Side of service-learning.

Abstract

Although service-learning has been successfully utilized for some time, rarely are the difficulties that can be encountered addressed. This article provides a discussion of the problems associated with this praxis and provides possible solutions to the problems.

Introduction

I have stood before students, faculty and community agencies espousing the amazing outcomes of service-learning. I use service-learning in every class I teach. I wrote my dissertation on the effects of service-learning but I believe that it is imperative that we pay close attention to the unwanted outcomes of service-learning. In order to effectively maintain the use of this teaching tool and to keep it flesh and productive, it is crucial for us to consider the "dark side" of the pedagogy and be alert to situations that might create a negative experience for any involved.

Everywhere we look we laud the outcomes of service-learning. At conferences, in journal articles, essays, and in the classroom we hear about these wonderful student and community experiences--but rarely do we mention the downside. This is not to say that service-learning does not have wonderful benefits, but when we utilize a praxis of learning as much as we tout service-learning, we need to be reminded occasionally that it is not always a success and can create a regretful experience for all the participants. To examine this subject closer, I will look at three stakeholders--the faculty, the students and the community partners who can be affected by a negative service-learning experience; and will offer some suggestions for avoiding difficulties in the future.

Community partners in service-learning

Although the community should be the focus of our service-learning projects, they often become an afterthought in the decision-making process. Whether the student or the faculty selects the service project, the desire and need should originate from the community partner. Since the dawn of community-based learning we have heard the saying "do no harm" (Jacoby, 1996). Even the seminal literature defines service-learning as "a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development"(Jacoby, et al.p.5).

Community partners can be easily left with a feeling of being used. Take for instance the examples of service with a tutor, a nonprofit office or even a project-based experience. It is very simple for students to finish the assigned work, collect their grades and move on. Faculty often forget to nurture the relationship with the partner until they need them again. It is crucial to prepare both the partner and the student for both the length of time they will spend with the partner, as well as attempting to continue the relationship and avoid severing it whenever possible. Many community partners, especially those at agencies, surrender an entire project to students with no real guarantee that the work promised will be completed. This not only affects the partner's livelihood, but also presents the possibility of creating community problems instead of support or assistance. Finally, the partner may encounter a student or group of students who fail to complete their responsibilities or have conflict with a community representative. In addition, the community partner is rarely asked about their overall experience or satisfaction.

Student partners in service-learning

The students enter service-learning experiences with many expectations--many of those are fear. Fear of too much work, fear of people they are not used to associating with and the biggest of fears--the unknown. Today's students, may have encountered service during the K-12 process, but many are accustomed to the basic lecture and test style class. Turning them loose on an experiential assignment that is filled with ambiguity strikes fear in the highest degree. In addition, students who work one or more jobs have family commitments or nontraditional students may have huge time conflicts with service projects that impede on important time that detracts from the positive side of the learning experience.

Service that is not challenging or meaningful creates a sense of disconnect for many as well. Students are so filled with an intolerance of ambiguity that many may not take a class that they know has a service-learning component. If the students are assigned to groups, they can often encounter group conflict with unproductive team members, have personality clashes with community partners or simply not place the same value on service to others as their colleagues or instructor. In one recent instance, a colleague of mine who is utilizing service-learning for the first time at a local retirement home, asked her students to reflect on their values and how they relate to service-learning. One student commented that he hated old people and hated service-learning and volunteerism. He is only one of 20 but this response is disheartening for the faculty member.

Another important problem that may arise is lack of preparation of the people or culture the students will encounter. Service-learning is a superb method of gaining intercultural encounters for our students but proper preparation and briefing is essential for success. As in the above-mentioned case, working with the elderly created discomfort and I have worked with many students who were painfully uncomfortable working with elderly residents of a retirement home. This does not even begin to address the issue of ethnicity, socio-economic and language differences. In addition, students often fear the grading process of experientially based learning. They cannot envision how the project or event can be graded and fear subjective grading will take place.

Faculty in service-learning

As a director of a service-learning center, it was my job to convince faculty that this was an endeavor worth attempting. I have presented many a "dog and pony show" pointing out my best examples of service experiences. I have used quotations from students and community partners that could not be better said if I had written them myself. I love using service-learning but I also know what a tremendous amount of work it takes and that it is not for the faint of heart.

Faculty have many fears that relate to the dark side of community based learning. The first is always the time commitment. We know that the learning outcomes alone in a service-learning course outweigh the time commitment but faculty who are teaching huge loads, advising many students and worrying about the pressures of tenure are reticent. Include a group of unhappy students who write negative comments on the instructor's teaching evaluations and you have complete anxiety. In some institutions, faculty are even told not to attempt service-learning until they are tenured.

Liability issues and the "messy" situations that arise with students and community partners create an unnecessary pressure on faculty. In addition, sometimes faculty feel alone in their endeavors--their other colleagues see them as different and they have few people to turn to for support. Finally, some faculty see service-learning as service without the learning. They fear the students will not make the course connections with the activity and although a good cause, it will waste their valuable time and not be academically rigorous.

Solutions for the future

All of these issues raised have occurred. Over the years at workshops and conferences and classrooms I have heard the complaints, and fears, however, there are simple steps that can be taken to improve the experience and the first is going back to the beginning.

In effective service-learning, students are engaged in tasks that challenge and stretch them cognitively and developmentally. Five constructs exist: a) outcomes are clear and linked to curricular objectives, b) activities stimulate the acquisition and application of course concepts and skills, c) high levels of thinking and construction of knowledge are promoted, d) students are required to communicate information and ideas and e) service-learning curriculum connects to state or local standards (Jacoby, et al.)

Standards of good practice have been established for almost two decades that we often forget. In 1989, the National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) coordinated a working group at Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin to create a document of good practices for service-learning (Kendall, 1990). This document identified an effective sustained program that combines service and learning. In a newly revised faculty handbook on service-learning, Jeffrey Howard (2001) prescribed 10 principles of good practice for service-learning:

1. Academic credit is for learning, not for service.

2. Do not compromise academic rigor.

3. Establish learning objectives.

4. Establish criteria for the selection of service placements.

5. Provide educationally-sound learning strategies to harvest community, learning and realize course learning objectives.

6. Prepare students for learning from the community.

7. Minimize the distinction between the students' community learning role and classroom learning role.

8. Rethink the faculty instructional role.

9. Be prepared for variation in, and some loss of control with, students learning outcomes.

10. Maximize the community responsibility orientation of the course.

In addition, the Critical Elements of Thoughtful Community Service that were created by the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) also provided a standard framework for community service at an institution of higher learning (Bringle & Hatcher, 1996). "These elements are to provide access to the community to describe its needs; orientation and training for students about the community, the issue and the agency or community group; meaningful action that is valuable to the community itself that is measurable ..." So, beyond going back to the foundations of service-learning, what concrete steps can we take to prevent the dark side experiences?

For the Community Partner.

Have open conversations with the partner. Be sure they understand completely the difference between service-learning and other experiential learning activities. To clarify, let us examine three experiential areas: academic service-learning, co-curricular service-learning and internships. Howard (2000) provided this distinction: "co-curricular (like alternative spring breaks) is concerned with raising students' consciousness and familiarity with issues related to various communities. Academic service-learning, illustrated by student community service integrated into an academic course and utilizes the service experience as a course 'text' for both academic learning and civic learning." (p.10.) In addition, internships and co-operative learning typically do not focus on civic minded learning but on the professional outcomes of the experience. All involve reflection about the experience but academic service-learning reflection is tied to course concepts. Volunteerism or co-curricular learning reflection often focuses on personal and affective development only.

Be sure the students have meaningful, challenging work at the level you are requiring. Invite the client to classes to speak and encourage students to have consistent, timely and quality interaction with their partner(s). I am very cautious about abusing my community partner's time with additional service-learning project responsibilities, but if students cannot have access to the partner, the process will suffer. The partner needs to see the whole process but with as little interference in their overworked lives as possible.

Have partner(s) evaluate the student's work at midterm and end of term. Ask them to justify their evaluation by rich description. Be sure the students see these evaluations as soon as they are provided.

Faculty should be present at partner events whenever possible. This could mean attending end of term events or celebrations or visiting at midterm. If you do not assist with the projects, your appearance at an event brings great joy to the community and student partners. Your appearance also provides a method of observation for the nuances that might not appear in evaluations and reflections.

Debrief community partners at the end of every semester. Assess their needs and ask them if they want to continue the relationship. Remember, all relationships need maintenance.

For student partners:

List all courses that utilize service-learning in class catalogs, on-line and on the syllabus. Clearly identify all service-learning classes from the beginning so students understand what will be expected of them.

Explain service-learning projects thoroughly the first week of classes and provide detailed information in print on their syllabus. Address all aspects including grading rubrics of service-learning. Project contracts can also be utilized.

Provide class times for groups to meet, reflection discussions and time to work at the location of service. Class time is a massive control issue for faculty but if we are going to require students to work out of class (sometimes putting in 20-40 hours a semester), in addition to other class requirements, the least we can do is to provide class time to help out.

Discuss early in the semester how student's value systems are aligned with service-learning. Provide a working definition and the values that relate and ask them to identify where they overlap with their own personal values. This helps those who might not see the civic-minded part of the assignment but may see the pragmatic side (i.e. will look good on my resume). In the beginning why they are doing it isn't nearly as important--the very experience will change them in numerous ways.

Have structured personal and course reflection. Students should be asked to keep personal journals but formally led reflection that applies course concepts is essential to connect the learning to the service provided. This formal reflection is the backbone of the learning process--the hyphen or symbiotic relationship between service and learning (Jacoby et al, 1996). Students often miss the big picture and need to be led to the learning. In one instance in an Organizational Communication course, I asked students to relate the aspects of Critical Theory and hegemony to what they might have experienced or observed at their agency. Almost every student stated that many women worked there so there must not be any problems with imbalance of power. They missed it completely. They did not ask about pay or look to see who had positions of power. I had to readdress the reflection and ask them to dig deeper.

If students are working in groups, have them rate their group members at midterm and end of term. Ask for specific feedback about their community partner and really listen to them.

If possible, in a required course, offer an option out of service-learning for those who might not want or cannot afford the time to do a community-based project. You will be surprised how many will prefer the service-learning. I once had a Criminal Justice faculty colleague who had tried service-learning for the first time say that her students would rather go to jail than write a paper! She offered a service project at the local jail or a 20-page paper. Everyone opted for the project.

Prepare the students for the cultural differences they may encounter. This includes prior relative readings and discussion about frank topics. Do not let them go out to the community without the preparation. They and those they interact with will be more comfortable.

For Faculty partners:

Be as prepared for the service project as possible. The more prepared you are, the better you will handle the stress about trying something new or continuing the practice.

Realize that everything is not in your control. We should learn to tolerate ambiguity too! Accepting that service-learning is "messy" and that we cannot predict the outcomes in every situation is important to relaxing and trusting the students, the community and your own decisions in using this praxis.

If you have created solid descriptions and are prepared, your students will have a good experience and write positive comments on your teaching evaluations. Do realize that you may occasionally have a disgruntled student or two but overall, they should have good things to say. The positive comments will override a few negative comments.

Do your homework on liability and issues that affect student and community partners' welfare before you start! Contact your volunteer or service-learning office or your school's attorney for specifics.

Seek support! Look for others in your school that believe in the practice. Attend workshops and conferences where service-learning people congregate. State and national Campus Compacts offer exceptional support and updates on conferences and workshops in your area and often offer small stipends and grants to attend. In a study of 500 faculty surveyed, the strongest encouragement factors for service-learning cited were the ability to be actively involved with students, interaction with colleagues--especially chairpersons and faculty within their departments--and student learning outcomes (Abes, Jackson & Jones, 2002).

If you are in a position of power at your school, work for service-learning to be respected in decisions of tenure and promotion.

Conclusion

This essay is in no way discouraging the use of service-learning practices at any level of education. The profound impact of these experiences is well worth a few troubles that you might encounter when utilizing this method. With careful thought and planning, we can attempt to reduce the anxiety and problems that might be encountered and continue to promote the powerful usefulness of this important experiential education tool.

References

Abes, E., Jackson, G. & Jones, S. (2002). Factors that motivate and deter faculty use of service-learning. Michigan journal of community service learning. 9.(1) Fall.5-17.

Bringle, R. and Hatcher, J, (1996). Implementing service-learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, Mar/Apr, 67. 221-239.

Kendall, J.C. (1990). Combining service and learning: An introduction. In J.C. Kendall (ed) Combining service and learning: A resource book for community and public service, (1). Raleigh: National Society for Experiential Education.

Howard, J. (2001). Summer. (Ed.) Michigan journal of community service learning service learning course design workbook. Regents of university of Michigan.

Jacoby, B.(1996). Service-learning in higher education concepts and practices. [2]. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Whitfield, Ed.D., an assistant professor of Communication Studies at James Madison University has experience as director and as national liaison for service-learning.