Service-Learning in Colleges and Universities
The days of the isolated Ivory Tower of academia may be numbered.
Colleges and universities across the United States are striving to connect with, build, and learn from their local communities. Today, more than two million college students engage in service-learning every year (Dienhart et al., 2016).
Service-learning varies from other types of service or volunteer activities because of its integral connection to academic study. A quality service-learning course:
However, recent studies have criticized the ability of service-learning courses to meet the standards of quality stated above.
Battistoni (2014) claims that too frequently institutions and instructors approach service-learning through “scattershot” or “one-and-done” initiatives that may check a box, but do not create meaningful or enduring connections between the students, college, and community. Battistoni cites fellow critic Boyte (2004) who alleges that service-learning often “neglects to teach about root causes and power relationships, fails to stress productive impact, ignores politics, and downplays the strengths and talents of those being served” (p. 12). As a result, many students do not commit to sustained community involvement beyond what is necessary to pass their service-learning class and may look at the populations they serve and emphasize their deficiencies rather than acknowledge the community's strengths.
Colleges and universities across the United States are striving to connect with, build, and learn from their local communities. Today, more than two million college students engage in service-learning every year (Dienhart et al., 2016).
Service-learning varies from other types of service or volunteer activities because of its integral connection to academic study. A quality service-learning course:
- is fully integrated into a student's academic work
- meets a need identified by the community
- allows for substantial reflection
- inspires continued civic engagement.
However, recent studies have criticized the ability of service-learning courses to meet the standards of quality stated above.
Battistoni (2014) claims that too frequently institutions and instructors approach service-learning through “scattershot” or “one-and-done” initiatives that may check a box, but do not create meaningful or enduring connections between the students, college, and community. Battistoni cites fellow critic Boyte (2004) who alleges that service-learning often “neglects to teach about root causes and power relationships, fails to stress productive impact, ignores politics, and downplays the strengths and talents of those being served” (p. 12). As a result, many students do not commit to sustained community involvement beyond what is necessary to pass their service-learning class and may look at the populations they serve and emphasize their deficiencies rather than acknowledge the community's strengths.
Understanding the Audience of Service-Learning Instructors
Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado is a land-grant institution with strong bonds to the community and a commitment to service and service-learning. In order to better understand the quality of service-learning at Colorado State and potential instructional needs for service-learning professors, a survey was administered to current instructors of service-learning courses at this institution. However, even among instructors at Colorado State, few who teach service-learning courses have had formal training regarding the process and design of service-learning, and many underestimate the time and persistence involved in planning and forging partnerships with community partners.
One survey respondent wrote:
One survey respondent wrote:
"This fall my plan was to work with local non-profits. . . However, I was not able to get the responses I needed to pull this off. "
Well-intentioned service-learning instructors may have a strong grounding in critical theory, but are not always equipped for the practical elements of forming partnerships to meet the tactical day-to-day goals of their course.
This idea was illustrated in the survey response recorded below:
This idea was illustrated in the survey response recorded below:
"I think it would be helpful to get a sense of the tactical choices associated with designing a course like this. Strategically/theoretically, most folks I see doing this work are drawing from critical pedagogies such as Dewey, Iris Marion Young, bell hooks, or Paulo Freire. That's the part that I feel we were well trained on in graduate school and that's the part that a great deal of the scholarship surrounds. To me, the harder parts are what does design look like at a tactical and day to day level: how do we create classrooms and activities that scaffold those strategic aims in more concrete ways. And, that's where I think I'd personally benefit from hearing/learning/reading more."
A survey of the audience at Colorado State University also indicated that instructors would prefer face-to-face instruction regarding service-learning. Hence, from the results of the instructor survey and review of modern service-learning issues, a four-week in-person workshop on Forging Meaning Community Partnerships has been designed. To review the goals for the workshop, click on the button below.
References
Battistoni, R. B. (2014) Beyond service and service-learning: Educating for democracy in college. Higher Education Exchange 53-64. Retrieved from: https://www.kettering.org/library/periodicals/higher-education-exchange
Boyte, H. (2004). Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens of Public Life. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Dienhart, C., Maruyama, G., Snyder, M., Furco, A., Mckay, M. S., Hirt, L., Huesman, R. (2016). The impact of mandatory service on students in service-learning classes. The Journal of Social Psychology 156(3), 305-309. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2015.1111856
Boyte, H. (2004). Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens of Public Life. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Dienhart, C., Maruyama, G., Snyder, M., Furco, A., Mckay, M. S., Hirt, L., Huesman, R. (2016). The impact of mandatory service on students in service-learning classes. The Journal of Social Psychology 156(3), 305-309. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2015.1111856