To creatively and competently utilize community resources and to work successfully for the benefit of all students requires that educational leaders develop positive diversity dispositions. This study explores the effect of school community relations instruction in enhancing educational administration candidates' skills, beliefs, and connections…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of university students serving as volunteers in an oncology ward at a local children's hospital. The implementation of this project was guided by the body of literature regarding service learning. Data were collected from the five students using a structured interview and was…

This article discusses extra-curricular social studies in an Open Air History Museum. Open Air History Museum, Conner Prairie Interpretive Park in Fishers, Indiana, is a cultural institution that encourages and supports talented students as they participate in an extra-curricular program. Ten-to sixteen-year-old youths "apply for jobs"…

This article explores the particular challenges and possibilities of service learning pedagogy for basic writers. Because a number of scholars of service learning and basic writing (Adler-Kassner, Arca, and Kraemer) are concerned primarily with developing underprepared students' academic literacies, I investigated how the students in a service…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

Learning is neither limited to what is formally taught nor to time spent in classrooms. It occurs whenever and wherever the learner interacts with the surrounding environment. All facets of the community (not just the school) provide learning opportunities--thus the term learning community. This brief provides in-depth answers to the following…

Service learning is both a pedagogy and a philosophy; the central idea is to provide students with a setting for meaningful learning through a specific, curriculum-based community service activity. It is a "win-win" situation for everyone because students get to apply their knowledge and skills in "the real world," a nonprofit…

This document reports on the 9th seminar of the State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER). It consists of brief overviews of the daily discussions and presentations that were made at the seminar. Topics discussed include connecting service learning and the Environment as an Integrated Context for learning (EIC), and reports from states on…

Cultural activism--such as that promoted by cultural studies pedagogies--is often missing in both the theories and pedagogies of service learning. Ignoring the action potential inherent in cultural studies and its potential contributions to service learning may very well subvert a potentially radical and critical pedagogy into merely a trend.…

This essay places service-learning within the liberal arts tradition of empowering others to help themselves. Such a contextualization departs from visions of the student as consumer or customer and education as a means to gain economic advantage in a competitive market. Attention then turns to how even well-intentioned service-learning projects…

This study investigated whether the presence or absence of selected characteristics of the cognitive apprenticeship model of instruction influenced changes or lack of change in the performance of two interns over time. One internship site reflected the characteristics of the cognitive apprenticeship model, and the other did not. The interns were…

The five studies reviewed in this brief publication examine the scope of current research on service learning and its effects on participants. An introduction defines service learning as "an instructional practice in which students perform service as a way of complementing the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom." Titles and authors of…

This staff development handbook is intended to help teachers and other professionals prepare, design, and lead staff development programs for middle school educators interested in augmenting their curriculums with service. Designed to be used as a comprehensive guide to planning and delivering staff development training, the book suggests a…

Service-learning programs can offer parents and families the opportunity to participate in innovative learning experiences, and to become engaged in their children's schools in unique ways. Research has demonstrated that strong family involvement has numerous benefits for children and youth, including: Higher grades and test scores; Better school…

Service-learning is becoming increasingly prominent in higher education. Consequently, there has also been an increase in opportunities to publish and present in this field. This quick guide is intended to provide a synopsis of where and how to present and publish service-learning in higher education materials. For a more comprehensive review,…