Service Learning at Western

London Council for Adult Education

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007

Stephanie Hayne & Rich SwamiNathan

What is Service-Learning?

• Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in structured activities that are intentionally designed to enhance student learning and civic responsibility, while addressing community needs.

– Western Service Learning Committee

What is Service Learning?

• Effective service-learning programs help students connect real-life experience to more theoretical classroom study and develop their individual values, sense of social responsibility and leadership skills. Canadian Association for Community Service-Learning

Benefits for Students:• Increases understanding of social problems

• Strengthens sense of civic responsibility

• Heightens understanding of human difference and commonality

Benefits of Service-Learning for Western: • Contributes to Western’s outreach efforts

• Allows for the development of positive relationships with the community

• Maintains Western as a leader in quality education

Benefits of Service-Learning for the Community:• Provides assistance to broaden delivery of services

• Allows for fresh approaches too solving problems

• Creates an opportunity to participate in the teaching and learning process

What are the benefits?

What are the benefits?

“…it is not nearly enough to teach students how the world is. We must also encourage them to think about how it ought to be. Without some hope for a better world, it is all too easy to think only of oneself and all too easy to leave the responsibilities of citizenship to others.”

Harriger & Ford, 1989

Western’s Strategic Plan:Engaging the Future

• “We seek to provide our students with a preparation for their future lives, which involves education, training, and sensitivity to issues of ethics, social justice and the individual's responsibilities to a larger society.”

• “Increasingly, traditional face-to-face instruction is augmented with a broad spectrum of on-line instruction, field projects, and service learning experiences. “

Western’s Strategic Plan:Engaging the Future

• 2.6 - Support and facilitate development of programs that integrate classroom study with community engagement and service. This will include a special role for the Teaching Support Centre in identifying best practices at Western and promoting their wider use.

• 2.7 - Emphasize the importance of broad experience outside the classroom for all our students, recognizing that these activities build the leadership capacity which characterizes Western graduates.

Co-curricular Service Learning

westernserves.uwo.ca

• 300 students, faculty and staff participants

• 23 London non-profit agencies

• 4 hours of service

• 1 hour reflection

Co-curricular Service Learning

“Western Serves gave me the opportunity to give back to the London community, meet a lot of incredible people and discover many other ways to get involved here in London. The service aspect of the day provided the opportunity to make a small difference in the community, while the reflections helped me discover how working to better your local community can have an impact on a much larger scale.”

~ 2007 Participant

Co-curricular Service Learning

asb.uwo.ca

• 6th year of the program

• 7 different service learning experiences

• faculty/staff team leaders

• upper year student leaders

• 190 student participants

Co-curricular Service Learning

“Specific to my degree, (ASB) gave me a real world perspective to many concepts we discuss in Health Sciences. It has encouraged me to explore facets of university and courses I would not have considered otherwise. It has changed some of my goals…and confirmed others.”

~ 2006 Participant

Service Learning and Adult Education

Benefits (from students):

• Personal growth * Self esteem

• Practical experience* Aware of diversity

• Changed world view* Resume building

And…

• Community organizations are glad to have the expertise adult learners bring to a project

• There are opportunities for continued involvement in the community (adults are less transient than students)

Service Learning and Adult Education

Challenges (from students):

• Finding time to do the service in addition to class time and part/full-time jobs

• Arranging for childcare

• Transportation to and from placement

• Lack of training from community agency

• Lack of awareness of SL component in course

The Learning in Service Learning

“All learning begins with experience, but not all experiences generate learning.” ~ Dewey

“Theory must be tested by action in order to complete the learning and discover how our understanding matches reality.” ~ Zull

“Critical reflections on assumptions can lead to transformative learning.” ~ Mezirow

QUESTIONS?

Rich SwamiNathanCentre for New Students

rswamin2@uwo.ca

Stephanie HayneResidence Life

shayne@housing.uwo.ca