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Key
Components of Service-Learning
by Cheryl Hofstetter Duffy
Four key components of any service-learning
project are (1) preparation,
(2) action, and (3)
reflection, (4)
assessment
Preparation
Students need some background before their main interaction
with the selected community. Preparation can take many forms—readings,
discussion, journal writing, classroom visits, and so on.
For example, before my comp. students work with students
from the Hays Language Institute, they write in their journals
and then develop a personal essay about a time when they
themselves have felt like “outsiders,” and they
also write about their experiences with and attitudes toward
international students. As further preparation, they read
and discuss essays out of Crossing Customs: International
Students Write on U.S. College Life and Culture, and then
a panel of HLI students visits our classroom. (Not all preparation
need be so elaborate—it all depends on the scope of
the service-learning project. The first time I tried service-learning,
before I broadened its scope from one assignment to a semester-long
focus, our preparation consisted of journal writing and
a panel discussion only.) Students planning to spend their
time at a senior citizen center would benefit from a classroom
talk delivered by the center’s supervisor. Students
planning to organize a writing workshop for an after-school
program would benefit from an observational on-site visit
to that program before starting their actual involvement.
Here is a partial list of some possible preparation activities:
Teacher Lecture: “What IS Service-Learning?” “Why are we doing this?”
Journal Entries
Essay Writing
Readings
Class Discussion
Online Discussion
Small-Group Discussion
Classroom Presentation by Agency Staff Member(s)
Panel Discussion (agency staff and/or their clients/participants)
Training Session
On-Site Visit/Observation
Video Watching
Staged Debate
Presentations by Students from a Previous Semester
Research/Internet Browsing on the Related Social Issues
Action
Action is the actual interaction/service performed by the
students. It can be brief (e.g., one or two hours editing
a high schooler’s scholarship application or cleaning
gutters for a community member in a wheelchair) or ongoing
(e.g., six to twenty hours tutoring over the course of the
semester). The time spent is typically out-of-class time,
treated like a homework assignment, although certain aspects
(such as the initial visit) might be conducted during class
time.
Some teachers set up the community activity ahead of time,
and the whole class works with the same agency. (Logistically,
this is the more manageable route.) Other teachers contact
and make arrangements with a variety of agencies, present
the list of possibilities to their class, and then let students
pick according to their interests and schedules. (Obviously,
this has the benefit of increased motivation for the students.)
Still other teachers leave it up to students to locate agencies
and make their own arrangements for service—though
students might be given a list of local agencies and a letter
of introduction (explaining the project) to give to a prospective
agency. (This option seems like less work for the teacher
initially, but greater follow-up energy is required to deal
with students procrastinating.)
Reflection
Reflection is primarily what separates service-learning from
volunteerism or community service, so I’ll devote quite
a bit of space to it. For service-learning to be effective,
students must reflect critically on their attitudes
and experiences. That reflection can be written (journals,
essays, letters to teachers or classmates, portfolios) or
oral (in pairs, in small groups, in class discussion) or,
obviously, some combination of written and oral.
Bill Grace of Seattle, Washington, suggests the acronym S.O.W.
for prompting reflection:
Self—What are you feeling? What questions
do you have? How do you see yourself differently? (and so
on)
Other—Whom did you serve? What new
impressions do you have—any new insights or perceptions?
How could that apply to others in similar circumstances? (and
so on)
World—What new questions do you have
of your world? Describe your preferred world. How should the
world be different? What is one small practical step you could
take to get closer to that ideal vision? (and so on)
By choosing carefully the kinds of reflection you have your
students do, you can direct them towards the type of critical
thinking you want to foster and the course goals you want
them to meet. For example, if your students wrote brochures
for local agencies, you might ask them to respond to the following
questions: “What kind of audience were you writing to?
What writing decisions were affected by your consideration
of that audience?”
Reflection should be continuous. Ideally, some reflection
occurs before, during, and after the action phase of the service-learning
project. Beforehand students might consider such questions
as “Why did you choose this service activity?”
“What do you think this agency does?” “What
do you expect?” “What are your current feelings
about _____?” “Why do you think people end up
in nursing homes?” During the actual on-site interaction
students can record their experiences (journal fashion) and
then connect those experiences to their own feelings and the
key issues/concepts covered in class. Afterwards, students
can respond to their earlier reflections, comparing expectation
to reality. This is also a good time for students to apply
their experience to their career choices or to the academic
goals of the class. (“What have you learned that you
can see yourself using once you’ve graduated and begun
working in your chosen field?”)
Reflection should be contextualized. That is, reflection
hinges on the type of course being taught, the type of service
performed, and the particular goals of the teacher, students,
and agency. For example, if the service is intended to inspire
and inform a later persuasive essay, then the reflection prompts
might be something like, “What controversial issues
do you see surrounding nursing homes (or public schools or
humane societies or whatever)?” “What are the
two sides to one of those issues?” “Which side
do you lean toward?” “Who needs to be convinced
that your side is valid?”
Reflection should be connected. That is, the theories,
concepts, statistics, readings, etc. of the classroom need
to connect somehow to the service work students are doing.
For example, a reflection prompt might ask (based on an earlier
reading), “Like Devyani Sharma in ‘Living by Leaving
Behind,’ what have the international students on your
writing team left behind, at least temporarily?”
And finally, reflection should be challenging. Chris Anson
cautions us: “Journal writing in many service courses
may serve the purpose of creating a log or record of experience,
but falls short of encouraging the critical examination of
ideas” (169). One way to challenge students in their
reflection is to require that they incorporate into their
journal entries key terms and phrases from their classroom
work. Another method is the double-entry journal, where students
record experiences, thoughts, and feelings in a column on
the left side of the page, and then on the right side “discuss
how the first set column relates to key concepts and materials
covered in class. (Note that these methods also keep the reflection
connected.) Another way to challenge students is to use reflection
prompts that force them to consider the systemic nature of
a given problem—what’s wrong with the political
or social system that allows this problem to exist or makes
the work of this agency necessary?
Click here for more suggestions on reflection. http://www.servicelearning.org/resources/fact_sheets/he_facts/he_reflection/
Assessment:
Assessment is “the process of gathering information
in order to make an
evaluation. An evaluation is a decision or judgment about
whether an effort is successful and to what extent that effort
has or has not met a goal” (Campus Compact). In service-learning,
assessment falls into two broad categories: (1) assessment
done before you complete a service-learning project (“assessment
of assets and needs”) and (2) assessment done after
you complete a service-learning project (“assessment
of impact”).
Assessment of Assets and Needs (before service)
Assessment of Impact (after service)
Keep in mind that dividing assessment into before and after categories can be a little misleading. You may well find yourself reassessing assets and needs during the action phase of your service project, when your increased involvement leads to increased understanding.
Maybe you will be in the middle of a service-learning project for your Spanish III class—writing a Community Guidebook for Spanish-speaking residents—when you discover that a deep religious faith is one of the assets of this Hispanic community. You therefore change your plans and add a section to your booklet on “Churches Offering Programs in Spanish” (i.e., “Iglesias con Progamas en Espanol”).
You can also assess impact during the action phase of your service-learning project, not just after it is done. For example, at the midway point of your ten sessions tutoring inner-city students in reading, you could seek feedback from the students you’re working with, their parents, and/or their teacher to find out if you need to adjust your focus or your methods for the remaining sessions.
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