1) After completing this service-learning assignment, how has your understanding of service learning changed? Please elaborate upon your definition of service learning and why it was included in this course.
a) My understanding of service learning has not changed too much after this assignment. The reason it did not change too much is because I have participated in service learning before. However, I understand now that service learning is not the same as community service. Service learning is community service where the individual who does the service also learns about himself or herself and also grows academically, or gains a new knowledge base. Service learning was included in this course because it is an important concept for teachers to understand. It provides students with a way to benefit their community and their education. This is a rare feeling for students. Most students do not see the point or purpose of schoolwork. However, with service learning schoolwork has
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Whenever I had to go to the Bread Basket I dreaded it. I did not dread the work or the people who I helped. I only dreaded it because I was tired. This however, made me realize that I do not devote enough time or energy to people who are in need. As I move forward in my life I hope that I can become more giving and less judgmental. I need to not assume that because someone is in a bad situation that they put themselves their. I need to not assume that hard work fixes everything. However, I did realize that I am an extremely hard worker and I will help others in need no matter how tired I am. I would just like to help others more voluntarily than for a grade. As a teacher, I will help my students and my community and I will try to become more open minded to different and diverse situations, and not just assume the worst.
6) Do you plan on using service learning when you teach? Why or why
At the beginning of the semester, I did not know what the "Service Learning and Social work Practice" course mean. However, through the process, with the accompaniment of Professor Preeti Charania, I understood the course and noticed a lot of transformation in me through the semester. The following are some of the changes and growth I have seen in me from class readings, discussions, group works, and working with the Church World Service (CWS) agency.
This course has taught me a lot about the role human service workers have in communities and what communities need from human services. I learned about why this type of work is so important and was able to seen that importance first hand through my observation hours at the Dorothy Day Center.
I had learned lots of new things this year and especially this semester in U.S. History Since 1877. This history course required all students to complete twenty hours of service learning or to write a term paper. After considering the two options, I decided to give the service learning a chance because I thought it would be an interesting experience. There were a variety of projects to choose from, but I felt that the Sustainability Project was the right fit for me.
I equate service with helpfulness—assisting others. I help both my school community by answering questions and giving feedback and my community as a whole through my volunteer activities, the most enjoyable of which has been Habitat for Humanity.
Although I have always been able to overcome obstacles thrown my way, I am aware that others have not. I have volunteered for fundraisers to raise funds for the community. I was a volunteer at a local hospital for 2 years and was able to interact with members of the community and learn more about the struggles that they go through. As a volunteer, I was not able to do much, but listening to them and relaying their message to their nurse did aid in making sure that their voices was heard and appropriate treatment was given to them. After becoming a nursing assistant, I was and still am able to help care for people in underserved communities. Some of them come in with no health insurance due to its cost, and others come in with illnesses and lifestyle choices that have torn their families apart. No matter the circumstance I will continue to do what I can to make sure that they have proper treatment and that they know that I will not judge them; I will care for them. I do not want to leave anyone behind because of his or her circumstance. Becoming a nurse will be one experience that will allow me to find myself in the care and service of others, to me, that is a beautiful
The functional area of service-learning is currently emerging as an acknowledged department at an institution of higher education. The theoretical roots of service learning go back to John Dewey, and the early twentieth century. However, current research on service-learning pedagogy dates back only to the early 1990’s. Best practices for the field are still being created as more and more new offices are springing up on campuses throughout the United States and institutions internationally. The reason this functional area is becoming ever popular is due to the positive impact it has on students and most all educational outcomes.
The lunch bell rung at full volume as the main doors flung open. I predicted that a herd of people will rush in like the water from a spill gate. But instead every person was a line; in fact it was a neat single filed line. Another thing I was astonished to see was to the fact that every single person I served to was superbly well mannered. It was the magical word of thank-you which left great remarks in my life and made my volunteering experience an enjoyable one. After the shift, I have come to realize that everything my family and friends have said about impoverished people was nothing but just a stereotype. In addition, I have self-discovered that volunteering is what I want to do on my spare time. The joy from making new friends, appreciated and making a difference in society was too meaningful to put in words. From then on, volunteering had become one of my most highly valued priorities. Whenever I have time to spare, I will go
Waldstein, F. A., & Reiher, T. C. (2001). Service -learning and students' personal and civic development. [Electronic Version]. Journal of Experiential Education, 24(1), 7-13.
important issues, gain new perspectives and provides learning experiences for volunteers as well as individuals from underserved groups. Because of the numerous benefits, college students should enroll in the Service Learning courses or service learning based programs. These programs allows students to move away from the dualism versus unity point of view and focus on reciprocity and provides the skills necessary to approach future service experiences with a service learning perspective.
The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse describes Service-learning (SL) as, “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” SL is nothing new, dating back to The University of Cincinnati founding of the Cooperative Education Movement in 1903; although, service-learning in pharmacy is a relatively new concept (NS-LC). SL is a way for educators to provide real-life learning experiences to students through providing provision to communities or underserved populations. The major benefits to students of S.L. programs are offering experience, an expansion of knowledge, and personal growth; and can be beneficial to a student’s career and resume. Most all of the requirements of the competencies in Pew’s 1998 competency of practice proposal, including thinking ability, communication skills, valuing and ethical decision making, social and contextual awareness, social responsibility, social interaction, and self-learning abilities, are met through service-learning (Drab, Lamsam, Connor, DeYoung, Steinmetz, and Herbert 44).
What connections do you make between your service-learning experiences and some of the themes addressed in class (justice, love, rights, responsibility, relationships, etc.)?
I really think that having the service learning-project in the Unity and Diversity class is great. In class we have talked about minorites and disadvantaged groups, and volunteering in the minority places has everything to do with our class. The suggestions I have for revising the requirements of the service-learning component in a future class would be to require more theories and concepts into our papers. I think you should require more terms in our papers, so that we look more into our books and notes. Other than adding more concepts into the paper I don’t think anything else should be changed.
Being in a school that brought students from various counties and cities with different backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives, opened my eyes to seeing just how diverse humanity is. In a time when everyone is struggling with personal problems, I know how monumental a simple volunteer act can be. One of my favorite acts of service is tutoring. I tutored an elementary-aged girl for two years in Fort Lee and I will always remember those two years as the most fulfilling. Education is so precious, and children are the most open to it. Not only was I able to teach her math and reading comprehension skills, but how to carry herself as a smart and extraordinarily capable young lady. In return, she taught me patience and how sometimes you just need to approach a problem differently to see the
Following participation in an Engaged Department Institute sponsored by Campus Compact, a service-learning requirement was instituted for all majors in the department studied beginning Fall 2002. All faculty were encouraged to incorporate service-learning in their courses. A training session on service-learning was the centerpiece of a departmental retreat in January 2002. In order to develop closer relationships with community agencies, the department hosted a faculty-partnership luncheon the following fall semester. Potential community partners were invited to meet with faculty in an effort to forge new relationships with the University. In order to institutionalize service-learning, all recruitment advertisements specifically mention service-learning and all new hires are expected to include service-learning components in their courses. As a consequence of these efforts, this department has gone from teaching only a few courses with service-learning components to offering twenty five different classes (thirteen courses) by Fall 2002.
I spent most of my time in a first grade classroom. In this classroom I observed the children as well as the teacher and paraprofessional. This classroom had children with special needs and that is why there was a paraprofessional in the classroom for half the day. What I observed in this classroom was how children with special need should be handle and taught. The teachers in this room loves her job and each student in her class. While in the classroom the teacher allowed me to help with children with their work, read to them and help them with anything else that they needed. During this field experience I got to give back to not only a school, but to a community that is very near and dear to my heart. I hope that I touched each student in a special way, because the students that I got the opportunity to help learn touched my