Communities & Workplaces as Learning Environments: Reflections on a Life's Theme

In the January/February 1998 issue of the Council for Independent College’s newsletter, Independent, the front page headline announced receipt of a $1.5 million grant to enhance community-campus partnerships. Goals were to review the impact of service-learning, internships, and other forms of experiential education on faculty, staff, students and community members. CIC President Splete shared that “We’re going to look more closely at the ways in which colleges develop interdependent, mutually beneficial partnerships with their communities—and we will develop ideas to enhance those connections. Through these efforts we hope to help colleges better understand how these important links with their communities affect such internal processes as the curriculum and the way faculty work.” Robert L. Sigmon was one of the primary researchers on the project. A few years after participating in the project, Sigmon wrote about the value of communities and workplaces as learning environments. With the creative editing assistance of Dr. Lisa Keyne, his original paper has been slightly revised, but re-emphasizes his lifelong passion for strengthening community voice in experiential education initiatives of higher education. KEYWORDS service-learning; origins