Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Spirit Of Volunteerism And Volunteerism In American Schools, Gerald H. Maring

Service Learning, General

In American culture historically and at present, there is a strong tension between "rugged individualism" and commitment to community-mindedness. University of California professor of sociology Robert Bellah et al. (1985) have analyzed this tension in its roots and ramifications from political, literary, philosophical, theological, psychological, and sociological perspectives in their seminal work Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Building upon the findings and perspectives they wrote about in Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life, Bellah et al. (1991) proposed in their sequel entitled The Good Society what they felt were necessary changes …

How Effective A Tool Is Student Community Service, Martha Naomi Alt

Service Learning, General

Despite the popular appeal among the public, educators, parents, and even students for community service, there is surprisingly little firm evidence that students who engage in service learn more, develop in different ways, or learn different skills than those who do not. What are the implications for policy, further research, and school practice?

Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 1997-2002, Corporation For National Service

Service Learning, General

Created in 1993, the Corporation for National Service is a public-private partnership that oversees three national service initiatives - AmeriCorps, which includes AmeriCorps*VISTA, AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps and hundreds of local and national nonprofits; Learn and Serve America, which provides models and assistance to help teachers integrate service and learning from kindergarten through college; the National Senior Service Corps, which includes the Foster Grandparent Program, the Senior Companions Program, and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

Theoretical Underpinnings Of Service Learning, Rebecca Lynn Carver

Service Learning, General

Although the merits of service learning frequently rest on how well it can be argued that the programs improve students' academic skills, this is only one of several outcomes that can result from implementing service learning programs. This article introduces readers to the full range of goals that service learning promises to achieve and to the specific principles that can be put into practice in order to meet these goals. Service learning consciously integrates students' experiences into the curriculum. As such it addresses the three major goals of "experiential education": allowing students to become more effective change agents, developing students' …

Service Learning As Civic Participation, Todd Clark, Marshall Croddy, William Hayes, Susan Philips

Service Learning, General

A central question in the service learning field is how service can best educate youth for active citizenship. For more than a decade, the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) has struggled with this question. We have introduced and experimented with various service programs because we have seen firsthand the value of service - how it engenders personal efficacy, empathy, and a sense of responsibility.

Service Learning And Democratic Citizenship, Richard Battistoni

Service Learning, General

Over the course of this semester I have become a citizen of New Brunswick. It could be argued that I was a citizen here well before registering for the course, but I did not feel as if I were one. Having taken the course, I now know why I must work for change, and never accept the status quo - things can always be better. I am now aware of what is happening around me. New Brunswick extends beyond the [campus] bus route. It is filled with people who need aid, people who give aid. people who cannot be bothered …

School-Based Service: Reconnecting Schools, Communities, And Youth At The Margin, Joan Schine

Service Learning, General

The sound of gunshots was not particularly unusual in Washington Heights, a section of New York City where drug deals were common and children learned early to be vigilant. But on a late summer day in 1992, the fatal shot came from a police revolver, and it was a Dominican, a drug dealer, who was killed. The ensuing turmoil, born of the immediate crisis but a reflection of the longstanding antagonism between the youth of the neighborhood and the police, soon become a riot. Most of the police in the local precinct were White. The overwhelming majority of the young …

History Of The Service-Learning It Requirement In Maryland, Kathy Megyeri

Service Learning, General

Schools in Maryland have long provided some opportunities for students to volunteer. There have been the usual walk-a-thons, canned-food drives, visits to the elderly, and tree-planting projects. Building on this tradition, in 1985 the Maryland State Board of Education enacted a requirement that all school systems offer courses and programs in community service, open to all students, for elective credit, to provide opportunities for students to reach beyond themselves to help others. Two hundred of Maryland teachers were trained by the state, and during the 198889 school year, over 1,000 students were engaged in community service projects for credit (Maryland …

Beyond 4-H Community Service... To Community Service Learning, Allan T. Smith

Service Learning, General

For more than 70 years Community Service has been an important part of 4-H. So has hands-on, learning-by-doing, that we now call experiential learning. When you put those two ideas together appropriately, the result goes beyond a "feel good" experience: service activities tied closely to what youth are learning positively impact learning, and genuinely help the community.

Service Learning And Teacher Education: Mapping The Territory, Carole Cook Freeman

Service Learning, General

Since the mid-1980's there has been a renewed interest in progressive approaches to the education of intending teachers¹. In the context of this progressive teacher education activity, several distinct, but related, ideas converge and become the theoretical base for teacher education practices involving (community) service learning.² Among these ideas are renewed interest in authentic field experiences, multicultural education, child advocacy, democratic education, social justice, school reform efforts, autobiography and teacher thinking, and an emphasis on community service in K-12 education. In addition, teacher educators increasingly recognize the gap between the backgrounds of those who intend to teach …

National Service: Expectation Versus Reality, Robert D. Shumer, Jane Maland Cady

Service Learning, General

National service has a long history in America. From the early colonies with their citizen soldiers, to religious organizations and social service, to modern day members of conservation corps and AmeriCorps, individuals have contributed important work for the benefit of their community and country. A more recent focus in the 20th century, initiated by William James' "Moral Equivalent of War" and carried out in the 1993 National Service Trust Act, has accelerated an interest in the concepts and practice of national service.

Service Learning: What Is It? Can We Use It?, Terri Feldman Barr

Service Learning, General

I used to work for a Big Eight (now Big Six) Accounting firm. In addition to a tremendous amount of pro bono work that we did, the firm required all of its staff accountants, managers, and partners to become involved with one of the many not-for-profit organizations in the Cincinnati area.

The rationale was that each employee had an obligation to the greater community, to give something of himself or herself to others. And while I also heard that the "real" purpose of this requirement was "practice development" (translate marketing), there were certainly more likely places to network for "paying" …

Trends In Volunteerism, Georgean C. Johnson-Coffey

Service Learning, General

Discusses four national trends affecting volunteerism: service learning, family volunteering, influence of corporations, and welfare reform. Discusses the impact of these trends on volunteer programs within libraries. Offers examples of how library staff can utilize the skills of volunteers who are allied with these trends in order to provide high levels of quality service to library patrons.

Third Generation Of Service-Learning Research Yields More Thorough Data, Dale A. Blyth, Peter C. Scales

Service Learning, General

The first and second generations of studies on service-learning, encompassing an era from the 1960s to the early 1990s, can be said to have consisted largely of:

1. research on experiential learning and community service in general (but not service-learning as we define it today); and

2. research conducted specifically on servicelearning programs, but having numerous methodological shortcomings.

Service-Learning In South Carolina, Kathy Gibson Carter

Service Learning, General

Thousands of students across South Carolina have helped improve their communities by participating in service-learning programs while strengthening their classroom learning experiences. Service-learning is one of the work-site components of the SC School-to-Work Transition Act of 1994. This Act provides all students with opportunities to connect what they learn in school with the real world through learning experiences at a work-site. Through service-learning, students combine classroom instruction with work-based activities in a non-profit organization or community agency. Students learn valuable interpersonal skills and a strong work ethic by participating as a member of a work team with specific goals.

Teaching And Learning: Outside The Box, Unknown

Service Learning, General

PEER TEACHING. COOPERATIVE LEARNING. Context based instruction. Service learning. These effective techniques aren't new teaching methods. Rather, they represent a redis­covery--or renaming--of ways of teaching and learning whose popularity and use in the United States has ebbed and flowed throughout most of this century. This issue of The Link explores four diverse contexts in which this kind of teaching and learning are taking place.