Service Learning is community engagement much more than volunteerism or outreach activity

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What service learning is and how it differs from community outreach

Service Learning allows students to learn by doing, connecting theory with practice and a method of learning through active participation in organized experiences that meet community needs (Perkins, 1994). Bringle and Hatcher (1996) defined SL as “credit bearing educational experience”. SL evolved, in part, from core assumptions John Dewey (1916, 1939), who advocate learning by doing. SL offered a powerful pedagogical alternative (Billig, 2000) that allowed in which students gain further understanding of the course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility (Bringle and Hatcher, 1996). The National Society for Experiential Education provides the most comprehensive definition of SL as pedagogy, which regard SL as “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience.” The definition given by the Corporation for National Service is much narrower – “ a method under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service (Billig, 2000).  The use of SL within the context of developing college students’ moral development and social and academic involvement is supported by numerous higher education theories, including Astin’s Theory of Student Development [1984], Tinto’s Model of Student Integration [1975; 1993], and Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development [1984] (Taggart and Crisp, 2011).

Service Learning is a concept that incorporates two main aspects – helping a community and participation in a learning situation (Guisse, Tshuma, Victor, Papasin, Lopes, and Bakri , 2010). SL is a set of experiences (Univeristy of Toronto, 2014) that provides students with opportunities to “exercise knowledge and concepts gained in academic classroom in the more meaningful, relevant context in their communities”. It is also a pedagogical model that links academic content with direct practice through critical reflection (UT, 2014; Begley 1013) and aims to “enhance student classroom experiences and community engagement through targeted service that meets community-identified needs and reflection activities that integrate that service back into the academic framework of the course“ (Begley, 2013); as well as, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities (National Service Learning Clearing-house, 2009). We can therefore consider SL as a reciprocal approach to teaching and learning because while the students apply what they learn in real-life situations, they are able to help a community or an institution. In return, not only does the service recipient gain help but also provides additional learning to the students. 

It is very clear that SL is much more comprehensive than community outreach or the usual volunteer work. SL has two basic attributes that are not really a requirement for volunteer work – academic integration and reflection.  The University of Toronto (2014) clarifies that unlike extracurricular voluntary service, SL is primarily centered on academic knowledge development and thus guided by discipline-specific learning goals. Experiential learning students facilitate achievement of academic goals more effectively while critical reflection enables the students to identify how their academic content knowledge has enhanced the value of their service and how their understanding of the discipline has been strengthened by their practice. Volunteer work or community outreach endeavor, most of the time, focuses only on the act of serving or helping another without considering the benefits that the volunteer actually gain from such experience. The Afterschool Alliance (2011) summarizes the differences between SL and community service as presented in Table 1. 

Regardless whether SL is viewed as a required course in higher education, as a capstone project or a mere curricular activity, community engagement through voluntary service anchored on curricular goals, SL can be considered as an urgent call for all educators. The rationale behind this argument is very well defined by the Afterschool Alliance (2011), “Youth are the future torchbearers for these causes, and so engaging children of all ages in volunteering, and more importantly, allowing them to create their own service projects, is vital to the betterment of their communities, country and the world at large (Afterschool alliance, 2011). Without a doubt, both types of service are extremely valuable in all social contexts. Service learning therefore is an opportunity for students to learn and grow from their experiences and at the same time create positive change in the community. Unfortunately, in the Philippine setting, SL is not as established as it is in other countries because volunteer work in our country follows more the CO rather than the SL model. Even the majority of NSTP course in undergraduate and the community affairs department of many religious schools are also in accordance with CO approach. Hence, the need for this paper. 

Very clearly, the Corporation for National Service enumerated the basic qualities of a SL initiative (Billig, 2000): (1) conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (2) coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community-service program and with the community;  (3) helps foster civic responsibility; (4) integrated into and enhances the (core) academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community-service program in which the participants are enrolled; and (5) provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience.  Various authors, researchers and educational institutions or groups would have their own definition and attributes of SL but there are basic concepts that all of them agree, according to Billig (2000). SL involves "active participation, thoughtfully organized experiences, focus on community needs and school/community coordination, academic curriculum integration, structured time for reflection, opportunities for application of skills and knowledge, extended learning opportunities, and development of a sense of caring for others. Furthermore, disagreements on the definition of SL only arise when distinguishing it from other experiential education approaches, such as volunteer and community service, internships, field studies, and cross-age peer tutoring. 

Service Learning: A brief introduction

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“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”  - Dr. Jose Rizal.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn" - Benjamin  Franklin

The two classical clichés above are the main inspiration for instigating service learning initiatives in my own little way. Globalization highlights global citizenship, which further challenges the education sector to strike the balance between character building for nation building and moral formation for social accountability. The nationwide implementation of the senior high school across the country further, on the other hand, poses the challenge to the basic education sector to develop among the learners the 21^st century skills to prepare them for a working environment and opportunities whose rules and expectations have not been defined yet. Within this perspective, we can consider that as society evolves so are the nature of the learners and therefore educators must adapt strategies that address their emerging needs, including being a more active participant in the global community. In today’s era when teaching and learning are designed based on standards rather than short-term objectives, it is imperative to also innovate practices to encourage commitment to social concerns – a difficult task in a society characterized by consumerism and competition. 

           Service learning provides the bridge between academic development and civic responsibilities. As what former US senator and astronaut John Glenn has said, “By its very definition, civic responsibility means taking a healthy role in the life of one’s community, state and nation. That means that classroom lessons should be complemented by work outside the classroom. Service learning does just that, tying community service to academic lessons.” Therefore the challenge how to address the ethical, social values and virtues, as Kenan (2009) has pointed out, not only for educators but for everyone who is interested in the education of next generations.  

In the traditional value infusion in the life sciences, environmental advocacy and health concerns are the predominant themes. However, biology is now considered an interdisciplinary area whose practical applications encompass almost all of human endeavors. My goal is not really to talk about SL as if I really understand it but to sell the idea that we can make a difference and something good out of SL. I do hopes to promote the centrality of biology’s role in today’s world through service learning. At the same time, through service learning, engaging in biological studies could provide a wider perspective that biology, as a career and field of expertise, is not limited to the medicine or health allied courses and research work. The objectives of my succeeding posts would be (1) to clarify the definition of service learning (SL), how it differs from community outreach, (2) to elucidate the benefits of applying SL as a teaching approach, as an interdisciplinary course or as a capstone project, (3) to suggest ways how to incorporate SL in biology subjects in high school, and (4) to justify how SL enable the teaching of biology to address the NGSS science and engineering practices and the 21^st century skills. 

SERVICE LEARNING IN BIOLOGY in a nutshell

SERVICE LEARNING AS A 21ST CENTURY SKILL

 

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Last year, I attempted to explore on service learning as applied in biological sciences. It was a serendipitous initiative because as I browse for references on SL, I discovered many documents that are research-based. With the on-going work on NGSS, particularly the science and engineering practices, SL is really having the spotlight as a promising area for developing and deepening 21st century skills. In the case of science, Biology in particular, the challenge is how to merge advocacies with the basic attributes of SL and striking a balance with an authentic integration of the 21st century skills. Several times in the past, (I know many would agree) that classroom and co-curricular activities were a "potpourri" of activities. Teachers and learners enjoy very much the experience per se but somewhere in the instruction, authenticity and sustainability are neglected. When we focus on the short-term effects, we defeat the long-term vision of the curriculum. Here is the abstract of the paper which  hope to post on the blog in the hope of gathering more advocates for Service Learning and 21st century skills in teaching Biology.

Many thanks to Dr. Bagarinao of UPOU who encouraged me to pursue the topic on SL, and for his constructive feedbacks, as well.