New
Department:
Organizational
Leadership, Policy,
and Development
Effective July 1, 2009, a
new department has been created
that integrates the business and
marketing education, human
resource development and adult
education, and comprehensive
WHRE programs from the
Department of
Work and Human Resource
Education (WHRE) into the
department formerly known as
Educational Policy and
Administration (EdPA). The
name of this new department is
Organizational Leadership,
Policy, and Development (OLPD).
It will offer exciting
opportunities for collaboration
and interdisciplinary education
and research. Click
here for details. |
Current Research Interests
- Measurement issues in community engagement and service-learning
- Civic purposes of K-12 and higher education
- Values and character education in national and international contexts
- Community engagement for prosocial youth development
Profile
My primary research and teaching interests focus on the measurement and assessment
of constructivist teaching, authentic learning, and experiential education as they
pertain to the nexus between community engagement and the civic purposes of education.
I am interested in examining these issues in the contexts of school reform, educational
leadership, program evaluation, character and values education, teacher education,
prosocial youth development, and student civic and career development. My work spans
K-12 and higher education and is rooted in national (U.S.) and international contexts.
I apply an interdisciplinary perspective to my work, drawing
primarily from psychology, sociology, and political science. My research relies
on both quantitative and qualitative methods, and moves across positivistic, interpretive,
and critical research paradigms as the research questions and investigations warrant.
In recent years, I have become particularly interested in transnational studies
that explore issues of community-based learning pedagogies and educational reform
within and across national primary, secondary, and tertiary education systems.
Currently, with Professor David Weerts,
I co-teach a course, Public Engagement and Higher Education, which explores current
issues of community engagement across various types of higher education institutions.
Along with my faculty and teaching roles in Educational Policy and Administration,
I currently serve as the University’s Associate Vice President for Public Engagement.
In this role, I work with units across the University of Minnesota to advance the
institutionalization of various forms of public and community engagement into the
University’s research, teaching, and outreach activities.
My career in education began in urban schools in California where
I first served as a middle and high school teacher and site administrator. These
early experiences cultivated my interest in active learning pedagogies and the various
ways we engage students more fully in the learning process. After my graduate studies,
I served as a researcher and faculty member in the Graduate School of Education
at UC Berkeley, where I founded and directed the University’s Service-Learning Research
and Development Center (SLRDC). During my 13 years as SLRDC director, I had the
opportunity to work with faculty and students across the U.S. and abroad in various
studies that explored the effects of service-learning on students, faculty, the
community, and educational institutions. I also had the privilege of working with
more than 30 graduate students from a broad range of disciplines and fields who
served as graduate research assistants for the Center’s various research studies.
At UC Berkeley, I taught several courses on research and thesis
development for the Principal Leadership Institute, which prepares educators for
positions as urban school administrators. I also taught an undergraduate course,
Logic of Inquiry: Analysis of Research in Education, which explored the various
investigative forms and principles that define research in education.
Over the years, my professional work has been enriched by various
collaborations with local school districts, state departments of education, foreign
ministries of education, and state and national organizations focused on advancing
student community engagement. My current work includes co-chairing the UNESCO International
Values Education Research Consortium, a research collaborative composed of researchers
from eight nations who are working to deepen understanding of universal values through
a series of nationally-based and transnational research studies. I am also currently
serving on the Council of Engagement and Outreach for the National Association of
State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), which focuses on advancing
the role of community engagement at public institutions of higher education.
Selected Publications
Books
Billig, S. H. & Furco, A. (Eds.)(2002). Service-learning
through a multidisciplinary lens. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Billig, S. H. & Furco, A. (Eds.)(2001). Service-learning:
The essence of the pedagogy. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Articles
Moely, B. E., Furco, A., & Reed, J. (2008). Charity and social
change: The impact of individual preferences on service-learning. Michigan Journal
of Community Service-Learning, 15(1), 37-48.
Furco, A. (2006). Is service-learning really better than community
service? In A. Sliwka, M. Diedrich, & Hofer, M. (Eds.). Citizenship education
(pp. 155-181). Berlin: Waxmann.
Furco, A. (2005). Impactos de los proyectos de aprendizaje-servicio.
In D. Filmus, I. Hernaiz, M.N. Tapia, and P. J. Elicegui (Auts.). Aprendizaje
y servicio solidario en la Educacion Superior y en Los Sistemos Educativos Latinoamericano
(pp. 19-26). Buenos Aires, Republica Argentina: Ministerio de Educacion, Ciencia
y Tecnologia. [in Spanish]
Furco, A. (2004). Zufriedner, sozialer, sensibler und motivierter:
Hoffnungsvolle Ergebnisse in den USA. In A. Sliwka, C. Petry, and P.E. Kalb (Hrsg.).
Durch Verantwortung lernen. Service-Learning: Erwas für andere tun (pp. 11-31).
Weinheim, Deutschland: Beltz Verlag. [in German]
Furco, A. & Holland, B. (2004). Institutionalizing service-learning
in higher education: Issues and strategies for chief academic officers. In M. Langseth
& S. Dillon (Eds.). Public work and the academy. Bolton, MA: Anker
Publishing Company.
Furco, A. (2003). Issues of definition and program diversity
in the study of service-learning. In S. H. Billig (Ed.), Studying service-learning.
Lawrence Erlbaum Publishing Company.
Furco, A. (2002). Institutionalizing service-learning in higher
education. Journal of Public Affairs, 6, 39-67.
Furco, A. (2002). High school service-learning and the preparation
of students for college: An overview of the research. In E. Zlotkowski (Ed.),
Service-learning and the first-year experience: Preparing students for personal
success and civic responsibility (pp. 3-14). Columbia, SC: University of South
Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in
Transition.
Furco, A. & Root, S. (2001). Service-learning in teacher education:
An overview of the research. In J. Anderson & K. Swick (Eds.). Strengthening
service and learning in teacher education. Washington, DC: American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher
Education.
Furco, A. (Fall, 2000). Establishing a national center for research
to systematize the study of service-learning. Michigan Journal of Community
Service-Learning, 129-133.
Furco, A. (Fall, 1996). Service-learning and school to work:
making the connections. Journal of Cooperative Education, XXXII(1), 7-14.
Bethesda: Cooperative Education Association.
Furco, A. (1994). A conceptual framework for the institutionalization
of youth service programs in primary and secondary education. Journal of Adolescence,
17, 395-409.
Education
- Ed.D., U.C. Berkeley, 1997, educational policy and administration
- M.A., U.C.L.A.,1986, special education
- B.A., U.C.L.A., 1984, music
Academic Positions
- Associate Professor, Department of Educational Policy and Administration
(2008-present)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Associate Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Education (2007-2008)
University of California, Berkeley
- Assistant Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Education (2001-2007)
University of California at Berkeley
- Lecturer, Graduate School of Education (1997-2001)
University of California at Berkeley
Administrative Positions
- Associate Vice President for Public Engagement (2008-present)
University of Minnesota
- Director, Service-Learning Research & Development Center (1994-2007)
University of California, Berkeley
- Co-Director; Center for Excellence through Collaboration and Outreach (1997-2000)
School of Education, University of California at Berkeley
Honors
- NSEE Researcher of the Year (2006)
Awarded by the National Society for Experiential Education
- John Glenn Scholar for Service-Learning (2004)
Awarded by the Ohio State University
- Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to K-H Service-Learning Research (2003)
Awarded by International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community
Engagement (IARSLCE)
- Mellon Faculty Fellowship for Advancing Research in Undergraduate Education (2003)
Awarded by UC Berkeley
- Campus Compact National Engaged Scholar (1999)
Awarded by Campus Compact at Brown University
Professional Memberships
Revised February 2009
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