Social Solutions? Teaching Social Problems by Collaborating with Community Organizers

• In Event: 20461 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 4: Teaching with Films, Games, & Community Engagement

Abstract

This presentation will focus on how community-based participatory action research can be used as a compelling pedagogical approach to teaching Social Problems. In Spring of 2024, students in the Social Problems class at Sinclair Community College worked with the Dayton Tenant Union to plan and execute a resource fair for tenants in Dayton, Ohio. With COVID assistance tapering off, housing prices soaring, and the eviction ban revoked, we are in the midst of a housing crisis. Rather than focusing on the abstract notion of housing as a social problem, students were immersed in how we arrived at this crisis, how it has impacted their local community, and how various stakeholders were working to address this at the individual, institutional, and structural levels. They were then tasked with proposing, planning, and carrying out a solution-based project. Students heard from the County Clerk of Courts, and observed eviction courts. They worked closely with local community organizers, non-profit organizations, and community service providers. They attended meetings held by various organizations, and were tasked with listening to those directly impacted by eviction and houselessness.

Students learned various research methodologies, interacted directly with community stakeholders, discussed problems and solutions with government officials, and grappled with both the minor annoyances of coordinating an event along with the larger obstacles that arise when attempting to address any social problem. It served as a practice in professionalism, and provided students with a sense of efficacy. Overall, it also illustrated that, while academic concepts are useful tools, they do not often capture the messy reality of lived experience. By providing a grounding in social problem scholarship, which they were then compelled to put into action, students were able to understand both social problems, and how social solutions are developed.

Authors

• Kathleen Gish, Sinclair Community College

• Amaha Sellassie, Sinclair Community College