There are Children Here: Service Learning for Social Justice

Abstract

We describe what happens in a justice-oriented, service learning course and field experience and what university participants thought about it. Based on this examination, we consider promises and problems for service learning for social justice, and we suggest next steps for this kind of work. In this article, we consider one Alternative Spring Break experience. We ponder ways in which a service learning course and its field component shaped university students' perceptions of social justice. Two questions guide the article: (1) What happens in a service learning experience for social justice, and (2) What do students think about it? In response to our examination of these questions, we suggest pitfalls and promises of this service learning approach.