Service Learning : A Community

In the assigned article entitled “Why Service Learning” by Bruce W. Speck, it provides great insight as to why we need to engage in service learning. This article focused on the questions that were like the reasoning behind service learning and how does it benefit the student. One definition in the article that stood out to me was service learning being defined as a pedagogy that fosters the development of skills and knowledge needed for participation in public life. This was prevalent because it allows the student to network with others outside of the community while giving back. Service learning was created to get away from the traditional way of learning while implementing a new learning system.

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

The critical difference of service learning and the traditional learning style is that students are learning and addressing real needs in the community. Which connect students to the community through meaningful interactions with others, safety, and educational needs. This specific course includes readings, discussions, and activities to support

The benefit of service learning for the student and community is again a better inform civic minded individual who may use his experience from service learning as a launching pad for career opportunities to better serve within that community. In an article published in the College Student Journal its author noted that with service learning “students gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility" (Strange,

Service Learning is learning through experience to gain sociological observation, concepts, and theories so I decide to do my service learning hours in one of the two high schools that is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. The name of the school is called El Camino High School. El Camino High School is a high school that is located at 400 Rancho Del Oro Drive in Oceanside, California. It has over 3,000 students currently attending. The school’s mascot is the “Wildcat” and their colors are gold and red. El Camino High School is a public school that is part of a system of free public education that is maintained at a public expense for the education of students who are part of that community or district. El Camino High School is a place is a public school where students are coming out of middle school and are

Community service is intended to help others at any given reason, service learning is intentional and is meant to have educational structure and purpose behind it. Community service takes a less structured place to volunteer and can be focused anywhere. Service learning is a little more tedious and has a stronger focus on working with and learning about the targeted focal group of the intended group or community. According to the article of “The effectiveness of service learning: It’s not always what you think” “Service-learning is also a teaching strategy that offers students opportunities to learn both in the classroom and in the wider

Service-learning involves students in community service activities and applies the experience to personal and academic development. It provides students with opportunities to develop civic engagement skills by working with community members. Then, volunteering is any activities that involve spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefits the environment, individual or groups other than. Volunteering must be a choice freely made by each individual. Community Service is voluntary work intended to help people in the community or its institutions. I have found through the experience that I really appreciate volunteering, so in the future, I will volunteer on my own rather than doing it for a class.

“Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse). This assignment gave students the opportunity to go outside of their comfort zone, which is typically the classroom and see what the “real world” is like. As Gandhi would say “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” (Gandhi). I believe that this project really allowed us to appreciate what we have because many people are not as fortunate. During this service learning project I had certain expectations going into the project, but in the end, my results were not exactly as I expected.

It is important to help give back to the community you’re able to learn through a different experience that helps enhance your knowledge. Service learning allows students to make a connection from the course and apply it in the classroom making their experience more engaging. I think is important to take what you learn in class and apply it. I am looking forward to starting placement to help enhance my learning and improve my skills. This type of experience gives you a whole different meaning when you can apply what you learn in a real life setting.

My service learning experience opened my eyes to many new ideas and supported the information that I have been learning in class. For my service learning, I went to West Elementary school and worked in an all girls first grade classroom. West is located in a very urban neighborhood right outside of East Lansing. In the beginning of my service learning, I was in culture shock due to the size of the school, make up of the students/teachers, and the social economic status of the students. All of these components were drastically different from the school I came from. At first, I didn’t know what to think of the school or students, but I eventually realized that their goals and priorities were different from the elementary school I went to. The three main concepts that stuck out to me during my service learning experience include, the social construction of gender, special and gifted education, and funding.

I believe the general purpose of service learning is to give back, to provide to others while being the change you want to see in others. It is also a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience. Sometimes service learning isn’t always about doing things you like or that interests you but it’s about giving back to the community in a meaningful way. Those who participate in service learning are definitely over achievers because service learning has to come from the heart.

The purpose of service learning is to teach new skills and information. It is also meant to teach responsibility and strengthen the communities. (Office of Civic Engagement & Service Learning, 2015) Service learning is a form of community service and is meant to enrich people’s lives. It helps them to have a better understanding about things going on in this world.

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members

Service-learning is a new phenomenon that many colleges, communities, and organizations are becoming deeply involved with. With this being so new there are many definitions and perceptions about service-learning. With multiple perspectives on this community-building program there is one outcome; students gain insightful experience into the workforce in building their communities up. Often this is also referred to as experiential learning. By coupling classroom instruction to the real world experiences the students gains a much better viewing point than ever before. This provides a pathway to success for the student in the community. Service-learning has helped and will continue to help students find the work that they like to build a future for themselves. This

Service Learning is defined as a type of teaching and learning strategy that combines community service with reflection and instruction to help enhance the learning experience and as well as strengthen communities. Some examples of service learning are; working with political organizations, neighborhood associations and a tutor elementary or secondary students are a variety of subjects. Service Learning can be implemented into many majors, such as psychology majors, nursing majors, and health and food science majors -- just to name a few.