An Exploration of Service Learning
November 5, 2009
Earlier this year we teamed up with The Phoenix Project to look at the state of service learning. For those unfamiliar with service learning, it's where a service project is integrated with classroom learning. This was a great opportunity for us to get a glimpse of how young people are actively engaged in strengthening their communities, and how their universities and professors are supporting those efforts and relating them to academic study.
We wanted to learn more about not only participation levels but what's working and what's not in service learning among three groups of participants: students, university faculty and staff, and community organizations.
We hosted six discussions in three locations - Washington, DC, New Orleans, and the San Francisco Bay Area. We interviewed several leaders engaged in administering service learning programs. And, we reached out for additional perspectives via an online survey.
Fifty-one people joined us for the in-person discussions, and 1,043 completed the web survey. Of the survey respondents, 44% were staff or board members of nonprofits, community organizations, or government agencies, 30% were faculty members or staff, and 17% were university students or recent graduates.
Community Service vs. Service Learning
In the focus groups, we explored the distinction between community service and service learning. Our working distinction was that service learning was a specific kind of community service that was connected to an academic program and involved reflection of how the community service work related to the academic issues being studied.
While our friends in the discussions made some distinction between community service and service learning, many noted that the two terms are very often used interchangeably. The meaning of service learning varied from city to city.
Most described community service as a way to benefit communities by filling gaps, building social capital, and demonstrating individual responsibility by giving back to the community.
"It's about improving the place where you live...It's a way to perhaps fill in gaps and fix things that are broken and that government isn't capable of addressing. It's also fulfilling a responsibility to the people you live with."
Participants in all but one focus group described how community service is associated with something you must do as an obligation or punishment.
"When I think about community service I think about something that you were sentenced to when you messed up or got into trouble with the law."
Students acknowledged the value of service learning and at the same time expressed greater passion for community service of their choosing. There was a sentiment that community service should be voluntary.
Staffers from community organizations expressed how challenging it can be incorporate an academic component into the areas where they need help.
"I think service learning is heavier on the learning side than on the service side. There's a learning curve that has to take place before you can get involved in service where you can make an impact."
For the online survey, we provided our distinction between community service and service learning. Survey participants were more commonly involved with community service rather than service learning.
96% of students had participated in community service projects, while 75% had been involved with service learning. 82% of university faculty and staff had participated in community service projects, while only 49% had either taught or administered program involving service learning. For nonprofits, the numbers were more even, with 69% working with students on community service projects and 64% on service learning projects.
Challenges to Service Learning Participation
We encountered a number of challenges around service learning. Awareness of existing service learning programs within institutions and adoption of service learning by higher education both appear to be barriers to maximizing service learning's potential impact on the community. The availability and quality of service learning software are factors in both these challenges.
A related issue is the priority given to service learning within institutions that integrate it into their degree programs. Some students reported that their university did not demonstrate an institutional culture of service learning:
"I think it's important for the administration and department heads to value [service learning]. A lot of times I've seen it be discounted to the point where it is not as important as the grades. I think the university can be far more supportive. [Service learning] has a benefit other than [being able to say] you wrote a great thesis; it shows you have heart and you are an asset to the community, the university, and your employer down the line."
Faculty experienced similar issues with the priority of service learning at their campuses. Some felt that they needed capacity building support to raise awareness of service learning opportunities and to encourage integration of service learning into the classroom. Some desired incentives to become involved. Others expressed interest in being empowered to be service learning advocates.
"There's greater service learning participation [and resources for faculty] in places where there is buy-in from the top down: the president, the provost, and the deans. When the deans and department chairs recognize the value of service learning, there are more resources to help faculty develop curriculum."
"The university could play a role if we had the resources to construct courses in a way to do service learning. Quite often the resources just aren't there for faculty to develop the partnerships necessary. For me to be able to do that, I have to apply for a grant to get a course release in order to even spend a semester to develop the course so that the curriculum committee can accept it."
A related dynamic that emerged but which would require some further study is the impact of community service vs. service learning. There was some pushback from participants about service as a degree requirement:
"Community service is about giving back because you want to give back - not because you're required to give back."
We'd love to learn whether the impact of students choosing community service projects aligned with their personal interests differs from the impact when the choices are from a more narrow range of projects defined by academic needs. Do students bring greater passion, and by extension impact, to projects of their choice? Does the level of service participation vary with community service requirements versus service learning requirements versus no requirement?
"I participated in a service project for a political science class where the professor required us to perform grassroots organizing as part of the service project. It was really difficult to participate because it was not what I wanted to do"
Whether as a course requirement or not, it was encouraging to discover just how experienced students are in service projects. High schools have adopted communty service requirements so widely that service is an integral part of many students' lives by the time they reach college.
Expansion of Service Learning
According to Learn and Serve, only around 25% of higher education institutions have service learning programs, with community colleges leading the way in adoption at over 50%. If we see value in service learning, then we need to identify ways to bring service learning programs to more institutions.
We believe service learning software could be a catalyst toward two key opportunities: (1) improving participation and impact in active service learning programs and (2) increasing the number of institutions offering service learning programs. Online service learning tools can impact every step of the service learning cycle (investigation, planning, action, reflection, demonstration) and help us measure its impact. Software provides more efficient management of service learning programs for administrators. Perhaps more importantly, easy-to-use tools can lower the barrier of entry for schools that want to delve into service learning and provide a roadmap for administrators new to the service learning concept.
Service learning is in a great position to benefit from open source tools that get more and more robust every year and an incredible influx of energy into nonprofit software development.
What's Next?
The Phoenix Project and their partners Learn & Serve and George Mason University are continuing to explore service learning's future, from best practices for current programs to measuring impact and developing tools for improving and expanding service learning. Follow their good work - or find ways to join in!