This paper reviews service learning definitions and principles to illustrate common threads connecting service learning philosophy across contexts. Although there is general agreement that service learning occurs in school-based and community-based categories, it cannot be universally defined. Definitions from K-12, higher education, and adult…

This book focuses on three court rulings affecting mandatory high-school community service. It examines the rationale, functioning, and outcomes of high-school community-service programs and addresses the significant legal aspects of community service. It also analyzes court opinions and related legislation on community service and points out some…

This supplement contains five unit summaries on service learning that were developed during the 1996 summer institutes conducted by the Social Science Education Consortium (SSEC) for teams of middle school teachers selected from the western United States. Each unit summary in the supplement has been developed to correspond in style to unit…

Service learning is an inclusive pedagogy appropriate for children, youth, and adults of all cultural backgrounds. Such programs share a commitment to lifelong learning and a philosophical base in experiential education. Planners need to choose an appropriate point of reference, identify learning goals, define activities accordingly, combine…

Deaf and hearing impaired students at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind participate in a bartering project in which they perform chores in exchange for food that is donated to charity. The project meets instructional objectives in social studies (learning how early settlers used bartering), mathematics (counting and classifying the…

Outlines strategies used by one physical education teacher education program to incorporate the pedagogy of service learning into its curriculum and more completely address National Association for Sport and Physical Education and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Educators (NASPE/NCATE) guidelines, highlighting: the department, course…

Presents standards of quality for school-based service-learning, excerpted from a document developed by the Alliance for Service Learning in Education Reform. These standards are expected to evolve as the practice of high-quality, school-based service learning grows. A distinction is drawn between service-learning and community service. (SLD)

Service-learning pedagogies are used in K-12 and higher education to provide students with experiential learning opportunities and foster connections between students, their communities, and the world. Presents comments from librarians across the United States on their experiences with service-learning programs. Suggests strategies for libraries…

A program in which 12 seventh- and eighth-grade students with learning disabilities and/or culturally diverse backgrounds participated with nondisabled peers in service learning is described. The students improved their social skills and self-esteem through community service with younger students and senior citizens. The article offers a rationale…

A teacher of fifth to seventh graders with learning disabilities describes a community-based gardening project which served elderly residents of a rest home while exposing the children to elderly people and encouraging development and application of environmental, writing, mathematics, and communication skills. The project integrated curriculum in…

Describes a partnership between a middle school and a community-based retirement center in which middle school students taught senior citizens computer skills. Discusses the pedagogical value of the program in creating learning activities that students found functional. (JPB)

Since 1999, pre-service teachers undertaking the Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) Program at the University of Western Sydney have participated in an alternate practicum called Professional Experience 3 (PE3). This practicum encourages students to engage in broader educational settings within local communities. Increasingly, a number of…

This article explores an important purpose that some scholars in professional programs of study are utilizing service-learning to pursue: educating the civic professional by integrating education for work and citizenship. While such a purpose holds promise, an examination of a case study from the field of landscape architecture illustrates the…

While most service-learning courses at the college level establish a hierarchical connection between mentor and student, the service-learning program at Los Angeles City College encourages a reciprocal relationship in which mentor and mentee benefit from each other. First-year composition students are paired with intermediate ESL composition…

Civic engagement is an area ripe for increased pedagogical attention in the discipline of Political Science. However, almost all efforts are limited to courses on local, state, and national government. We teach about the often intricate connections between domestic and international politics, but opportunities for students to research and practice…