SERVICE-LEARNING
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Service-Learning
Service-Learning refers to learning that actively involves students in a wide variety of experiences, which time and again benefit others and the community while also meeting the goals of a given curriculum. Service-Learning provides students with an opportunity to participate in community projects to apply classroom learning that may benefit the community. It is an educational approach or perspective that aims to incorporate community service to learning objectives so as to provide a practical and progressive learning experience while meeting the needs of the community. It is also a combination of formal education and applying classroom knowledge in community projects. Service-Learning recognizes the student’s personal talents and passions and allows them to exercise and engage them real-world situations. There are several types of Service-Learning, which include Advocacy Service-Learning, Direct Service-Learning, Indirect Serving-Learning, and Research-Based Serving-Learning.
Advocacy Service-Learning involves educating and creating awareness to others about topics, issues, or matters of public interest-projects aimed at providing knowledge to the public. Advocacy Service-Learning examples include working with elected or appointed leaders to create rules and regulations for the community’s welfare, doing public information campaigns to create awareness on topics of public interest, and incorporating topics of interest in the community on public forums. Direct Service-Learning includes person-to-person service projects that aim to give direct services in the community (UCA, 2020). Examples of Direct Service-Learning include providing hospice services in the community, teaching other students and adults, helping the less fortunate, and providing important lessons such as art lessons to society.
Indirect Serving-Learning involves providing solutions to broad issues like community development-projects or environmental projects that have evident benefits to the environment or community. Examples of Indirect Service-Learning include constructing low-income houses, reclaiming historical structures, cleaning the environment, and writing down the town history. Research-Based Service-Learning includes and involves gathering and presenting information that requires students to find, gather, and report on information that is required by instructors. Examples of Research-Based Service-Learning include gathering information for non-profit making organizations or sectors of the government, mapping government lands, and writing guidelines for available community services (UCA, 2020).
History of Service-Learning
Service-Learning began in the 1890s after Jane Adams brought John Dewey in 1891. John Dewey is regarded as the founder of Service-Learning after he brought forward the idea of incorporating some education practices founded by Jane Adams in some community services and institutions. Both Jane Adams and John Dewey worked closely for Service-Learning to be used as an experimental education approach (Daynes and Longo, 2004). Dewey explained that knowledge acquired in classroom learning was clearly understood by student through participation in community activities. He also argued that for learning to be successful, students were to be allowed to interact with their environment in order to adapt and learn. These ideas were implemented by constructing a laboratory school in the University of Chicago (Pacho, 2015).
John Dewey had a great passion for education and viewed effectiveness of learning to be based on the student’s personal initiative and adaptability to changes in the community. Dewey also viewed learning as a continuous accompaniment of continuous participation in activities aimed at utilizing material of ideal social situations. On the other hand, Jane Addams viewed education as the basis of democracy. Jane argued that education needed to be diffused in a social atmosphere. As a result, Jane Addams was involved in various campaigns demanding for women rights in the United States. She acted as advocate for the poor, immigrants, women, and peace (Bruce, 2015). Jane Addams is renowned for being the founder of the first settlement house in the United States. Jane Addams was majorly involved in incorporating her education in the community issues of interest to demand for critical rights for the public. All these ideas and works of Jane Addams and John Dewey formed a basis and history of Service-Learning.
In the 1900s, Arthur Dunn, who was an educator also propagated Service-Learning by including community services in society as a part of his social studies curriculum in Los Angeles. However, the term Service-Learning was first coined in 1967 during an internship program that was funded by the Southern Regional Education Board whereby students acquired academic remarks from the community projects and services they engaged in during the internship programs. Service-Learning has been an emerging issue in the United States higher education and became an informational and instructive practice in education, and was limited to a number of individuals and small groups in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s, Service-Learning was gaining popularity in the United States and was clearly distinguished from community service by its incorporation of classroom learning in community projects (Kenny and Gallagher, 2002).
Service-Learning grew tremendously during the 1990s and that made it to be recognized as a vital force in educational change in the higher education institutions in the United States. Many of the colleges and universities have established Service-Learning in their curriculum, which has helped them a lot in fulfilling their civic responsibility (Kenny and Gallagher, 2002). Nevertheless, Service-Learning has been perceived differently by different universities and colleges regarding the heritage of the institutions and how the Service-Learning addresses their objectives and mission.
Stages of Service-Learning
The Service-Learning process is effective and successful if takes place in several stages which include Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection, Demonstration, and Evaluation (Youth Power 2, 2017). In the Investigation Stage, the students are required to critically think to identify and analyse the community needs towards a particular topic of interest. This stage is highly dependent of the student’s talents, interests, and skills for it to be successful and effective. Preparation stage requires the student to get ready for action by acquiring specific skills and knowledge regarding the objectives of study. The students should also get in touch with the community partners to help them create a service plan that meets the needs of the community (Youth Power 2, 2017). Action stage follows and is involved in engaging in a creative and productive service that enables learning and provides a practical guidance to social responsibility.
Reflection is the other stage that occurs in several phases, where students communicate and note down learnings, responses, experiences, and feelings before, during, and after the Action stage. Demonstration stage includes showcasing and presenting the Service-Learning experience and also putting across the outcomes of the Service-Learning to the community (Youth Power 2, 2017). This stage also is concerned with documenting the Service-Learning. Finally, the last stage is the Evaluation stage, where students assess and analyse the whole Service-Learning experience. Here, the students identify challenges facing the Service-Learning. They also identify their strengths and weaknesses to know the areas where they succeeded and where they need improvement (Youth Power, 2017).
Benefits of Service-Learning
Service-Learning is beneficial to the students and community in various ways that are outlined below. Service-Learning enables students to develop various skills such as critical thinking, communication skills, leadership skills, decision-making skills, and problem-solving skills. Service-Learning enables students and the community to build a positive mutual relationship (Akman, 2020). It also enables students to relate and connect the experiences from the Service-Learning with classroom learning. This enables them to understand issues better than before. Service-Learning helps in creation of public awareness on particular matters in the community (Akman, 2020).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential for the higher institutions such as colleges and universities to encourage incorporation of Service-Learning in their curriculum. This is because Service-Learning has various benefits and above all it helps students to comprehend classroom learning in a better way.
References
Akman, T. (2020). The Benefits of Service Learning. Retrieved from http://www.metrokids.com/MetroKids/Education/The-Benefits-of-Service-Learning/
Bruce, C. B. (2015). What Jane Addams Tells Us about Early Childhood Education?
Daynes, G., & Longo, N. V. (2004). Jane Addams and the origins of service-learning practice in the United States. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 11(1), 5-13.
Kenny, M. E., & Gallagher, L. A. (2002). Service-learning: A history of systems. In Learning to Serve (pp. 15-29). Springer, Boston, MA.
Pacho, O. T. (2015). Unpacking John Dewey’s Connection to Service-Learning.
University of Central Arkansas. (2020). Types of Service-Learning. Retrieved from https://uca.edu/servicelearning/types/
Youth Power 2. (2017). Stages of Service-Learning: The IPARDE. Retrieved from https://www.youthpower.org/resources/stages-service-learning-iparde-process