Date: Dec. 2 , 2010
Contact: Carol Connelly, Director, Media & Communication Services, ext. 5267, cconnelly@pnc.edu

 

Debra Pratt

Debra Pratt Earns Campus Compact Grant

Westville – Purdue University North Central faculty member Debra Pratt, continuing lecturer in Education, has earned an Indiana Campus Compact Scholarship of Engagement Grant for the Spring 2011 semester.

Pratt will utilize this service learning grant to help the Elementary Education students in their block 2 experience (sophomores) who will work with at risk youth in the Michigan City Area Schools. Their activities will focus on building character in elementary education teaching candidates as well as the elementary students and their families. The PNC students are enrolled in the Learning and Motivation and The Inclusive Classroom classes. These courses teach how children learn and develop and help the teachers understand how students differ in their approaches to learning

As the PNC students work in pairs with groups of six to eight elementary children, they will teach The Six Pillars of Character Education - trustworthiness, fairness, respectfulness, citizenship, caring, and responsibility.

Pratt explained that in recent years character education has gained national attention as a critical issue for communities. Concern has been voiced that helping children and their families understand, care about and act upon core ethical values must be a deliberate effort on the part of teachers.

PNC has been collaborating with the Hours for Ours/Safe Harbor mentoring program in Michigan City, which provided the curriculum.

The PNC students will develop lesson plans for each of The Six Pillars of Character Education. Through weekly contact with the Michigan City students, the PNC students will learn about the complexities of fostering relationships, teaching and adapting curriculum based on the needs of at-risk students.

At semester's end, the PNC students and the elementary students will develop a family event where the children will teach their parents what they have learned.

The project goals are to reduce the number of students acting out within the Michigan City Area School's community, introduce at-risk students to The Six Pillars of Character Education, provide teacher candidates with real-world teaching experiences, engage teacher candidates in the process of developing curriculum based on character education and involve families in understanding character education and why it is important for children to learn in order to achieve success in life.

Indiana Campus Compact is a network of 42 college campuses across the state that support higher education's efforts to develop students into well-informed, engaged citizens.

The Scholarship of Engagement Grant focuses specifically on integrating service learning into new or existing courses or community based research, or provides professional service that engages faculty, students and community organizations in reciprocal community-campus partnerships. Through this and other programs, Indiana Campus Compact serves as a catalyst for campuses and communities to improve people's lives through service-learning and civic engagement initiatives.