About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

33 UALR L. Rev. 377 (2010-2011)
Innovative Approaches to Public Service through Institutionalized Action Research: Reflections from Law and Social Work

handle is hein.journals/ualr33 and id is 385 raw text is: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO PUBLIC SERVICE THROUGH
INSTITUTIONALIZED ACTION RESEARCH: REFLECTIONS FROM
LAW AND SOCIAL WORK
Susan R. Jones, JD and Shirley J. Jones, PhD *
I. INTRODUCTION
This article describes innovative approaches to integrating public ser-
vice into law school and graduate social work curricula through the over-
arching lens of action research, a broad term encompassing service and ac-
tion learning, and a pedagogical approach designed to educate students
while helping communities.' Academic participation opportunities allow
students to engage with their society and affect productive contributions to
the development and growth of underserved communities.2 Indeed, many
educators believe that colleges and universities have an obligation to teach
about social justice.3 Social justice is the virtue that guides us in creating
* Susan R. Jones is a Professor of Clinical Law at The George Washington University
Law School. She is a former Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on
Clinical Legal Education and the Section on Africa. Professor Jones can be reached via email
at: susanjones@law.gwu.edu.
Shirley J. Jones, PhD is a Distinguished Service Professor at The University at Albany
School of Social Welfare. A long time social work administrator, educator, and scholar, she
is the founder of the U.S.-Africa Partnership for Building Stronger Communities. Dr. Jones
can be reached via email at: sjones@albany.edu.
This paper is derived from a paper presented at the twelfth World Congress of Comparative
Education Societies, October 25-29, 2004 in Havana, Cuba. The conference theme was
Education and Social Justice. The Thematic Group was Educational Policies in a Changing
World.
Professor Susan R. Jones acknowledges helpful comments from Prof. Lewis Solomon and
Prof. Louise Trubek and the help of her research assistants, Jaia Thomas, Lauren Phillips,
Michael V. Dobson, Jr., Lucas Anderson, Erika Kottenmeier, and Anika Keswani.
1. SHIRLEY JONES, ROBERT MILLER & IRENE LUCKEY, in Anne Fortune, Ed., Action
Research: An Intervention for Change, Development, and Advocacy in a Global Society,
QUALITATIVE METHODS IN SOCIAL WORK (Columbia University Press, 2d ed.) (forthcoming
on ).
2. SHIRLEY J. JONES, Professional Development in the Human Services: Implications
for the 21s Century, in PREPARING HELPING PROFESSIONALS TO MEET COMMUNITY NEEDS:
GENERALIZING FROM THE RURAL EXPERIENCE, 3, 4, 10 (S.J. Jones & J.L. Zlotnik eds., 1998).
This article discusses the action learning component of action research and the data gathering
process as an outcome of the learning experience.
3. Defining Economic Justice and Social Justice, CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE, http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/economicjustice-defined.htm (last visited February 6,
2011). See generally Jon C. Dubin, Clinical Design for Social Justice Imperatives, 51 SMU
L. REV. 1461 (1998).

377

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most