Provisional ly Approved May 22, 2003

CAPSTONE:  REFLECTIVE SOCIAL ACTION

Level IV

RATIONALE:  There are many ways to make positive contributions to efforts to improve and/or transform our society.  These include: 1) advocacy efforts, the development of strong, reasoned arguments to be used  in position papers, public presentations, or media strategies; 2)projects aimed at mobilizing support  for public policy initiatives, such as coalition-building, direct action or grassroots organizing efforts; 3) the development of educational and community resources, for instance, creating background materials, developing and testing curriculum, developing  toolkits and workshops; and 4)  research efforts, for instance,  gathering needed information for ongoing campaigns, evaluating innovative programs or engaging in participatory action collaborative projects.  These activities may be done by students working on their own or as part of a collaborative effort, but they should be connected to a larger movement or effort.  Work on the Reflective Action capstone provides an opportunity for students to pull together work done at earlier levels of the curriculum into a significant project,  grounded in knowledge of the broader context in which the project is located as well as of relevant ethical, educational, social and political models and perspectives.  Assessing reflecting on, and communicating about the project are critical components of capstone work since thoughtful evaluation both of the process and  the product insure the utility of the project both to one’s own future development and to the broader community engaged in these efforts. 

COMPETENCY:  Can make a substantial contribution to, evaluate and reflect on a project which aims to improve and/or transform society, and is based in knowledge of  the historical context of the effort, relevant theories and models, past practice and appropriate evaluation methods. 

CRITERIA:

1.  Describe an issue or a problem and a project which will make a positive contribution to its resolution.

2.   Examine the historical context of the issue, summarize how efforts to address the issue have changed over time, and assess how interpretations or distortions of the past and the present influence efforts to address  the issue.

3.   Explain the intellectual foundation of the project by locating it in a larger social movement, theoretical perspective or set of values.

4.  Plan your contribution to the project -- including identifying your goals and objectives,  an appropriate setting for your contribution, actions to be carried out and an evaluation plan.

5.  Carry out the project -- develop the argument, create the materials, engage in outreach, etc, making such adjustments as are appropriate to changing circumstances during the implementation period.

6.  Evaluate your contribution to the project, using and adapting the plan earlier devised for the evaluation.

7.  Make an oral presentation describing the rationale for the project,  how it was implemented, and summarizing what was learned in the course of carrying it out.

STANDARDS:

1. The project must have the approval of an evaluator.  The description should include a rationale for how and why the project is likely to contribute to resolution of the issue.

2. Sources such as books, articles, official documents and reports, and oral history interviews  should be used to research the history of the issue.  A bibliography of sources must be submitted and approved by the evaluator.

3. You may draw on a wide range of literatures –e.g., education, social change,  social influence, community building, social justice, and/or political and economic theory.  At least two models, theories or perspectives which are relevant to the project under consideration must be presented.In addition to identifying and comparing the main points of the models or theories,  the underlying assumptions and perspectives of the models should be examined.

4. The  plan should be written. It  must include a description of where the work will be carried out;  evidence that the project has been approved by the relevant group or organization.(an ongoing campaign, an existing group or organization that needs the information you will gather, resources you will develop); specific activities for which you will be responsible; and, an indication of how you will determine the success of your efforts.

5. A log or journal must be kept and presented as part of the evaluation which summarizes the unfolding action, including process notes about what’s working and what’s not, changes made in the course of the project,  and new learning.

6. The evaluation must assess how well the goals and objectives of the project were met,  and offer specific recommendations regarding what should be done differently next time.

7. The presentation must be a minimum of 15 minutes in length and should include discussion of the historical context of the issue and the intellectual foundation on which it is based.

EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:

1.Independent Learning: You have worked for many years as a leader in a community group which is organizing for social change in your Boston neighborhood.  You have studied organizing methods,  strategies and roles in your work on the Organizing Concentration.  Building on your prior learning and work on models of change done as part of your concentration,  you use your capstone experience as an opportunity  to reflect on the impact of your work on yourself and your community.  Following the criteria and standards of the competency, you describe recent historical developments in your community and the evolution of the organizing work in response to these changes.  Then, you  evaluate how these efforts have affected both your own development and the quality of  life in the community.

2.  CPCS Collaborative Project: Working with the staff in a housing development and under the direction of a faculty member, students in a collaborative project design a needs assessment study to determine the educational needs of youth and young adults living in the development.  On the basis of their findings, they  create a mentors’ program and a resource book on educational opportunities to support residents who want to complete their high school education and continue on to college.  They present the findings of their project in a community forum in which they reflect on  barriers to education and share the progress being made by community residents.