Definition

Service Learning involves students using what they learn in their formal study to work with others and make a beneficial difference in the world. The service provided is never charity, because it is not only the community (as is the case in so many community service projects) benefiting from the gift being given. The student also learns something from the experience. (Taylor and Ballengee-Morris 2004). It is different from community service. Community service does not require individuals to reflect upon the experience, whereas reflection is an important part of service learning (Moser 18).

Experiential Learning is a theory that is a founding idea behind service learning. Educational theorists like John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget supported the idea that the individual learner should act as an active agent in the learning process through his or her interaction with the surrounding environment (Stewart 1990). This theory is an element that people must accept in service-learning activities, because part of the service-learning experience is to educate oneself while helping fulfill community needs. The community can be looked at as the "surrounding environment" talked about in experiential learning.

Community Service and service learning are two terms that people combine as being the same. This is not the case. One of the main differences in the two terms, is that while community service is the act that is accomplished through service learning, community service can be done by any person not only students through an educational institution. In this way, community service might be viewed as a one-way exchange and thought of as charity.

The Arts in school generally include studies such as visual art, dance, drama, music, literature, and communications/media (television; film; radio; etc.). Schools have started to incorporate service learning projects into the arts discipline at all grade levels.

Historic Roots

Service learning is not a new idea, yet implementing it into educational institutions is a fairly new concept. In the late 1800s, universities and colleges were grappling with the idea of how to make a connection between the educated people and the needs of their community. Thinkers like John Dewey developed educational theories related to what is now service learning. Organizational attempts to get a program started did not take place until the 1960s where universities and colleges were among the first educational institutions to explore service learning. (Leary 22).

During the sixties, the civil rights movement occurred, granting many freedoms to groups like women and minorities. Students needed change and knew that they could make a difference in their community. It was at this time that the government established programs like the Peace Corps, founded in 1960, which flourished until the 1980s when there was a decline (Peace Corps). Educator Janet Kendall points out that the programs failed due to a lack of support from institutions, a lack of balance between the parties involved, and not doing a good job at linking learning with service (Leary 24). The idea of service was based on the action and not learning or reflection.

It was at this point that service learning became a focus at the national level. Universities and colleges were not having success by themselves, so national organizations began to be established. In 1990, President Bush signed the National and Community Service Act, which allowed funding for community service driven projects. President Clinton continued this trend by reserving money for community service related endeavors (Findlay 5).

Within the school curricula, local leaders in some states have mandated that students must complete so many hours of service to graduate on to the next level (Leary 27). The challenge is to incorporate service into the curriculum so that students are connecting and reflecting what they have learned in school in order to share it with a community’s needs.

Service learning can be accomplished through any department in school. Most times in service learning projects, more than one department works together to perform a community service. This is a good learning experience for students in showing them how to work together, not only in school but also in life.

Importance

Service learning is important because it benefits both parties involved. It helps students focus on their studies because they must apply it beyond school. It also helps build a strong community because people are receiving help with their needs to create a better environment in which to live.

Before service learning was introduced, people relied on community service and volunteers to help community needs. Because service learning has become a mandatory part of the curriculum in most educational institutions, it provides for communities a continuous resource of structured programs (Leary 27). By having service learning as a part of the educational curriculum, it is not too much to hope that younger generations will want to be involved in service the rest of their lives.

Service learning can be found across the disciplines in school, and the arts education field has joined the ranks introducing service learning projects for their students. In the case of the arts, educators provide a community with the form of art they need whether it be visual, media related, teaching art, etc. and in return, the art students learn about something other than art, due to working in the community, while sharing their talents. With this kind of experience, students experience personal growth and learn to be accepting of others (Taylor and Ballengee-Morris 9).

Ties to the Philanthropic Sector

Service learning has strong ties to philanthropy. On the national level, the government has provided funding to establish resources and programs so that teachers and students can take part in service learning projects as well as having provided funding for arts education. Educational organizations also have contributed to help service learning projects take off. These service learning projects have benefited many departments in the school including the arts department.

An example of an arts related service project tied to philanthropy is one that took place in West Hartford, CT. It was called "The Empty Bowls" project. Two teachers from a high school had the idea to have students make clay bowls and soup to go in them. The students then would host a banquet where the soup and bowls would be sold and the proceeds would go to a hunger charity. This project required art students to teach others how to make the bowls as well as using their artistic education and talents to design logos for posters. In order to have the materials to do this, the school received a mini-grant of eight hundred dollars from the Connecticut Association of Schools (Namnoum 26). Without this philanthropic gesture, students might not have been able to take part in this service learning arts activity.

Key Related Ideas

Co-learning is essential to service learning because both parties should be learning. For instance with an arts related service project, the community learns about the arts and what they can give, while the students learn about the people or environment of the community they live in. It helps in co-learning to have a focused program or curriculum in place in order to enhance the learning experience on both ends (Taylor and Ballengee-Morris 11).

Reflection is an important part of the service learning process. Once students have had a chance to perform the service act, they must finish the process by sharing thoughts about the work they did and connect their feelings to others in the community. It is the educator’s job to encourage this kind of dialogue (Moser 18).

Although some schools require mandatory hours of community service, service learning is ultimately based on voluntary service. Voluntary, in this sense, means a school cannot force themselves upon a community and likewise a community cannot order a school to help them (Taylor and Ballengee Morris 6). Mutually they must agree on the project together in order to fit their needs. Because some schools make service mandatory, the students might not be able to voluntarily participate. But they voluntarily decide what kind of learning they will gain from it based on their experience.  

Key People

• John Dewey (1859-1952) His educational theory addresses what service learning is about. He believed that the theories and thought taught in school, needed to connect to the environment and the issues men face (Wirth26). This idea is seen today when schools do service learning projects as they take the information they learn in class to help with community needs outside the classroom.
  
  
• David A. Kolb (1939-) developed a process that models steps a learner will go through when performing an act of service learning. In his model students perform the service, reflect on it, organize the thoughts to understand the world around them, and then use those thoughts to experiment with other activities. If successful, hopefully the individual feels fulfilled and motivated to repeat the steps (Stewart 31). (1939-)developed a process that models steps a learner will go through when performing an act of service learning. In his model students perform the service, reflect on it, organize the thoughts to understand the world around them, and then use those thoughts to experiment with other activities. If successful, hopefully the individual feels fulfilled and motivated to repeat the steps (Stewart 31).

Related Nonprofit Organizations

• Americans for the Arts (1996) is a non-profit organization that helps to encourage and advance arts in America and its communities. It also helps to foster individual growth in the arts. This organization partners with many people including arts organizations and educators to make their program work (http://www.artsusa.org/).
  
  
• Beans and Rice Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides services for specifically the African American and Hispanic communities. Within the organization there is a special focus on service learning and tying schools together with community projects. There is room for all departments and studies to take part in the projects, including the arts (http://www.beansandrice.org/service.html).
  
  
• Corporation for National and Community Service is a national organization that has developed three service oriented organizations under it. They include: Seniorcorps, Americorps, and Learn and Serve America. The goals of all these organizations are to provide opportunities for every age to be involved in service of some kind. This includes a source to go to for service learning through the schools. (http://www.nationalservice.org).
  
  
• Learn and Serve America is one of three organizations developed under the Corporation for National and Community Service. It provides funding, training, and research results for educational institutions, so they can be connected in making service learning a part of their curriculum (http://www.learnandserve.org/).
  
  
• National Endowment for the Arts is a national organization founded by Congress in 1965. They provide funding for arts education programs and projects in schools (http://www.nea.gov/).

  Related Websites

  Annual Service Learning and the Arts Conference is a conference in Miami that is sponsored by Florida Learn and Serve. The conference is designed to speak about the relation and importance of connecting the arts to the community. A way of doing this is through service learning programs for students, and this conference helps educators accomplish this task. (http://www.fsu.edu/~flserve/arts_conference/)

  The Resource Center at (http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/initiatives/index.php) is a link off of the Corporation for National and Community Service. It is a tool where individuals (especially educators) can enter a search term like “service learning and the arts” and be given a list of resources or ideas on how to incorporate service learning into an arts discipline.

  Students in Service to America at (http://www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org) is a website that is for educators who are already involved in service learning at their schools or for newcomers who want to know how to start. It suggests resources to plan a curriculum in conjunction with service learning, provides ideas for projects and also talks about where to obtain funding.

  Bibliography and Internet Sources   

  Delve, Cecilia I., Suzanne D. Mintz, and Greig M. Stewart. Community Service as Values Education. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Inc., 1990. ISBN: 1555428371.

  Findlay, Diane. Lend a Hand: Exploring Service-Learning through Children’s Literature. Fort Atkinson: Upstart Books, 2003. ISBN: 1579500862

  Leary, Timothy P. Combining Service and Learning: A Comparative Study of the Relationship Between a Classroom Sponsored Service Learning Initiative and the Moral, Civic and Intellectual Lives of College Students. Ann Arbor: UMI  Dissertation Services: A Bell & Howell Company, 1994.

  Moser, J.M. et. al. "The Power of Linking Service to Learning".  Tech Directions, 2005: 18-21. In Wilson Education Index [database online]. Accessed 10 October 2005.
   
  Namnoum, Donna. “Empty Bowls Feed the Hungry.” Arts and Activities, 2002: 26-28. In Wilson Web [database online]. Accessed 15 October 2005.

  Peace Corps. What is the Peace Corps? Accessed 20 November 2005. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whatispc.

  Taylor, Pamela G. and Christine Ballengee-Morris. “Service-Learning: A Language of “We”. Art Education, 2004: 6-12. In Wilson Web [database online]. Accessed 15 October 2005.

  Wirth, Arthur G. John Dewey As Educator: His Design for Work in Education (1894-1904). New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1966. ISBN: 0471956155.