Service Learning: Meeting the Needs of Youth At Risk

Service-learning has been found to be a potentially powerful dropout prevention tool. Service-learning combines community service with learning activities. First, participating students must be engaged in significant, well planned, genuine service. Second, they must reflect on their experiences of serving others to ensure a complete learning experience. These requirements are vital to a successful service-learning experience. Many favorable outcomes occur in each of the following developmental areas through participation in service-learning activities: personal growth; social growth; intellectual growth; citizenship; and preparation for the world of work. Service-learning can be integrated into the organizational structure of a school through four progressively complex levels of implementation: extracurricular; curricular unit; mandatory or elective courses; and school wide integration. Essential components of service-learning include preparation, action, and reflection. The service-learning continuum can be implemented at all grade levels. Research has shown that the integration of service-learning into the school curriculum is an extremely effective strategy in meeting the many developmental needs of all students. Service-learning is a teaching methodology that revitalizes the classroom and provides the kind of learning and experiences students need to lead a successful life. (ERIC)

See Service-Learning: Meeting the Needs of Youth At Risk (20th Anniversary Edition) for a new preface and an update about the current service-learning framework.