PARE Model

The Center for Community Service and Justice builds connections between Loyola University and surrounding communities through:

• direct service
• service-learning education
• service immersion programs
• social justice advocacy

CCSJ seeks to infuse a spirit of love and community into its mission of education for justice. This involves direct involvement with an action on behalf of individuals, groups, and communities who experience educational disadvantage, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and other forms of marginalization. 

This mission often moves us out of our comfort zones. It exposes us to real suffering, and inevitably challenges our view of the world and our role within it. With this reality in mind, CCSJ intentionally incorporates an educational model called PARE. This model connects the experience of service to critical reflection that addresses the intersections between service; development of personal values; spirituality or faith; and processes of decision-making that free us to make choices and commitments on behalf of those in need.

The PARE Model –which stands for Preparation, Action, Reflection, and Evaluation – is an educational tool that CCSJ uses to help make sure that when Loyola students engage in community service, they are in engaging in a form of education.  PARE is essentially the curriculum that CCSJ uses for all community service opportunities.  When it’s implemented correctly, the PARE model ensures that a student has a well-rounded service experience and not only learns about real world issues, but also walks away having learned something new about themselves and how they think and feel about those issues.  This model of education is very much connected to the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis – “care for the whole person.”  Loyola wants its students to be challenged in many ways – intellectually, physically, spiritually – by their experiences serving in the community, because participating in service can serve as an important opportunity for growth and, ultimately, for transforming people’s hearts. And minds.

Learn more about each component of the PARE model by clicking on the image above.