A Logic Model of Service-Learning: Tensions and Issues for Further Consideration.

Abstract

This paper introduces conceptual model for supporting the continued development of service-learning as pedagogy of engagement. A logic diagram is used to facilitate understanding of service-learning. The model illustrates the (a) complex elements involved in creating or sustaining strong program, (b) potential tensions within the field, and (c) evaluation requirements at the level of program or campus. The logic model also identifies tensions and issues that merit ongoing discussion amongst those committed to the continued development of service-learning in higher education. ********** Interest in service-learning has grown dramatically over the last 20 years. It is practiced in an increasing number of colleges and universities, and the literature on service-learning is expanding by leaps and bounds. Indeed, this pedagogy may be moving from the periphery of the academy to center stage as institutions of higher reassess their place in the democratic project (Coles, 1999). Prompted by these developments, the Indiana Campus Compact Faculty Fellows Class of 20032004 determined that year-long conversation about service-learning's standing and prospects might prove useful. Three questions guided our effort: What have we, as group of practitioners, learned to date? How might we contribute to the ongoing conversation about the nature and future of service-learning? And what concerns would we recommend that the field focus on over the course of the next decade? We approached our extended conversation with certain degree of trepidation. After all, others have made our inquiry possible. In fact, the service-learning model around which we organized our investigation draws significantly upon the contributions of other scholars and practitioners. At the same time, comprehensive review of the literature extended beyond the scope of this project. We therefore decided to focus first on certain tensions that have become evident and then look forward. A summary of our deliberations follows on how service-learning practitioners should proceed. The purpose of this paper is to introduce conceptual model for supporting the continued development of service-learning as pedagogy of engagement. In the first section, service-learning model structured in the form of logic diagram is presented. This logic diagram, though built to our own specifications, has the potential to act as powerful vehicle for understanding the complexities of service-learning, analyzing differences in conceptions of the field, and permitting evaluations of specific campuses or programs. As such, the introduction of model based on logic diagram provides an example of Boyer's (1990) scholarship of integration, allowing identification and discussion of tensions in the field while creating the opportunity for alternative logic diagrams to be compared in ways that further collective understanding of the field. In our second section, six tensions are noted and examined. In the third, we identify ten issues pertaining to service-learning that, in our judgment, will merit attention in upcoming years. Our claims are normative rather than empirical in nature. They constitute, in effect, reflection on service-learning's past and future. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] A Conceptual Model of Service-Learning The Alliance for Service Learning in Education Reform has defined service-learning as a method of teaching through which students apply newly acquired academic skills and knowledge to address real-life needs in their own communities (Payne, 2000, p. 41). Jacoby (1996) describes service-learning as form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs employing both critical reflective analysis and deep commitment to reciprocity in all interactions with the community. To this end, she argues that hyphen should both separate and connect the words service and learning in order to communicate the critical interaction that takes place between the two. …