Community Service and Service Learning Defined: To compare community service and service learning it is necessary that each are defined. Community service is defined in the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary as, “work that people do to help other people without payment, and which young criminals whose crime was not was not serious enough for them to be put in prison are forced to do”(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary 2004). Community service is simply as it is defined work done for free, that carries along with it a slave labor tone. Service learning on the other hand is defined as, “service component involves some form of meaningful community activity, ranging from tutoring underprivileged children to cleaning up dump sites. The learning component involves applying knowledge from the classroom to the service activities and reflecting on how the two fit”(Mettetal & Bryant 1996). Community Service: Community service has been around since the existence of communities because communities often cannot exist with out the participation of their members. As stated before, community service began to be required in school systems in 1997 in Maryland. According to Kate McPpherson, director of Project Service Leadership in Vancover, WA, community service “… emphasizes the habits and skills of volunteerism” (McPherson 2002). While community service sounds good and beneficial for strengthening skills and membership in the community, it was met with poor results and strong opinions against its requirements. Simply requiring students to fulfill a certain amount of community service hours wasn’t enough, many students did not cooperate. It was found that incorporating community service activities into a class room sett... ... middle of paper ... ...points of community service. This article is useful for one who is trying to argue that service learning is superior to community service. Newspaper: Haddad, A. (1997 December 24). Students follow mission to the letter; Eighth-graders trading letters, e-mail with crew of aircraft carrier Nimitz. The Baltimore Sun, p. 3B. Retrieved April 27, 2004 from ProQuest database. The purpose of the article is to simply inform about a middle school’s service learning project and its effectiveness. Orem, D. (1999 July 4). Lessons From Service Learning. The Washington Post, Pg.B.06. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from ProQuest database. This article is a letter to the editor from Donna Orem, the Vice President of Educational leadership in the National Association of Independent Schools and her purpose for writing this letter is to stress the importance of service learning.
Service-learning is defined as a “course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility” (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995).
Newquist, Connie. "Community Service: Opportunity or Exploitation?" Education World 10 Nov. 1997: n. pag. Print.
Oftentimes, parents do not comprehend how much divorce affects their children. A prime example of their misunderstanding was discovered in a British study. The study questioned both parents and children of recent divorces, and it found that children were far more distressed than parents had thought (Zinsmeister 3). A similar survey, done by Professor Jeanne Dise-Lewis, that asked junior high children to rate how stressful they consider certain life events found that only the death of a close family member ranked higher than parental divorce (Zinsmeister 2). Delfos suggests that what children of divorce desire the most is simply for their parents to become partners again, without the conflicts (241, 242).
Service learning is the name for forcing college students to do volunteer work as part of their college careers. The hope is that this volunteer work will give students a better sense of civic duty, and thus, be a worthy addition to college curriculums. However, this idea relies on the faulty premise that if one is forced to volunteer that one will derive the same benefits as someone who does it out of their own desire to help. Mandatory service learning will not have the desired effect, and should not be forced upon students.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have even begun to imagine that community service could be such a rewarding experience. As the oldest child I never had the opportunity of having someone that could help me with my homework, play with me and help me when I needed something. My parents once in a while could help me with homework, but once we moved to the United States I was definitely on my own considering my parents didn’t know enough English to help me. From this moment forward, I can say I’m very proud of myself for being where I am now without any help throughout my school years. Yet, I know I could have done better with the help of someone. I figured with the opportunity to do community service, I could take advantage of this situation and choose something that would help kids with whatever they needed and maybe even play with them if I had the chance.
Hudson, William E. and Robert H. Trudeau. "Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning." An Essay on the Institionalization of Service-Learning: The Genesis of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service 2.1 (1995): 150-158.
Since the divorce boom started in the 1960?s, father-mother divorces have increased at an alarming rate. Today more than 1,000,000 kids experience a divorce in the family every year in the United States alone (U.S.A. Today, p. 8). As a result of the divorce, many children live in single-parent homes. This usually results in a drop in income for the family. Remarriage creates step families. Children often have a hard time adjusting to this new situation. Many of the remarriages end in divorce. As children see these marriages end, they may become more likely to accept divorce as they ente...
Community service is something that I have always engaged. In college, I worked with chemically dependent children as both a caretaker and a mentor. After I graduated, I taught at-risk children in a community youth outreach program. To remain involved and aware of the focus of my studies during my first year of law school, I volunteered at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center teaching youth their basic legal rights. Essentially, we strove to empower kids by providing practical information about the legal system and to help them develop more favora...
Many think that community service is just something you are forced to do for school. To me, community service is a way of giving back. I like making people feel as though they matter, and it gives me a warm feeling at the end of the day because I feel I have made a difference. I grow as a person each time I do community service. Some people do community service because they have to, but I do it because I want to. I have volunteered about 52 hours of community service in the READ program at a local elementary school on east 3rd street and ave S.
Today, around 50% of children in the United States will witness their parents’ divorce before they reach the age of 18. This effects the child in many ways especially when the child is so young and trying to figure out how to process, and cope with the drastic change in their life. The main effects that divorce imposes on children today is emotionally and physically draining. Divorce for children can be painful and life changing no matter the age of the child. Witnessing this event unfold does unfortunately leave permanent damage in many aspects of the child’s life.
The essay investigates Africa- Brazil economic relation. Africa is rapidly changing and Brazil has expressed growing interest in supporting and taking part in its development.
Vogel, Amanda ] L, and Sarena D Seifer. “Impacts of Sustained Institutional Participation in Service-Learning.” Gateways: International Journal of Community Research & Engagement 4 (2011): 186-202. Academic rch Complete. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.
As a college student gives us the freedom to explore our surroundings. This community service learning proposal gives us the opportunity to learn from our community. Our critical thinking skills will increase as we apply it to “real world” situations during the class period and not just in old fashioned assignments. It will also help us to understand the way things work such as organizing an event or being part of community organizations themselves. It has been shown in studies presented in the article Service Learning as Holistic Values Pedagogy that “service learning provides a positive context for the formation of social, personal, and civic responsibility; communicative competence and meaningful relationships with adults; as well as growth in the kind of awareness that extends to empathic understanding, altruism, giving, and caring”. As a human, we tend to be selfish at times. While being involved in this course, although it is mandatory, it will help us to understand more about being kind and the effects of an act of kindness. We will learn to gain insight and learn to be more responsible throughout the work we do for the
Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and the fifth largest country in the world by both geographic area and population (The World Bank 2012). In last decades, the Brazil is growing its presence and importance in the world affairs and market via the steadily increasing in national economy and s...
The main reason why community service is very important is, it brings people together.