Julie Wallach

Gardening Activities, Education, and Self-Esteem: Learning outside the Classroom.

Numerous articles have been written about the impact of community-based work and self-esteem, self-efficacy, and gardening in an educational environment. Empirical data suggest that when students have become involved in a group effort designed to improve a school, community, or society, a sense of interdependency and loyalty to that institution develops. The purpose of the current article is to illustrate the effects of a gardening program on improving gardening self-esteem and reducing ethnocentrism among community college students. An additional goal of the study was to illustrate how the improvements in self-esteem among students also resulted in increased community involvement and awareness. Results of the study suggest that when a learning institution provides mechanisms for students to contribute to the overall quality of the institution (such as a campus gardening program), a sense of interdependency and positive self-empowerment develops among faculty and students.

Community Service Work, Civic Engagement, and “Giving Back” to Society: Key Factors in Improving Interethnic Relationships and Achieving “Connectedness” in Ethnically Diverse Communities

Abstract Recently, the topics of community service activity and civic engagement relative to psychosocial benefits have received considerable attention. The current study addresses the relationship between community service activities, interethnic attitudes and individual perceptions of the value, relevance and importance of community service activities. We hypothesized that as subjects (n=40) participated in a variety of community service related activities, their perception of the overall importance of community engagement and interethnic attitudes (i.e., reductions in ethnocentrism) would significantly increase. A paired-samples t test showed significant increases among topics addressing perceptions of the importance of community service work and improvements among interethnic attitudes (p<.007). Results of the study and suggestions for future research are offered.

The Demise and Resurrection of Compton Community College: How Loss of Accreditation Can Lead to a New Beginning

This article is a personal faculty perspective regarding academic accreditation. It describes the psychological process and consequences of losing accreditation. Compton Community College was one of the oldest community colleges in California and has served a diverse population of students for over 50 years. As a result of severe administrative and financial problems, the colleges accreditation became jeopardized and was actually terminated in August 2006 by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). The college is now considered a district and has developed a partnership with El Camino Community College. In this article we discuss how the faculty responded to the process of closure and how it experienced the psychological stages of death and dying. Finally addressed is the need for hope to regain autonomy and independence in the future.