Interdisciplinary Service Learning: Boston Teacher's Union Pilot School
In 2005, the Boston Teachers’ Union and the Boston School Committee negotiated an agreement to open a teacher-run school committed to the education of Boston youth. A partnership between Simmons University and the Boston Teachers’ Union School (BTU School) was established before its fall 2009 opening in Jamaica Plain. Simmons University faculty worked with the BTU to conceptualize the school and provided interdisciplinary support, training and leadership from its education, social work, nursing, library science, and management programs.
The program was coordinated by Professor Daren Graves, Professor of Social Work and Education. Simmons students participated in internships and fieldwork placements at the school as teachers, social workers, and librarians. MLIS students helped to build the BTU School Library from the ground up, while education students held positions as assistant teachers, and students in social work supported the BTU School as interns. After graduating, several Simmons graduates were hired as BTU Faculty.
The official Memorandum of Understanding between BTU and Simmons expired in 2012, but the partnership continued. Simmons faculty and students created and expanded afterschool programming at the BTU School through an Americorps VISTA grant, including a tutoring program (Education SPARKS) and a Dance Club. The London Center continued to facilitate service-learning placements for Simmons students.
Professor Daren Graves: I see the growth of our students through the improvements that we as faculty have made in response to our experiences at the Union School. Having had the opportunity to work with the staff, students, and families of the Union School has helped us as individual and collective faculty members build on our strengths, while transforming and re-imagining our own teaching and curriculum. That is the true beauty of this type of partnership. Everybody benefits.
In addition, the Union School and its community benefit from Simmons's resources and expertise. The Simmons faculty and staff benefit from embodying our ethos around connecting theory, practice, and service. The Simmons students benefit from the opportunities to serve and learn with our neighbors in Boston, as well as to reap the rewards of learning from faculty who are teaching from the experiences of working on the cutting edge of school reform and teacher education.