Service-learning is not the same as...
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Volunteerism: Volunteers engage in service for a variety of personal
reasons. They do not necessarily link their service to academic studies
nor do they receive academic credit for their efforts.
Community Service: People engaging in community service do so for a
variety of reasons. This is a broad term that can encompass court
ordered, stipended or volunteer service. It also does not necessarily
link to academic studies.
Work Study Internship: Student interns frequently work at for-profit
business to benefit the financial standing of that business. They are
not necessarily working to improve their communities through these
internship experiences. There can be overlap between work study
internships and service-learning. Students are engaged in
service-learning if through their internship experiences they work to
improve the health or welfare of their community while linking this to
their academic studies.
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Service-learning projects must include academic preparation, service
activities, and structured reflection...
1. Preparation
Equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed for
service. This includes teaching students about their community and how
to identify needs, as well as providing them with the specific skills
needed to perform the service activity. It should include an
exploration of why it is important to perform service and what it means
to be an active citizen. Ideally, service-learning should be used to
teach curricular objectives, so preparation activities could be tied to
classroom lessons.
Examples: having a speaker come in to teach students about working
with elderly residents in a nursing home before going to visit the site;
having a representative from the United Way or a Volunteer Center come
and talk about the volunteer opportunities in a community; performing a
research assignment about the issue the service relates to
(homelessness, recycling, etc).
2. Action
Performing one or more of the following activities:
Direct Service: Students have face-to-face contact with the service
recipients. For example: tutoring; serving meals at a homeless shelter;
working with the elderly in a nursing home, etc.
Indirect Service: Students perform a service without having
face-to-face contact with the recipient. Usually resources are channelled
to help alleviate a problem. For example: food & clothing drives;
thons or fundraisers; environmental projects, etc.
Advocacy: Students educate others about a particular issue with the
goal being to eliminate the cause of a particular problem. For example:
writing letters to legislators or editors; preparing and
displaying posters, plays, or other educational materials for others, etc.
3. Reflection
Thinking about the service performed and how it impacted the
community. Considering what worked well and what could be changed to
make the project better. This contemplation and evaluation should occur
throughout the service experience, not just at the end of the project.
Examples: responding to guided questions in a journal; having a
classroom discussion; preparing a piece of artwork or skit about the
service experience; videotaping the project and reviewing/discussing it
afterwards, etc.
Maryland is the
first state in the nation
to require high school students to engage in service-learning activities
as a condition of graduation. Each of the 24
school districts
in Maryland implement the service-learning
graduation requirement
differently, because they tailor the specifics of their program
to their local community. For further details, see our
Best Practices.
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