Service-Learning Foundations and

Practices

Annie Mae Young, Quilts of Gee’s Bend, ca. 1975

Jen Gilbride-Brown, Ph.D

The Ohio State University

Setting the Context

Service-learning in the larger, civic engagement context

So what is “it” anyway

Partnership at the foundation

Civic Engagement has grown as part of a larger story about higher education’s response to calls for relevance and questions about civic purposes.

Four milestones in last 30 years~ Hollander, E & Meeropol, J. (2006)

• Mid to late 1980’s: “Era of Student Volunteerism”• Early 1990’s: “Rise of Service-Learning• Late 1990’s: “Birth of ‘the Engaged Campus’”• 2000’s: “Rapid Expansion of the Idea of ‘Engaged Campus'

1988: 225 Compact Members & 3 State

Offices1992: 52% Compact campuses offer credit for service related to

course

1997: 80% Compact campuses offering service-learning

2002: 28 State Compact Offices

2006: 91% Compact campuses offering service-learning

2008: 34 State

Compact Offices

Are we there yet?

Not quite!

• Exclusive focus exists on “schooling and the classroom” to engage young people in democracy and public life.

• Conflates two distinct things: “education” and “schooling”

Education cannot be limited to the activity of “schooling.”

An Ecology of Education

Ecology• Ongoing & continual relationship• Interdependence• Interconnection

An Ecology of Education

Power in an ecological perspective on education:

From scarcity to abundanceFrom scarcity to abundance

Untapped

Resources

Untapped

Resources

A Learning Web

Who else educates?

A Learning Web What if your educational institution

is NOT at the center?

Subject or issue

Your Learning WebWhere is your course

or project?

Subject or issue

Let’s play with the “learning web”

How to connect education with civic life

What is service-learning?Service-learning is a form of experiential education characterized by all of the following:

student participation in an organized service activity

participation in service activities connected to specific learning outcomes

participation in service activities that meet identified community needs

structured time for student reflection and connection of the service experience to learning

(Abes, Jackson & Jones, 2002)

Where is service-learning?Recipient ProviderBeneficiary

Service LearningFocus

Service-Learning

Community Service

Volunteerism Internship

Field Education

Furco, A. 1996. Service-Learning: A balanced approach to experimental education. In B. Taylor, (Ed.) Expanding Boundaries: Service and Learning. Corporation for National and Community Service.

Key Themes in Service-Learning

Collaboration with the community (reciprocity)

Importance of reflection

Active learning (meaningful work)

Development of a sense of caring

Promotion of a sense of civic responsibility

Ameliorate societal problems

(O’Grady, 2000)

Models good practice with emphasis on collaboration, reciprocity, commitment

Promotes reflective thinking Increases self-knowledge, cognitive

complexity, knowledge of diverse others and communities

Deepens commitments to the “common good” which seek a more just, equitable world

Strengths of Service-Learning

An “Asset” approach, is critical to community partnerships.

Our language informs what we know and believe to be possible- our orientation to the world and to the work.

Good Neighborhood / Bad Neighborhood

Good Neighborhood: What do you see?

Bad Neighborhood: What do you see?

Good Neighborhood/ Bad Neighborhood

Good Neighborhood: What do you see?

Bad Neighborhood: What do you see?

Not the WHOLE story!

A FOCUS on the ASSETS of the partners in service-learning works AGAINST the

power of misinformation and negative stereotypes that undermine

relationships.

Reciprocity as the goal

“…what affects me affects the wider community, and what affects the wider community affects me. The consequences are indistinguishable.”

~J. Saltmarsh (1998)

Challenge of reciprocity

“…Those who do community service at colleges and universities, on the other hand, are generally young people who have more advantages than those they are serving.”

~ Nieto, 2000

Begins and ends with the community…

“Ruth Ann”