CR#1 History, Best Practices, & Principles of Service-Learning

WHAT? How is Service-Learning different from volunteering? Please reference the chapter(s) from Service-Learning: A Movement’s Pioneers and use quotes to support your response.

Service learning is where you participate in the community but it helps you see or chose a career, it fulfills both the students and communities needs. While you’re helping in the community you are helping yourself obtain information on what you’re interested in and finding out more about what goes on in the community. When you get involved then you are able to listen to what the community has to say not the small groups who think that are incharge or the wealthy people of a certain are, you are listening to The Group which involves everyone no matter what class you’re in. “Students need to feel important and effective in both school and in their communities in order to become successful. I want to see students take action and win, change something” (Ch6). we are the ones who make the change by learning from our experience in service learning. “As Reardon describes it, this long term partnership ensures that the campus is directly involved in enabling these leaders to improve and strengthen their community, and on their own terms “(Ch 7). This sets the point across of what service learning is all about. It’s about truly caring on what the community desires because they know what is best for them and don’t need anyone else to make assumption about what they think they need.

SO WHAT? How do you understand your own role in the community this semester? Please reference, with specific quotes, Remen’s and Illich’s articles to help articulate where you stand on understanding your community role. If you have taken SL-designated courses before, you can also talk about how your understanding of your own position in the community has evolved.

I understand that I have only volunteered but never really done much to help out. In this semester I want to get involved with the community and really feel and understand what they are going through. I want to put myself in their shoes to get a better understanding of what it’s like going through difficult situations. “She took the prep class in the winter and spanish in the winter and spring, and in the dall she went to Nicaragua for six months”(ch 6). She took the initiative of going back because she really wanted to do it. I want to do the same for my community and help them fulfill their own needs. In the article of To Hell With Good Intentions it talks about how some people’s good intentions are just wrong. “All you will do in a Mexican village is creat disorder”. I find this true were some people say they want to help but when they do they make thing worse than they already are. Some people who say they want to help do it to be recognizes or for some title they want, all they look for attention they don’t want good intention.

NOW WHAT? Please read through the SL Program Learning Outcomes and Rubric document. Is there an outcome or concept (or maybe several) that you are especially interested in focusing on this semester? Why?

I want to apply learning in social context while serving with my partner. I just don’t want to feel like its some type of community service type of thing. I’m helping in some way volunteering but I’m not getting much out of it while i’m there. I hope this semester I can change my experience by serving my partner and learn to serve the community and listen to there needs in one way or another.