Service-Learning Curriculum

Service-learning has become a significant element of curriculum at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels. It is distinguished from community service in that service-learning is credit bearing; it involves a reciprocity between those serving and those being served to satisfy an identified community need, either at home or abroad; and it is integrated into the curriculum content area. Service-learning is important to the field of curriculum studies because of its link between theory and practice, and the opportunity it affords to examine the cultural, political, and social underpinnings that influence the lived experiences of those served. A look at service-learning involves an examination of the potential it holds, as well as the obstacles sometimes encountered, for linking theory to practice; the role of collaboration between ...