Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2003
Abstract
At its heart, service learning is a form of experiential learning that employs service as its modus operandi. Fundamentally, to engage effectively in service learning, teachers go beyond the basic requirements of their academic instructional role in the classroom with no additional monetary reward or compensation when service learning is not mandated. This research examines the overarching hypothesis that specific attitudes are present in a successful implementation of school wide service learning, and that the extant attitudes exist as a byproduct of the conscious choice made by teachers. This research explored classroom teacher participation in service learning projects, as it relates to the tendency to collaborate, service learning recruitment, professional responsibility and perceived support for service learning. A finding of this work implies that a teacher’s discretionary choice to implement service learning projects has a strong relationship with the elements of how teachers were recruited into the service learning sphere and it is mediated by volunteerism in school. There are also significant relationships between service learning recruitment and teacher participation in school activities. The relationship between professional responsibility and community activity participation is also mediated by volunteerism in school. One hundred seventy-three teachers in five schools in the State of Ohio recognized for school wide service learning implementation completed an anonymous survey. Respondents at all levels of service learning participation were able to provide a sense of the attitudes that support successful school wide implementation. As essentially unpaid volunteers in the workplace, teachers engaged in service learning indicate their willingness to help others and be involved in a supportive role through an experiential learning encounter for their students. The positive relationship to personal recruitment of individual teachers implies that school leadership needs to make an investment in resources and organizational development that support collegial relationships among teachers engaged in service learning projects. Service learning places emphasis on diversity and pluralism that leads to empowerment in a time of social and socio-economic difficulty. It helps teachers and students understand and appreciate the values of volunteerism, while underscoring the need for, and benefit of, democratic citizenship behaviors.
Keywords
learning
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Mintz, Patricia J., "Teacher Perceptions On Implementing School Wide Service Learning" (2003). Student Scholarship. 420.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/420