| What is Service-learning?
Service-learning is an instructional method that combines formal coursework
with thoughtfully organized community service experiences. Service-learning
addresses community-identified needs while helping students meet academic,
social and civic learning goals.
Through service and guided reflection, students learn about themselves
and their relationship to the community around them. Service-learning allows
students to engage with real-world issues and social problems, and to work
with community organizations to become "part of the solution."
Characteristics of service-learning are as follows:
* Course relevant service which benefits the community
* Single day events to several hours a week per semester
* Reflection = writing, reading, speaking, listening, group discussions
* Academic credit for demonstrating learning achieved through the service,
not just for putting in hours
* Encourages a greater understanding of social issues, civic responsibility,
caring
We believe that:
* Miami-Dade College students, as future leaders of our community, deserve
a real world education that inspires social responsibility and encourages
compassion for all
* Miami-Dade College should be a responsible, engaged member of the local
community
* Academic learning is strengthened by engaging in meaningful service and
reflection
* Education at Miami-Dade College should be transformative; creating ethical
and responsible community participants
* All partners in the service-learning process should be engaged in teaching
and learning, serving and being served
Relevant and Meaningful
Service With the Community – there
must be service provided in the community that is both relevant
and meaningful to all stakeholders.
Enhanced Academic Learning – the addition of relevant and
meaningful service with the community must not only serve the
community but also enhance student academic learning in the course.
Purposeful Civic Learning – the addition of relevant and
meaningful service with the community must not only serve the
community and enhance academic learning in the course, but also
directly and intentionally prepare students for active civic
participation in a diverse democratic society.
Purposeful Civic Learning
Civic learning is any learning that contributes to student preparation
for community or public involvement in a diverse democratic
society – knowledge, skills, and
values that make an explicitly direct and purposeful contribution
to the preparation of students for active civic participation.
Examples – Activities that prepare students with knowledge,
skills, values, and propensities for active involvement in their
future communities
* Strengthen students’ sense of giving back
* Encourage social responsibility
* Prepare students for active citizenship
* Introduce students to social justice issues
Categories of Learning that Directly Support Civic Learning
Academic Learning – learning that is academic in nature
helps students understand and be prepared for involvement in
the community;
E.g., Understanding root causes of social problems, developing
active learning skills, understanding that important knowledge
is found in the community;
Democratic Citizenship Learning – learning related to
being an active citizen that prepares students for involvement
in the community;
E.g., Becoming familiar with different conceptualizations of
citizenship, developing competency in identifying community assets,
embracing idea that communities depend on an active citizenry;
Diversity Learning – learning related to multi-culturalism
that prepares students for involvement in diverse communities;
E.g., Understanding individual vs. institutionalisms, developing
cross-cultural communication skills, embracing the value that
voices of minorities are needed to make sound community decisions;
Political Learning – learning related to the political
arena that prepares students for involvement in the community;
E.g., Learning about how citizen groups have effected change
in their communities, developing advocacy skills, understanding
that citizenship is about more than voting and paying taxes;
Leadership Learning – learning about leadership issues
that prepare students for community accomplishment;
E.g., Understanding the social change model of leadership, developing
the skills that facilitate the sharing of leadership roles, understanding
that leadership is a process, and not a characteristic associated
with an individual or role;
Inter- and Intra-Personal
Learning – learning about oneself
and others that prepare students to work better with other citizens;
E.g., Understanding one’s multiple social identities, developing
problem-solving skills, learning an ethic of care;
Social Responsibility Learning – learning
that teach people about their personal and professional responsibility
to others;
E.g., Understanding how individuals in a particular profession
act in socially responsible ways, determining how to apply one’s
professional skills to the betterment of society, understanding
that responsibility to others applies to those pursuing all kinds
of careers. |
