Understanding the Duluth Core Learning Curriculum: A Comprehensive Guide
The Duluth Core Learning curriculum represents a multifaceted approach to education, emphasizing not only academic knowledge but also the development of essential skills and civic responsibility. This approach is evident across different educational institutions in Duluth, MN, each adapting the core principles to their specific contexts and student populations. This article will delve into the key aspects of the Duluth Core Learning curriculum, exploring its philosophy, implementation, and benefits for students, faculty, and the community.
The Philosophy of Community Engaged Learning (CEL)
At the heart of the Duluth Core Learning curriculum lies the philosophy of Community Engaged Learning (CEL). CEL is defined as a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful service with the academic curriculum to enrich student learning experiences, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. This teaching approach emphasizes analysis and reflection, and enables students to meet learning goals through community-engaged experiences identified by community organizations in collaboration with faculty.
CEL is a form of experiential learning that engages students in service as an integrated facet of a course. It is a teaching, learning, and reflective practice that integrates academic study with service to enhance learning, promote civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Within community-engaged learning, classroom studies complement service within the community and enable students to reflect upon and address local and global social problems. CEL engages students in active, collaborative, and inquiry-based learning experiences that meet identified community needs. CEL not only changes the way students learn, it changes society’s view of education and service. In this sense, CEL is a philosophy of education and service to the community. CEL is not an “add on”; it is a way of achieving core academic outcomes.
Unlike traditional internships, which typically focus on student learning for the purpose of career development and are usually not embedded within a course, CEL is intentionally integrated into the curriculum. There are a variety of community-engaged learning models that could include direct-immersion based experiences, project-based, community-engaged research, or advocacy-based.
Key Components of CEL Courses
Several essential components define CEL courses within the Duluth Core Learning curriculum:
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- Integration of Community-Engaged Learning: Course objectives demonstrate an integration of meaningful community-engaged learning with the achievement of University of Minnesota Duluth student learning outcomes.
- Community-Engaged Learning Activities: Activities (e.g., readings, discussions, projects, assignments) incorporate the community-engaged learning experience and how it relates to the course subject matter. Students are also required to analyze their community experiences and synthesize these experiences with other materials in the course or learning module.
- Reflection on Community-Engaged Learning Experiences: Reflection on community-engaged learning experiences is ongoing and includes dialogue about community issues as appropriate to the course or learning module. The course or learning module also offers a method to assess the learning derived from the community-engaged learning experiences.
- Collaboration with Community Organizations: There is an agreed upon set of expectations and outcomes between the instructor and the community-based agency for all involved. Inclusion of collaborating organizations (COs) as respected partners is integral to the experience. COs define student involvement in their organizations, in consultation with the course instructor, are oriented into the CEL process, receive a course syllabus, and are in regular communication with the course instructor. Community partnerships in CEL courses are with non-profit organizations or public entities such as the city park and recreation department or public health department; although, for-profit organizations serving the needs of the underserved in the community, marginalized populations or needing assistance with social justice issues will be considered on a case-by-case basis. (See Note 1)
- Alignment with Student Learning Outcomes: Each CEL course component will have its own content-specific student learning outcomes that align with the associated student learning outcomes of the broader course.
CEL Course Approval Process
To ensure the quality and integrity of CEL courses, a formal approval process is in place:
- A faculty member teaching the course completes the CEL Course Proposal Addendum form for the proposed course and submits the form with course syllabus to the department head for approval.
- Once approved at the department level, the CEL Course Proposal Addendum form and syllabus are submitted to the collegiate curriculum committee to ensure the course meets the essential components of community-engaged learning as set forth in UMD policy.
- Once approved by the collegiate curriculum committee, the proposal moves to the dean/associate dean for review.
- Once approved by the dean/associate dean, Academic Affairs is notified and the CEL attribute is added to the course catalog.
- Department schedulers then monitor and maintain for accuracy.
Designation as a CEL course is strongly recommended to alert students of the out-of-class time commitment and to formally identify CEL courses for risk management considerations. Once approved, no further approvals will be necessary unless the course CEL design is changed significantly. All CEL-designated courses must be re-approved every five years.
Benefits of the CEL Course Attribute
The CEL course attribute benefits students, faculty, and community partners in several ways:
- Visibility: Provides a clear indication of required community experiences for students and distinguishing courses to promote/recruit community organizational involvement (this enables students to plan and balance their schedules accordingly with other commitments).
- Quality Practice: Provides community partners, faculty, and students criteria and best practices of community engaged learning experiences to ensure enhanced quality learning experiences for students and positive, mutually beneficial outcomes for the collaborating community organizations.
- Reporting: Provides avenues to track community engaged learning activity across disciplines and units and to access more easily and expedite internal and external reporting requirements (e.g., student learning outcomes, grant reporting, faculty annual review documentation).
- Recognition: Provides opportunities to formally recognize students and innovative teaching.
- Alignment: Correlates directly with UMD’s Strategic Plan, especially goal #5: Advance UMD’s profile as an intentional and pivotal partner for Duluth, the Northland, and Minnesota.
Addressing Learning Challenges: The Role of Duluth Core Learning
Beyond CEL, the Duluth Core Learning curriculum also addresses specific learning challenges that students may face. Duluth Core Learning, located in Duluth, MN, specializes in addressing learning challenges such as poor listening skills, reading resistance, and difficulties with direction-following that traditional tutoring methods often overlook. Utilizing methods such as the Ronnie Gardiner Method and Tomatis Method Sound Therapy, Duluth Core Learning provides tailored support for individuals who may be misjudged as lacking motivation or capability. Their aim is to foster a conducive learning environment that caters to both children and adults facing these educational hurdles.
Foundational Literacy at Duluth Edison Charter Schools (DECS)
The Duluth Edison Charter Schools (DECS) exemplify the Duluth Core Learning principles by tailoring education to meet the unique needs of the whole child while guiding them to develop their best self. DECS designs educational opportunities for students based on the Minnesota State and National Standards.
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DECS utilizes specific programs to build foundational literacy skills:
- Fundations: Fundations utilizes a structured literacy approach grounded in the science of reading to make learning to read fun while laying the groundwork for lifelong literacy. As a supplemental word study program that complements our core reading curriculum, students in grades K-2 receive a systematic, cumulative, explicit, diagnostic program in critical foundational skills. Fundations teaches reading, spelling and handwriting skills using a multisensory approach, appropriate for all students in K-2 in tier 1. Fundations is a whole class program universally designed to serve all K-2 students. Lessons are delivered by the classroom teacher for 30 mn. per day.
- Heggerty: The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness curriculum provides educators with 35 weeks of explicit Phonemic Awareness lessons. The Phonemic awareness lessons take place within a classroom literacy block and are part of the tier 1 curriculum for the whole class in K-2 classrooms. The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum provides students with consistent and repeated instruction in blending, segmenting, manipulating words, syllables and phonemes each day.
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