Theory of Service-Learning: Selected Resources

Giles, D. E., Jr., & Eyler, J. (1994, Fall). Theoretical roots of service learning in John Dewey: Toward a theory of service learning.Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 77-85. Retrieved from http://ginsberg.umich.edu/mjcsl/item/1
As interest service-learning research multiples, there is a concomitant need for a theoretical base for service learning. In this article the authors review aspects of John Dewey's educational and social philosophy that they identify as relevant to the development of a theory of service learning including learning form experience, reflective activity, citizenship, community, and democracy. The article concludes with a set of key questions for research and theory development.

Harkavy, I., & Benson, L. (1997). De-Platonization and democratization of education as the basis of service learning. Retrieved from the University of Pennsylvania website.

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning Articles

Bringle, R.G., Hatcher, J.A. (2000). Meaningful measurement of theory-based service-learning outcomes: Making the case with quantitative research. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall 2000, 68-75.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4260
Abstract: Research is most beneficial when the design of research is guided by a theory and when the information that is gained through data collection is relevant to supporting, developing, refining, and revising a theory. The practice of service-learning will be improved when we understand the conditions that increase the likelihood of service-learning classes reaching intended educational outcomes. This article provides recommendations for generating meaningful information about service-learning that include evaluating hypotheses derived from theory, using multiple-item measures of theoretical constructs, using designs that allow causal inferences to be made, and making appropriate theoretical and practical generalizations from research.

Cone, D., & Harris, S. (1996). Service learning practice: Developing a theoretical framework. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. Fall, 31-43.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/1972
Abstract: Service Learning has dramatically increased its impact on the American educational scene during the past few years, and new practitioners are quickly adopting the methods of integrating traditional classroom based instruction and community service. As might be expected of practitioners, our practices are strong but our theory is sometimes found to be wanting. We have tinkered with methods to perfect practices without understanding the philosophical, psychological and social mechanisms that ungergrid our practices. For two decades, we have been drawing largely on Dewey, Kolb and Freire for theoretical support for our work. This paper suggests additional theoretical perspectives drawn largely from cognitive psychology and social theory. A number of constructs will be presented including concept formation, selective perception, categorization, critical reflection and meditated learning, each of which helps to explain the transformational nature of experiential education, as well as provide intellectual support for what are currently recognized as "best practices."

Cummings, K.C. (2000). John Dewey and the rebuilding of urban community: Engaging undergraduates as neighborhood organizers. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 7, 97-108.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4240
Abstract: John Dewey's related concerns to revitalize education and to rebuild community and democracy at the local level have powerfully appealed to service-learning advocates. Yet only rarely have students been engaged directly as neighborhood organizers, a role that, from Dewey's perspective, would appear to have great educational and social promise. After exploring this anomaly, this paper employs Dewey's understanding of democracy to analyze one program which has succeeded in making widespread use of college students as front-line organizers. The complementarity between what students do in their neighborhood target sites and what happens within the classroom generates the extraordinary potential of this service-learning activity.

Deans, T. (1999). Service-learning in two keys: Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy in relation to John Dewey's pragmatism. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 6, 5-29.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4563
Abstract: The author, from Kansas State University, compares the educational and philosophical theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire, articulating how each deals with two key relationships: action to reflection, and individual to society. While Dewey and Freire largely overlap in their theories of experiential learning, they depart on the larger ideological purposes of education, with Freire more inviting of critical reflection on race, class, and power. After a discussion of each theorist, the author illustrates the implications of Deweyan and Freirean philosophical frameworks for service-learning pedagogy, using two college writing courses as examples.

Giles, D.E., Jr., & Eyler, J. (1994). Theoretical roots of service learning in John Dewey: Toward a theory of service learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall, 77-85.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/2383
Abstract: As interest service-learning research multiples, there is a concomitant need for a theoretical base for service learning. In this article the authors review aspects of John Dewey's educational and social philosophy that they identify as relevant to the development of a theory of service learning including learning form experience, reflective activity, citizenship, community, and democracy. The article concludes with a set of key questions for research and theory development.

Liu, G. (1995). Knowledge, foundations, and discourse: Philisophical support for service learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall, 5-18.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/2943
Abstract: For some time now advocates of service-learning in higher education have been arguing for a change in pedagogy without the support of arguments for a change in epistemology. However, if we wish to rethink the way we teach and learn, then we need to rethink the way we know. This article is an effort to support service-learning pedagogy as the level of philosophy. The author describes and critiques the theory of knowledge that undergrids conventional pedagogy in higher education. He then presents pragmatism as an alternative epistemology that illuminates the contextual nature of knowledge and that affirms community, diversity, and engagement as pedagogical virtues. He concludes with brief comments on the significance and limitations of philosophical inquiry for advancing service-learning as a pedagogy and as a movement. (author)

Richman, K.A. (1996). Epistemology, communities and experts: A response to Goodwin Liu. Michigan Journal of Service Learning, Fall, 5-12.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/3431
Abstract: This paper responds to Goodwin Liu's argument in Volume II of this journal that a pedagogy must be supported by an appropriate theory of knowledge, and that the epistemology which best supports the service-learning pedagogy is anti foundational pragmatism. The author then extends Liu's argument by indicating the limits to what the appropriately modified epistemological support will sanction. These limits are shown to be more restrictive than Liu suggests. The result is an improved philosophical justification of the service-learning pedagogy and some suggestions for evaluating proposed curricula. (Author)

Other Resources

Butin, Dan. W. (2003). Of What Use Is It? Multiple Conceptualizations of Service Learning in Education. Teachers College Record, 105(9), 1674-1692.
Abstract: Service-learning has become a prominent feature of the K-16 landscape and is seen to enhance student outcomes, foster a more active citizenry, promote a “scholarship of engagement” among teachers and institutions, support a more equitable society, and reconnect schools with their communities. Yet despite (or perhaps because of) the recent expansion of service-learning theory and practice, there is ambiguity concerning basic principles and goals in the literature. The article attempts to clarify service-learning practice and theory by offering four conceptualizations of service learning: technical, cultural, political, and poststructuralist. In doing so, it has two goals: to clarify the assumptions of and implications for service learning within each perspective; and to suggest that the dissonance and synthesis across multiple perspectives offers a means of reframing some of the problems within service-learning theory and practice. The article also focuses on the limited community impact of service-learning, the limited empirical evidence for defining and articulating best practices that lead to meaningful and sustained student outcomes, and the difficulty of rigorous and authentic assessment of outcomes. The article offers a means, through multiple perspectives, of reframing and dealing with such issues.

Butin, Dan W. (Ed.). (2005). Service-Learning in Higher Education. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/6278
Abstract: This work critically examines the assumptions and implications of service-learning and offers exemplary models of practice and scholarship. It explores the limits and possibilities of teaching for social justice; it examines paramount issues of institutionalization; and it investigates issues of student resistance, student voice, and contested issues around race, class, and gender. Transformational models across the humanities and social sciences are presented and new directions for the future of service-learning are explored. By bringing together rising scholars and established experts in the field, this book offers an essential and state-of-the-art examination of the service-learning field in higher education.

Carver, R.L. (1997). Theoretical underpinnings of service learning. Theory into Practice, 36(3), 143-149.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/1891
Abstract: Introduces the range of goals that service-learning promises to achieve, noting specific principles that can help meet those goals. Information is based on a six-year study of experiential education combining academic and field research. A conceptual framework for organizing the planning, development, and evaluation of service and experiential learning is presented.

Coye, D. (1997). Ernest boyer and the new American college: Connecting the disconnects. Change, May/June, 21-29.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/2026
Abstract: Ernest Boyer is recognized for his vision of the "New American College", and ideal that incorporates service and the scholarships of application, discovery, research, teaching, and integration. The New American College has three priorities: clarifying the curriculum; connecting to the world beyond the classroom; and creating a campus community. Boyer found ways in which the New American College could develop connections where links had been lost, broken, or not yet built. (AT)

Dwight E. Giles. (1991). Dewey's Theory of Experience: Implications for Service Learning. Journal of Cooperative Education, 27(2), 87-90.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/2379
Abstract: Relates John Dewey's concepts about education and experience to service-learning. Giles suggests a dialectical interaction between service and learning, which had implications for ensuring quality in service-learning programs and for defining service- learning as a philosophy rather than as a type of program.

Furco, Andrew & Billig, Shelley H. (2002). Service-Learning: The Essence of the Pedagogy. Greenwich, CO: Information Age Publishing.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4277
Abstract: The chapters of this book focus on a broad range of topics that address a variety of research issues on service-learning in K-12 education, teacher education, and higher education. This book contains essays in three categories: theoretical issues regarding service-learning, the impacts of service-learning, and methodological approaches to studying service-learning. The chapters include: "Community Service and Service-Learning in America: The State of the Art"; "Is Service-Learning Really Better Than Community Service? A Study of High School Service Program Outcomes"; "Civil Society, Social Trust, and the Implementation of Service-Learning"; "An Application of Developmental-Contextualism to Service-Learning"; "Using Program Theory to Build and Evaluate Service-Learning Programs"; "Theories Guiding Outcomes for Action Research for Service-Learning"; "Beyond Surveys: Using the Problem Solving Interview to Assess the Impact of Service-Learning on Understanding and Critical Thinking"; "Methodological Challenges and Potential Solutions for the Incorporation of Sound Community-Based Research into Service-Learning"; "Service-Learning as Qualitative Research: Creating Curriculum from Inquiry"; "Impact of Service-Learning on Civic Attitudes and Behaviors of Middle and High School Youth: Findings from Three National Evaluations"; "Service-Learning in Teacher Education: A Consideration of Qualitative and Quantitative Outcomes"; "Adoption, Implementation, and Sustainability of K-12 Service-Learning"; and "Research Agenda for K-12 Service-Learning: A Proposal to the Field.”

Keith, Novella Zett. (Spring 2005). Community Service Learning in the Face of Globalization: Rethinking Theory and Practice. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. 11(2), 5-24.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/6392
Abstract: Globalization is a multifaceted phenomenon that does not yield easy definitions. The author examines three of its interconnected faces: neo-liberalism, time-space compression, and globalism to trace their implications for two principles of service-learning practice: reciprocity and meeting community needs. The article re-conceptualizes these two principles, concluding that interdependence is a better fit with the values and practices of the field than reciprocity; conceptions of community should emphasize difference and intersection of public and private spaces; and community needs should be defined to support citizenship action, public work, and social justice.

Korowski, D.P. (1991). Review of Dewey's theory of experience: Implications for service learning. Journal of Cooperative Education, 27(2), 91-92.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/2828
Abstract: This is a review of Dwight Giles' work, "Dewey's Theory of Experience: Implications for Service-Learning." Korowski feels that Dewey pointed researchers and practitioners towards a path of experiential education, however he left them to develop their own design posts.

Johnson, E.B. (2002). Contextual teaching and learning: What it is and why it's here to stay. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4537
Abstract: Instruction is more effective in context of meaning, as well as the prior knowledge and experience of the learner. Supporting evidence for its effectiveness is provided form psychology, neuroscience, physics, and biology. Contextual teaching and learning (CTL) consists of eight components: making connections that hold meaning, self-regulated learning, doing significant work, collaboration, critical and creative thinking, nurturing the individual. Focusing on the k-12 level, includes sections on standards, evaluation, and assessment.

Ernest A. Lynton, Ed. (1996). Metropolitan universities: An international forum: Summer 1996. Metropolitan University. (Special Issue).
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4773
Abstract: "From the Editor's Desk" by Ernest A. Lynton, "Overview" by Deborah J. Hirsch, "Naming and Framing Service to the Community", by Adam Yarmolinsky and John S. Martello, "Making the Paradigm Shift: Service Learning in Higher Education" by Drew Leder and Ilona McGuinness, "Back to the Future: From Service Learning to Strategic Academically Based Community Service" by Ira Harkavy, "Curricular Models for Service Learning" by Sandra Enos and Marie Troppe, "The Service Learner as Engaged Citizen" by Richard M. Battistani, "Serving in One's Own Community: Taking a Second Look at Our Assumptions" by Marie Kennedy and Molly Mead, "Community On and Off Campus" by Edward Zlotkowski, "Review Essay" by James A. Donovan, and "About the Authors".

McMillan (2002). The sacred and profane: Theorising knowledge reproduction processes in a service-learning curriculum. In, Service-Learning Through A Multidisciplinary Lens, S.H. Billig & A. Furco (eds.). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4689

Saltmarsh, J. (2000). Emerson's Prophesy. In, Connecting Past and Present: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in History. Ira Harkavy, Ed., Bill M. Donovan (Eds).
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/4637
Abstract: Theoretical essay looks at Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The American Scholar" Essay as a template for "grounded" scholarship which has ties to service-learning, yet has been abandoned by contemporary academic culture. Includes course description, "Individual and Community in America."

Singh, A. (1997). The Evolution of Character Education: From Hellfire and Brimstone to Constructivism. Unpublished paper, University of Texas.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/3698
Abstract: As America becomes increasingly pluralistic, the task of deciding whose values to teach, and how to best teach them, is most treacherous. A starting place for this task may be an examination of the three domains of character education: moral, political, and intellectual. This paper will explore the "essential tensions" that have historically defined these three domains. A discussion of these domains in light of current policy and practice will follow. Finally, the author will analyze constructivist service-learning, which, in the author's experience, is the character education model that bestmaximizes each domain and thoroughly acknowledges the desperation and pluralism of current American society.

Speck, Bruce W. & Hoppe, Sherry L. Hoppe (Eds.) (2004). Service-Learning: History, Theory, and Issues. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers / Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/6621
Abstract: Although service-learning programs can have diverse theoretical roots, faculty who engage their students in service-learning may not be cognizant of alternatives to the one they adopt. This book presents not only a historical perspective, but it also debates the theories and issues surrounding the conflicts inherent in those theories. One theory, based on a philanthropic model, engages students in a commitment to serve others from a sense of gratitude for their own good fortunes or from a desire to "give back" to communities from which they have benefited. Typically, service-learning programs based on the philanthropic or communitarian models deal with the overt needs of community members. In contrast, the civic model requires deeper analysis of the various political and social issues that may be the cause of social conditions that require the help of the more fortunate. Opponents of the civic theory fear that proponents see the classroom as a forum for advancing particular political agendas, conceivably indoctrinating students to a particular view of social injustices.

Varlotta, L.E. (1997). Confronting consensus: Investigating the philosophies that have informed service learning communities. Educational Theory, 47(4).
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/3885
Abstract: Varlotta notes that there is little scholarship on the philosophical roots of service learning though some writers do explore it in relationto John Dewey's theories of knowledge and action. She notes that "community" and "justice" continually appear in components and outcomes of service learning and offers her article as a bridge between theory and practice. She writes about the relationship of community and justice within the rubrics of liberalism and communitarianism, discusses constructivist models advanced by Gutman and Friedman as related to liberalism and communitarianism, and notes that both liberalism and communitarianism, as they influence service learning, share similar found assumptions of consensual communities, notions of justice, and the rational and unified self.

Wagner, J. (1990). Beyond curricula: Helping students construct knowledge through teaching and research. New Directions for Student Services, 50, 43-53.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/3919
Abstract: Examines different kinds of activities that can provide students with opportunities for integrating community service and curricular concerns, discusses how these service-learning activities are consistent with the academic goals of higher education, and identifies the structural contradictions that are revealed through efforts to promote service-learning activities within colleges and universities. In so doing, the author uses the constructivist model of the relationship between knowledge and learning, which suggests that for students to understand their curricula they must participate in activities similar to those through which curricula are designed and implemented in the first place.

Warren, K., & Sakofs, M. (1995). Theory of experiential education: A collection of articles addressing the historical, social and psychological foundation of experiential education (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/resource/3938
Abstract: This anthology is a compilation of 46 articles on the foundations of experiential education previously published in the "Journal of Experiential Education." Section I covers philosophical foundations of experiential education, definitions, objectives, influences of John Dewey and Kurt Hahn, and the role of spirituality in the wilderness adventure experience. Section II examines historical foundations, including a history of the Association for Experiential Education, a profile of Kurt Hahn, change and continuity as exemplified by case study of Outward Bound, and cultural considerations in experientially based educational reform. Section III addressed psychological perspectives and issues, including the appropriate mix of experiential learning and information assimilation, the transfer of learning in adventure education internalization of learning, a Piagetian rationale for experiential education, the spiritual core of experiential education, and teaching for psychological maturity and adult effectiveness. Section IV, on social foundations, discusses racism; the contribution of cultural diversity to positive group experiences; a Native American perspective on feminist theory; sharing lesbian, gay, and bisexual life experiences; and service learning in Native communities. Section V, on theory and practice, examines the essence of experiential education, the student directed college classroom as a model for teaching experiential education theory, the design of intellectual experience, empowerment through education, a group development model for adventure education, and a stage theory approach to linking theory and practice for college student interns. Section VI discusses ethical issues related to justifying the risk of adventure activities to others, connecting ethics and group leadership, ethics and experiential education as professional practice, moral development, environmental values. Section VII reviews research on experiential education, adventure education and outdoor leadership training. Section VIII includes nine speeches and opinion pieces. A combined bibliography contains over 200 references. Includes author profiles and an index of original publication dates.