Social change and service learning

I thought I would write some thoughts about the discussion we will have this coming Monday in class based on Hidi's questions of this week.

Civic duty and social change seem to be connected with anything that smacks of service. Is service learning where these belong? Is it mandatory for true service learning to incorporate both of these or can service learning still be effective if these issues aren't addressed?

In the articles that I have been reading about service learning, there exists a multiple of opinions on this subject. Certainly a few articles believe that service learning does not do enough to promote activism for social change because service learning could be the ideal vehicle for this very thing within communities. Other articles don't mention social change at all, but focus on the partnership between college and community and the learning priority for students. One article even suggests that focusing on social change through service is not true learning, but merely an agenda for a socialist philosophy.

I think service learning exists separate from civic duty and/or social change, but either one or both could be a component of service learning. It really depends on the learning objectives of the class. For example with the Lake James project, the slant on the project was not about current issues such as the McMansions, but rather on the history of the lake before these mansions were in existence. If Jim and Flaime had wanted to include how the lake or the lake community has suffered because of modernization, then I could see the activist aspect becoming a part of the project.

We are making an impact because we are fulfilling the goals and ideas that Jim and Flaime have had. We are making a contribution to the preservation of history. With unlimited time, it would easier to include all kinds of angles to this project. There again pops up the idea of rabbit trails. It would be so easy to become sidetracked with current issues or the idea that we should have included this or that. It is helpful to discuss these ideas though for the future because as this project is still being completed after this class is done, then maybe some ideas can still be added to the project if it enhances the project.

For future classes, again the goal should be whatever the learning objectives are and what does the community partner need and also want to give back. It is a partnership with many different components. The service aspect and the learning aspect are equally important.

The classroom itself is a public type of service learning and when we are at the library, it is also public. I think our research on our time and our reflections tend to be the private side of service learning.