The Future of Service-Learning: New Solutions for Sustaining and Improving Practice

As a new generation of practitioners engages with service learning, at a time when higher education faces questions about learning outcomes and costs, and in the context of such issues as globalization and the environment, this book poses important questions about practice, institutional sustainability, and future directions. Among these are:What counts as service learning? What value does it bring to institutions? Is it appropriate for all students? How is globalization impacting service learning? Divided into three thematic parts, this book successively covers institutional and administrative issues; service learning as a springboard for research; and presents new practices that address emerging challenges and changing student populations. The contributors review how different institutional types have structured their service learning activities; address the issue of centralization or decentralization; propose better ways to form community partnerships; consider promotion and tenure implications; postulate framing service-learning and community engagement as scholarship; and examine service-learning as a springboard for research. Further chapters offer a new blueprint for funding to achieve sustainability; examples of international service learning from a European perspective; a case study and framework for using on-line formats to extend the reach of a program; raise the urgent issue of the experiences and contributions of underrepresented students; and present the rationale and processes for developing effective student-led evaluation of programs.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Foreword—Andrew Furco PART ONE. FOSTERING INTERDEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS 1. Introduction. Critical Questions and Directions for the Next Generation of Practitioners—Jean Strait 2. Future Directions in Campus-Community Partherships. Location of Service-learning Offices and Activities in Higher Education—Elizabeth Carmichael Strong, Patrick M. Green, Micki Meyer and Margaret Post 3. Cultivating Interdependent Partnerships for Community Change and Civic Education—Melissa Kesler Gilbert, Mathew Johnson, and Julie Plaut 4. Securing Administrator Support for Service-Learning Institutionalization—Andrew Furco and Barbara Holland PART TWO. INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE SERVICE-LEARNING 5. Community Engagement. Second-Generation Promotion and Tenure Issues and Challenges—Lorilee R. Sandmann 6. Facing the Unsettled Questions about Service-Learning—Barbara Jacoby 7. Service-Learning’s Impact on Attitudes and Behavior. A Review and Update—Joseph A. Erickson 8. Funding Service-Learning Programs—Mary Beth Lima PART THREE. EMERGING MODELS IN SERVICE-LEARNING PARTNERSHIPS 9. Service-Learning and the Development of Critical Reflexivity in Teacher Education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Emerging Paradigms—Tim Murphy, Jon Tan and Christine Allan 10. Service-eLearning. What Happens When Service-Learning and Online Education Unite?—Jean Strait 11. “I Do More Service in This Class Than I Ever Do At My Site.” Paying Attention to the Reflections of Students of Color in Service-Learning—Tania D. Mitchell and David M. Donahue 12. New Directions in Research and Evaluation. Participation and Use Are Key—Robert Shumer 13. Living Democracy Daily. Service Learning and Active Citizenship—Walter Enloe Epilogue—Marybeth Lima Contributors Index

About the Author :
Jean R. Strait is Director of the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching. She brings a wealth of first-hand experience in the classroom—having taught reading, literacy, and educational psychology in higher education for the past 20 years. She has also developed and led urban teacher programs with service-learning components at two-year and four-year colleges throughout the Twin Cities. In addition, Dr. Strait has created programs to train adults in the Dakota Language and has helped refugee teachers become licensed in Minnesota. “Literacy is at the heart of all my teaching,” she says. Marybeth Lima is Professor of Biological & Agricultural Engineering at LSU, a registered professional engineer, and a nationally certified playground safety inspector. Andrew Furco is Associate Vice President for Public Engagement at the University of Minnesota, where is also serves as an Associate Professor of Higher Education. His research studies have explored the role of community engagement in K-12 and higher education, both in the U.S. and abroad. His publications include the books Service-Learning: The Essence of the Pedagogy (with. S. Billig), Service-Learning Through a Multidisciplinary Lens (with S. Billig), and Service-Learning: Does it Measure Up (with V. Jagla and J. Strait). Prior to arriving in Minnesota, he served as a faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley and as Director of Berkeley’s Service-Learning Research and Development Center. He currently serves as a board member of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).

Review :
"Service-learning finally has grown up in the academy and this book announces its rite of passage. This book raises practical issues and visionary questions that cannot be ignored by academic leaders and faculty committed to the pedagogy of service-learning. At a time of dwindling resources and in a rapidly changing higher education landscape, Jean Strait, Marybeth Lima, and the other contributors throughtfully probe the future of service-learning and bring into focus the issues that will determine the direction it takes... As service-learning moves from the charismatic to the institutional in the academy, campuses and faculty continue to grapple with the challenge of preparing faculty to embrace best practices in service-learning pedagogy, creating true interdependent community partnerships, and harvesting service-learning experiences for moral and civic education. Fortunately, this fine work is a map for the hero's journey ahead. Read it, discuss it with academic administrators and faculty colleagues, and allow it to guide your future course and curriculum planning." Teaching Theology and Religion "The book is well illustrated as authors use specific campus examples where service-learning has been incorporated into the curriculum and student-life arenas... The content is meaty and this an active read where readers will want to break out their highlighters and sticky notes....Advisors seeking to learn, educate, or create commitment on their campuses will find that this book offers ways to do just that. More importantly, the book provides the opportunity for readers to be an active part of change." NACADA Journal