing American public schools, the lack of sufficient guidance and counseling staff within schools, and the growing need for counseling based services, the need for community partners to contribute to this domain has become increasingly apparent. While our findings are preliminary it is clear that higher education-public school partnerships can extend beyond tutoring and mentoring into the school counseling field in order to support the trained school counseling professionals present in schools. The findings suggest that these types of partnerships have positive impacts for both the college student population as well as the high school student population.