Service-Learning

Service-learning is a community-based learning experience. According to Christine M. Cress, service-learning differs from volunteering or internships because it requires the intentional use of intellectual capacities and skills to address community problems (see page 7 in Learning through Serving).

Student stability at Chemeketa Community College is supported by the food pantry and campus garden.

A culture of service at Warner Pacific College enriches student learning.

Critical service-learning at Roosevelt High School's Writing and Publishing Center seeks to dismantle systems of inequality.

I think SL is such an important learning opportunity for students and faculty. The beauty of the SL program is it helps connect people at so many levels in a productive and meaningful way."
—Service-learning student, 2012

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Service-learning literature

Thank you to Stephanie Stokamer at Pacific University's Center for Civic Engagement for putting together this list of service-learning literature for ORCC's AmeriCorps members. To download a PDF of this list, click here.

• Battistoni, R.M. (1997). Service learning and democratic citizenship. Theory into Practice, 36(3), 150-156.
• Colby, A., Ehrilich, T., Beaumont, E., & Stephens, J. (2003). Educating citizens. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Colby, A., Ehrilich, T., Beaumont, E., & Corngold, J. (2007). Educating for democracy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Cress, C.M., Burack, C., Giles, D.E., Elkins, J., & Stevens, M.C. (2010). A promising connection: Increasing college access and success through civic engagement. Boston: Campus Compact.
• Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: The Free Press.
• Eyler, J. & Giles, D. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Gelmon, S., Holland, B., Driscoll, A., Spring, A., & Kerrigan, S. (2000). Assessing service-learning and civic engagement: Principles and techniques. Providence, RI: Campus Compact.
• Jacoby, B. (2003). Fundamentals of service-learning partnerships.  In B. Jacoby and Associates (Eds.), Building partnerships for service-learning (pp. 1-19). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
• Kezar, A. & Rhoads, R. (2001). The dynamic tensions of service learning in higher education: A philosophical perspective. The Journal of Higher Education, 72(2), 148-171.
• Mitchell, T. (2008). Traditional vs. critical service-learning: Engaging the literature to differentiate two models.  Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 14(2), 50-65.
• Stoecker, R. & Tryon. E. (Eds.) (2009). The unheard voices: Community organizations and service-learning. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

RElated Resources

• A Framework for Community Engaged Scholarship, produced by Connecticut’s Engaged Scholarship Advisory Committee, provides a framework for defining, describing, and assessing community engaged scholarship.
  

Making service learning work for communities may be easier said than done. Finding the right fit between student, agency, and institution is like a huge 3-D jigsaw puzzle. When it works, luck is as important as planning.
—Stoecker & Tryon (p. 2)

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More Promising Practices

Alternative Breaks  |  Mentoring  |  Service-Learning |  Community Partnerships  |  Learning Communities