Reflections On Thirteen Years Directing Community-Based Learning Projects

In this article I present my reflections on thirteen years directing community-based learning projects. From 2002 to 2014, I taught 47 community-based courses to MBA students at the University of Sao Paulo, involving a network of 40 organizations that help people in need. I discuss the concept of community based learning, the context of the course, the process of creation of the community partners network, the project achievements and the media coverage. I discuss the benefits the projects brought to the students, to the community partners, to the University of Sao Paulo, to the scholars and to the people served by the community partners. I also reflect about the drawbacks and the lessons learned.

In this article, I reflect about my experience of involving students and NGOs in projects that address the needs of disadvantaged people.From 2002 to 2014, I taught 47 community-based courses to MBA students at the University of Sao Paulo, involving a network of 40 organizations that help people in the margins of the society.In order to fully understand how this experiment worked, it is first necessary to understand the concept of community-based learning and the various types of community-student engagements that are possible within that concept.

What is Community-Based Learning?
Community-based learning (thereafter CBL) can be understood as an educational strategy that connects scholars and students with community members and organizations in activities that provide learning opportunities and benefits to all participants (Jacoby, 2014).Community-based learning involves experiential learning: the students learn by doing projects to address community needs.Scholars (Prast & Viegut, 2015) point that CBL may develop following three learning approaches: project-based learning, placed-based learning, and service learning.In this experiment, I followed the first approach: the students learned while working on academic projects connected to the theory taught in class.Throughout the project, the students were challenged to apply the theory in practical ways.Scholars (Jacoby, 2014;Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, 2015) point out that CBL includes four types of engagements: direct service, indirect service, advocacy, and research.Direct service occurs when the students engage in activities directly with the community members served by the organizations.In some of the courses I taught, the students developed projects that led to development of activities involving children such as storytelling, games, Easter and Christmas celebrations, field trips, as well as visits to museums and art galleries.
Indirect service occurs when the students do not interact directly with the people served by the organizations but with the organization's managers, undertaking projects that improve the organization's facilities.My students also developed fundraising events to help fund libraries and computer networks within the organization.
Advocacy service occurs when the students promote consciousness about a point of concern within the community, such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), sexual violence, drug abuse, and so on.My students have developed several projects to develop and distribute booklets about deafness, sexual abuse, and other issues relevant to the community.
Research service occurs when the students help the community organizations to collect information about issues of public concern.My students have developed several research services, including projects that led to the creation of a web-based database about free activities offered in Sao Paulo and projects that led to the creation of electronic booklets with information about all the NGOs in Sao Paulo and the services they offer.

The Context of the Course
In each course taught, I followed a project-based learning approach: the educational goal was to provide the students with the opportunity to learn project management theory and practice while accomplishing real-life projects.
The projects were accomplished on the behalf of a network of organizations, our community partners (thereafter CPs).Our CPs included orphanages, elder shelter homes, homeless shelters, nurseries, schools, hospitals, public institutions that help people with mental problems, NGOs that help children with cancer, NGOs that provide psychological assistance to child victims of sexual abuse, and NGOs that provide educational opportunities and technical courses for children and adolescents from poor neighborhoods (Appendix).
For each course, I define our educational approach and learning objectives.Whenever possible, I involve the CPs in the planning process.Their level of involvement varies depending on their availability and willingness to collaborate.
In a typical course, the CPs present a list of needs to me several weeks before the course begins.The needs usually are very diverse.Sometimes the CPs ask for donations of food and clothing.Occasionally, they ask for assistance improving their organizational processes.Others ask for equipment such as televisions, computers, microwaves, refrigerators, coffee machines, sewing machines, and so on, or furniture --sofas, desks, chairs, and so on.On other occasions, the organizations ask for help renovating their facilities.I then organize these needs as "project themes" and make the themes available to the students on the course website.
The CPs provide a dedicated staff member (thereafter CP´s representative) to participate in the execution of the project with the students.She/he has the role of providing the students with all information they need about the project´s theme, presenting the CP's facilities to the students, meeting with the students whenever necessary, and participating in classroom activities when requested.
On the first day of the course, the CP representative comes to the classroom to present the project themes to the students, who are free to choose which theme they will work on.The CP representative explains to the students how their institution works and what benefits it brings to the people assisted by them.This first contact is very important in creating bonds between CPs and students.In the following two weeks, the students visit the CP's facilities in order to have a better understanding of the CP's needs.The visit also allows the students to interact with the community members supported by the CPs.
The students then organize themselves in teams of five (on average) and create a project plan in order to create a product or service that will address the CP's needs.During the planning, the students define the team members' roles and responsibilities.They also define the fundraising strategies, which may include organizing events, selling raffle tickets, identifying companies for donations, and other activities (Arantes do Amaral, Petroni, & Hess, 2016).
Usually at the third class the student teams present their plans to me and to the other teams.During this activity, I give guidance to the students, challenging them to reflect about the possible risks and benefits of each plan.The students also inform the CPs about the way they plan to develop the project, registering all plans in a project blog.The idea of having a blog is to facilitate the sharing of the project data with all those involved -students, CPs, community members, potential donors, and professors.
During weeks four to eleven, the students execute the plan.This may involve contacting corporations, presenting the projects to them, and asking for donations.Sometimes the students organize parties, barbecues, and shows in order to raise the necessary funds.At about week six, the students present the project's status to the professor.During this presentation, they reflect on the problems faced and the actions taken in order to solve these problems.They show me how they are applying the project management concepts studied in class to manage the project.I give them guidance and suggestions.At all stages of the project's execution, the students keep the CPs informed on their progress.
During the final weeks of the course (weeks eleven and twelve), the students work on finalizing the project.They deliver the product or service to the CPs, complete all project documents, and update the project blogs.On the last day of each class, I hold a focus group activity involving the students and the CPs.This is the most important day of the course, since we reflect together on all aspects of the course and the projects completed.
We discuss what worked and what didn´t and solicit suggestions for improvement from all participants.Based on this reflection and on all the data collected during the course, I plan improvements for the next course (Arantes do Amaral & Gonçalves, 2016).These are incorporated into the next course, and the process repeats itself (Figure 1).As we have seen, the courses depend heavily on the support of the CPs.The network of CPs has been developed over time.

The Process of Creation of a Network of Community Partners
From 2002 to 2014, I gradually built a network.Over the years, forty institutions have participated, with different degrees of involvement (Arantes do Amaral & Gonçalves, 2016; Arantes do Amaral & Matsusaki, 2017).
All of the community partners have one thing in common: they help people in need.Each organization became a CP in a different way.With some institutions, I followed a formal partnership approach: I contacted the institution manager, visited the institution facilities, introduced myself to their directors, and explained the course objectives and potential benefits of the partnership (Arantes do Amaral & Matsusaki, 2017).
In other cases, the opposite occurred: the institution took the initiative to contact me, asking to become a member of the network.The students also played an important role in introducing me to new institutions.
Of the 40 organizations that have been involved, 12 have continued as CPs for a period of more than five years.Others left the partnership for different reasons: sometimes the person in charge of representing the institution left, and the person who replaced him/her did not have an interest in continuing the partnership.On other occasions, the CP did not give the students the attention they deserved: when this occurred, I took the initiative to end the partnership.Occasionally, the CP was involved with other projects and did not have enough staff available to work with the students.
Each partnership has its own peculiarity, and maintaining one is not easy.It is up to me to keep the partnership alive, maintaining contact with the CPs in order to understand their changing needs.

Project Achievements
Here I will briefly describe the products and services created from 2002 to 2014.
112 projects led to the acquisition of goods, which included cars, musical instruments, food, toys, school materials, hygiene materials, books, furniture, air conditioners, refrigerators, clothing, painting materials, televisions, computers, sewing machines, and classroom tables and chairs.29 projects led to renovation of the CPs' facilities, including replacement of floors, installation of new windows and bathroom fixtures, replacement of electrical cables, installation of artificial grass, modernization of playground areas, construction, and painting.24 projects resulted in the development of products such as videos, booklets, books, and in improving the landscape of the CP premises.22 projects led to the development or customization of information technology products, including databases, websites and financial software.21 projects lead to the creation of events such as workshops, fundraising events, vocational fairs, and activities with children and elders.14 projects led to the development of marketing campaigns, bringing visibility to the CPs and helping them recruit volunteers and obtain resources.Six projects raised funds for support activities, such as visit to museums and parks.

Academic Achievements
From 2002 to 2014, the students developed six MBA theses that focused on their academic projects.Some theses discussed issues related to the project management methodologies (Júnior, 2011), project management planning methods (De Oliveira, 2011) and project scope management (Gruenwald, 2008).Others presented case studies analyzing specific projects accomplished on behalf of CPs (Goes, 2008;Kurimoto, 2011;Santana & Barquila, 2006).The projects were also the subjects of two master's theses.One thesis compared the quality management of three information technology academic projects (Camolesi, 2004); the other performed a deep analysis of the quality management issues of one webdevelopment project (Almeida, 2004).
At conferences, scholars have presented information about the projects accomplished by the students on the behalf of one public school (Arantes do Amaral, Shahini & Bittencourt, 2008) and a public hospital dedicated to the care of hemophiliac patients (Arantes do Amaral et al., 2010).Scholars have also described at other conferences projects accomplished in the first six years of the course (Arantes do Amaral, Sbragio, Souza, 2007), the educational approach followed (Arantes do Amaral, Sbragio, Queiroz, 2006a) and explained the most creative projects (Arantes do Amaral, Sbragio, Queiroz, 2006b).
In 2014, researchers (Arantes do Amaral, Petroni, & Okazaki, 2014) created a book containing information collected from all project blogs and project documents.This book led to the creation of a database that was important to the writing of journal articles in subsequent years.From 2015 to 2017, scholars published four peer-reviewed articles about the experience: the dynamic of the creation of the network of CPs (Arantes do Amaral & Matsusaki, 2017), the creation of the learning environment (Arantes do Amaral, Gonçalves, & Hess, 2015), the students' fundraising strategies (Arantes do Amaral et al., 2016), and the improvements made in the course since its inception (Arantes do Amaral & Gonçalves, 2016).

Reflections
This community-based learning experience brought several benefits to the students.First, students had the opportunity to learn by doing, putting into practice the theory they had studied in class.The projects with community partners provided the students with a real-life project laboratory in which they could develop managerial strategies and test them in practice.This observation is in accordance with findings of other researchers (Hmelo-Silver, 2004;Bender 2012).During the projects, I observed students developing skills in project management, communication, teamwork and problem solving.Other scholars have observed similar improvements (Bell, 2010;McMahon, 1998).
To illustrate, I quote the words of a members of one team of students who developed a project on behalf of the children attended by the Claretian Solidarity and Hope Association: The use of project management tools helped us to plan the processes, to analyze the problems and to take decisions.We were extremely committed to the project and very proactive.The event we created reflected the course's effectiveness.We would like to thank the professor for the teaching approach and also for the opportunity of participating in playful activities with the children assisted by the NGO.(Arantes do Amaral et. al, 2014, p. 231) I also observed that the students' learning improved during the process, especially when we challenged them to reflect on their own actions.Other researchers have pointed to similar improvements (Ayas & Zeniuk, 2001).Even more importantly, during the projects I observed the students develop a greater sense of citizenship.This observation is aligned with similar findings of other academics (Dalton & Petrie, 1997;Simpson & Clark, 1994;Rockquemore & Schaffer, 2000).I also noticed that, on some occasions, students created bonds with the CPs and the people served by them.Other researchers also observed similar behavior (Driscoll, Holland, Gelmon, & Kerrigan, 1996).
As an example, I quote a team member who worked on a project on behalf of the public school, Youth and Adult Education Integration Center Campo Limpo, that works with students with physical and mental disabilities: The experience of accomplishing a social project was unique.We learned several lessons, and it was very gratifying to all of us.To meet Professor Eda [the community partner representative] was a great life lesson.Observing her will power and dedication made us to believe that is possible to build a better world.We would like to thank to our families, our friends and the corporations that donated materials and manpower.(Arantes do Amaral et. al, 2014, p. 157) The students also told me that working with CPs brought them joy and increased their motivation: they reported that they appreciated the opportunity to serve the community by doing meaningful work.They also let me know that they appreciated having the chance to return to the community at least part of what the community had invested in their education.These observations are aligned with the findings of other academics (Cohen & Kinsey, 1993).
For example, one team of the students, whose project was to reform the facilities of an Elders's home (Vila Mascote Assistance) reported: We learned that was vital to visit the institutions facilities at the beginning of the project in order to understand the project´s scope and to figure out what were the risks involved in the reform that we intended to do….The visit inspired and motivated us….The good relationship with the institution´s representative helped the project to develop smoothly, with great results and by following our project's plans…The motivation of the team members was fundamental to the success of the project.(Boscolo, Vilela, Romboli, & Pilotto, 2018, p. 8) In short, I may say that the courses empowered the students by helping them to develop skills (team work, problem solving, communication, project management, critical thinking) that are very important in any profession that they might pursue in the future.
More than that, the empowerment also came as the students developed habits of mind such as self-reliance, perseverance, tenacity, curiosity, and charity.Finally, I can say the course helped the students to develop their sense of social justice, since they interacted intensively with institutions that worked on behalf of people that are in the margins of society.The CPs also received several benefits from the students: as described previously, the CPs have received many products and services.The longer the CPs maintained the partnerships, the more they received.
The words of Mrs. Telma Dinelli, the director of an NGO that helps children with cancer and non-contagious diseases ('Jesus Love and Charity Home'), illustrates this point: Our institution shelters children with cancer and non-contagious diseases.Our main difficulty is to get financial donations.We have a lot of bills to pay such as electricity, water and telephone bills.The projects reinvigorate our institution.For example, the sofa where I am sitting was a result of one project.The TV, the air conditioner, the bakery, the microwave, the refrigerator, the bazaar's clothes, racks, mannequins are results of projects as well.Our computer network, for example, was a gift that came unexpectedly from one of the students' projects.We just asked for one notebook but then, all of a sudden, the students gave us several computers!These computers gave enormous benefits to the children we assist, since now they are able to communicate by internet to their parents that live far away from Sao Paulo.The benefits are fantastic!(Engels et al., 2013, 4:45) One might think that such long-term partnerships would create a situation in which CPs became dependent on the university for much of the help they needed.That was not the case.All the CPs that we have worked with have support from private donors, other government agencies, or corporate entities.
The projects benefit the CPs in a number of ways.Sometimes, the projects helped the CPs save money by supplying them with needed goods.The saved money helped increase the number of people these CPs were able to serve.To illustrate, the one of the directors of Saint Joseph Home, an institution that provides nursery services and education to the children of people who live in a very poor community, told students that the resources they supplied helped the Home give shelter to eight more children.
Mr. José Carlos de Almeida Carvalho, the president of the Saint Joseph Home, explains: The Saint Joseph Home was funded fifty-five years ago.Today we provide assistance to 70 children, such as playtime activities and learning activities….We have this partnership… for six years.Once we had old and obsolete wooden windows.Today we have brand new metallic windows!The nursery's floor is now covered with synthetic grass.The students were responsible for it!These students are extraordinary!We ask them to accomplish expensive projects and they are able to obtain the resources in creative ways, performing several different fundraising activities such as selling raffles, for example.Doing so they are able to accomplish the projects!(Engels et al., 2013, 13:19) Others CPs have acknowledged similar achievements.This reflection is aligned with the findings of other researchers (Marullo & Edwards, 2000) that stated that community-based learning experiences might indeed empower the CPs.
The CPs also learned with the students.Some CP managers let me know that they learned project management techniques by participating in several of these projects.They also reported that students had given them useful insights into creative ways of raising funds.
Another interesting effect that I observed over the years was the interaction between our CPs and the corporate entities that donated to them, such as grocery stores, bakeries, and hardware stores.I have observed that occasionally, companies that have made donations to a specific academic project remained in contact with the CPs even after the project finished continuing to donate to them in the following years.I also observed that on other occasions, the students continued their relationships with the CPs beyond the end of the project, working with them as volunteers.
I would say that the driving factor that contributed to the strength of the relationship between the CP and the university were the benefits the projects provided them: the products acquired, the services developed, and the learning opportunities created.This developed a strong positive feedback loop: more benefits they received, the more they trusted in the partnership with university, which in turn motivated them to participate in subsequent courses (Arantes do Amaral & Gonçalves, 2016).As time passed, the CPs´ representatives learned what kind of projects the students were capable of, what project themes the students preferred, what kind of support and guidance the CP representative should give to the students, and how to communicate effectively with the students so as to avoid problems and conflicts.
In each course, the team of students brings the CP representative new insights and motivation.As the years passed, the CPs became better informed about community-based learning practices.
And I may also say that, along the years, bonds between many of CP representatives and me strengthened: more than partners, we became friends.They enjoyed contributing to the students' education, acting as mentors, showing the students the importance of accomplishing social projects, and discussing with the students the benefits that the previous projects had brought to the people helped by the institution.They also enjoyed participating in classroom activities, giving feedback to the students and to me.It was a very interesting dynamic, to see the community partner improving its involvement with the students and with university.
The University of Sao Paulo also received benefits from the projects.One obvious benefit was the positive media coverage.From 2002 to 2014, five newspaper articles (Dimenstein 2007(Dimenstein , 2008a(Dimenstein , 2008b(Dimenstein , 2008c(Dimenstein , 2009a(Dimenstein , 2009b) covered information about the projects.The media attention, though not extensive, no doubt also helped to enhance the university's image.
However, I may say that the most important benefit was that many students reported that the community-based learning experience made the curriculum more relevant to them.Indeed, I noticed the students' increasing interest in the subjects taught.Other researchers have observed similar benefits (Astin & Sax, 1998).Moreover, the community-based learning courses also helped the university create bonds with the community.In a sense, the city became an extension of the university, with the CP facilities acting as off-campus classrooms.In other words, the city provided educational opportunities to the students.This finding is aligned with the findings of other researchers (Alves, 2004;Black, 2000).This experiment also brought academic benefits to scholars and students alike, since it provided them with rich research material.As I described previously, the projects inspired graduate students to develop MBA and master theses.The data also stimulated scholars to write journal articles and share information on the lessons learned at conferences.This finding is aligned with the findings of the other researchers (Driscoll et al., 1996).Finally, the people served by the CPs received many benefits from the projects.The projects contributed to the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.The projects also provided to them with school materials, art materials, books and computers.Some projects also provided them with leisure activities and additional educational opportunities.

Drawbacks of Our Community-Based Learning Experiment
First, it took a great deal of effort to create and maintain the partnerships.Contacting the CPs and orienting them to the philosophy of the course took time and energy.Course development required more work than for a traditional course, involving constant interaction with the CPs.Moreover, despite lack of technical support from the university, I continually strived to update the course website, which added to my workload and stress levels.This finding is aligned with the findings of other scholars (Ribeiro, 2011).A community-based course also involves risks: it is impossible to control every aspect of every project.In a typical course of thirty students, six projects will be running simultaneously.On occasions when I taught to more than one class, twenty projects might be running simultaneously.It was thus very difficult for me to attend to the needs of all the students and CPs.

Recommendations for Similar Projects
I would give three recommendations for those scholars interested in doing similar projects.First, I would recommend for those who live in countries where the first language is not English to put effort publish their findings in English in order to increase the viewership of the works.I regret not having challenged my students to develop articles in English from their master´s and MBA theses.
Second, I would recommend that the scholars develop electronic questionnaires, using free tools such as Google Forms, in order to collect the students' perspectives about the projects.I asked my students to create blogs, but as the years passed I realized that blogs are not very reliable since some of them disappeared.
Third, I would recommend putting efforts into transforming the informal partnerships into formal partnerships with the university.I was not able to do so: as an invited lecturer, I did not have the power to formally propose the creation of a center that might handle this by myself; I had to rely on good will of University of Sao Paulo professors to do so.Unfortunately, I was not able persuade them to do this.

Final Remarks
At the middle of 2014, I left the course because I was hired as a faculty member at the Federal University of Sao Paulo (Unifesp).However, I continue to provide support to the professor who replaced me, keeping the community-based learning experience going as best as we can.Unfortunately, it is sad to notice that community-based learning is not a pedagogical model widespread within the University of Sao Paulo and even less so in the MBA course where I used to teach.There is no university policy in place to foster the development of courses like this.I am fairly sure that the experiment worked primarily because of my personal beliefs and efforts, the commitment and good will of the community partners, and the motivation, enthusiasm and will power of the students.In short, it was a "professor-centered initiative" rather than "university-driven initiative".
Nevertheless, in Unifesp I enhanced our community-based approach based on the lessons I had learned at the University of Sao Paulo.I continue to work with the CP network.I made adjustments and improvements in the course methodology, making it applicable at the undergraduate level.Since 2014 to the present time, I have developed one hundred and twenty-five projects with my undergraduate students at the Federal University of Sao Paulo.I will discuss our findings in another article, hopefully very soon.
To conclude, I may say that this long, complex, and rewarding communitybased learning experience changed my beliefs about how a course can be conducted.I learned that the professor can be much more than a person who explain concepts.The professor can also be an agent of change, breaking the university's "walls", connecting the university with the community, and challenging the students to use their will power and ingenuity to bring benefits to the society, especially those with special needs.I hope this reflection will bring useful insights to our peers involved in community-based learning experiences.Santana, A.; Barquila, A. (2006)

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The sequence of activities accomplished in a typical project.