The Service-Learning Mentality
Volunteering is the idea that others need help and that we must help them whereas Service-Learning allows students to learn while also serving the community around them. Service-Learning challenges students’ beliefs and biases as well as the stereotypes that society has placed on specific groups of people. The attitude and mentality that students have from SL when they walk into the communities they serve is significantly different than that of those who volunteer. The mentality of volunteers is typically that the people they are working with are below them and that they need help whereas SL encourages students to keep an open mind and to learn about the community they are serving while supporting them in their needs. Service-Learning encourages students to build connections with the community around them and in doing so they also gain a broader view of the world. SL embodies the idea “that if you listen to the people, you will find the tools to resolve the challenges facing you” (Blake). It is a learning experience that invites all students and does not discriminate in any way. People from all backgrounds have the opportunity to participate which is why when socioeconomic studies of the students that participate in service-learning were conducted, “it was dramatically different from the models one would get in volunteer programs” (Goldstein). What I found to be fascinating about this piece are all the different ways Service-Learning can be incorporated in academia. The stories that each author shares about their experience with service-learning and their goals and outcomes for their program emphasize not only the importance of service-learning as a part of the core curriculum but also the importance of service to our well being as humans.
I believe that my role in the community is to observe those around me, reflect on my experiences in the community, and carry what I learn with me. I am there to listen to their stories, to laugh with them, and to be present serving with my whole self. I am not here to fix or help my community but rather to serve them. In the community, I aim to treat those around me as equals and make “all suffering like my suffering and all joy like my joy” because I ultimately would like to give to them as much as they give to me (Remen). My intentions in the community are to challenge myself and the fears that I have that root from stereotypes. Walking into a community I would like to be able to admit that I do not know or understand their circumstances and that I am there to learn rather than impose in hopes of recognizing that what I am doing is not “good [or] a sacrifice” because at the end of the day the communities we serve have more to offer than we may have expected walking into it (Illich).
The learning outcomes that interest me most are valuing community voice and knowledge and critically reflecting on root causes of systemic social and environmental issues. In the past year I have learned to value community voice and knowledge more so than I had in the past, but I still believe that more walls that root from stereotypes, biases, and past experiences can be broken down. I would like to be more open minded than I have been in the past because I still get nervous or scared in areas that I grew up believing are “bad” or even around certain people that I had always been told to avoid. I know that this may take a while to change but I would like to work more and more towards breaking down those barriers each semester that I serve in the community. I am also interested in reflecting on root causes of systemic issues because this was something that I have been doing in my classes since I started service-learning and it has been one of my favorite parts of it. Being able to identify and reflect systemic issues not only in the classroom but out in the community as well has really opened my eyes to issues I didn’t believe were as big as they were and issues that I didn’t know existed.
