Civic Education through Service Learning: What, How, and Why?

Contemporary models of civic engagement present opportunities for higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world to enhance the impact of their work in and with communities. One of the primary ways in which civic engagement influences the work of the academy is through the redesign of courses and curricula to incorporate community-based service activities linked explicitly to civic learning objectives that are integrated with traditional academic learning objectives (Jameson Clayton Jaeger 2011). At its best, the enhancement of a course with community service incorporates the full participation of students and community members as coeducators, colearners, and cogenerators of knowledge. Although service learning shares much in common with other forms of community-based learning (e.g., internships, field studies, clinical training, pre-professional experiences), civic learning outcomes and reciprocal processes are defining features of this pedagogy. In this chapter, we explore what service learning is and its role in the broader context of community-campus engagement, consider how it can be designed effectively, and examine various perspectives on civic learning.

[1]  Robert G. Bringle,et al.  The Role of Service-Learning on the Retention of First-Year Students to Second Year , 2010 .

[2]  R. Bringle,et al.  Service Learning and Community Engagement: A Comparison of Three National Contexts , 2011 .

[3]  Lynda Leahy,et al.  Service-learning in higher education: Concepts and practices , 1997 .

[4]  Julie A. Hatcher,et al.  16: The Scholarship of Civic Engagement: Defining, Documenting, and Evaluating Faculty Work , 2007 .

[5]  D. Giles,et al.  Where's the Community in Service-Learning Research? , 2000 .

[6]  Kerrissa Heffernan,et al.  Fundamentals of Service-Learning Course Construction , 2001 .

[7]  Julie A. Hatcher,et al.  Designing Effective Reflection: What Matters to Service-Learning?. , 2004 .

[8]  Kathryn S. Steinberg,et al.  Designing Programs with a Purpose: To Promote Civic Engagement for Life , 2011 .

[9]  R. Bringle,et al.  Partnerships in Service Learning and Civic Engagement , 2012 .

[10]  Patti H. Clayton,et al.  Shifts in Perspective: Capitalizing on the Counter-Normative Nature of Service-Learning , 2004 .

[11]  Jeffrey T. Howard,et al.  Service-Learning Course Design Workbook. , 2001 .

[12]  R. Bringle,et al.  Differentiating and Assessing Relationships in Service-Learning and Civic Engagement: Exploitative, Transactional, or Transformational. , 2010 .

[13]  Matthew Hartley,et al.  Democratic Engagement White Paper , 2009 .

[14]  Kathryn S. Steinberg,et al.  Educating for Informed Community Involvement , 2010, American journal of community psychology.

[15]  W. B. Mitchell.  Higher Education for the Public Good: Emerging Voices from a National Movement, Adrianna J. Kezar, Tony C. Chambers, and John C. Burkhardt, eds. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005) , 2006 .

[16]  Julie A. Hatcher,et al.  Implementing Service Learning in Higher Education , 1996 .

[17]  John A. Saltmarsh.  The Civic Promise of Service Learning. , 2005 .

[18]  Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo,et al.  Community Service-Learning: Promises and Problems. , 1994 .

[19]  J. Dewey,et al.  How We Think , 2009 .

[20]  Shelley H. Billig,et al.  Deconstructing Service-Learning: Research Exploring Context, Participation, and Impacts. Advances in Service-Learning Research. , 2003 .

[21]  Edward A. Zlotkowski.  Mapping New Terrain: Service-Learning Across the Disciplines , 2001 .

[22]  Janet Eyler,et al.  At A Glance: What We Know about The Effects of Service-Learning on College Students, Faculty, Institutions and Communities, 1993- 2000: Third Edition. , 2001 .

[23]  Julie A. Hatcher,et al.  Reflection in Service Learning: Making Meaning or Experience , 1999 .

[24]  Elise L. Amel,et al.  Teaching and Learning in the Social Context: A Meta-Analysis of Service Learning's Effects on Academic, Personal, Social, and Citizenship Outcomes , 2009 .

[25]  N. Thomas.  The Institution As A Citizen: How Colleges and Universities Enhance Their Civic Roles , 1998 .

[26]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  How college affects students : findings and insights from twenty years of research , 1992 .

[27]  L. Sax,et al.  How Undergraduates Are Affected by Service Participation. , 1998 .

[28]  Matthew Hartley,et al.  "To Serve a Larger Purpose": Engagement for Democracy and the Transformation of Higher Education , 2011 .

[29]  Thomas Ehrlich,et al.  Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility , 2003 .

[30]  Julie A. Hatcher,et al.  Conceptualizing Civic Engagement: Orchestrating Change at a Metropolitan University. , 2007 .

[31]  George D. Kuh.  High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter , 2008 .

[32]  Linda J. Sax,et al.  Long-Term Effects of Volunteerism During the Undergraduate Years , 1999, The Review of Higher Education.

[33]  Barbara Jacoby,et al.  Building partnerships for service-learning , 2003 .

[34]  B. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain , 1966 .

[35]  M. Allen,et al.  Evaluating Cognitive Outcomes of Service Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis , 2007 .

[36]  Silvia Dorado,et al.  Service-Learning Partnerships: Paths of Engagement. , 2004 .

[37]  William M. Sullivan,et al.  Work and integrity : the crisis and promise of professionalism in America , 1995 .

[38]  L. Sax,et al.  The Benefits of Service: Evidence from Undergraduates , 1997 .