Service learning and parks and recreation education - Society of Park and Recreation Educators

Parks & Recreation, April, 2003 by Nancy Brattain Rogers

Over the last several years, institutions of higher learning and their professional associations have embraced the use of service learning and civic engagement as a means of enhancing student learning, improving liberal arts education and preparing students to address complex social issues. Yet as this worthwhile practice continues to grow, program evaluations have shown that guidelines are needed to be sure that both the student and community benefit.

Avoid the "do-gooder" approach to service experiences, Charity projects that are based on the belief that we must give handouts to the needy reinforce stereotypes of superiority and inferiority. To offset this issue, make sure students are involved in program planning with agency staff, not just the final service stage. High-quality student service programs allow students to work with members of the communities they serve to develop programs that meet community needs. It's also critical to find agency staff willing to engage in this process.

Create experiences that allow students to have a real impact. Often students may not believe they're making an impact because they don't know how their project fits into the ongoing work of the agency. One of my students recently spent several hours working at our local senior center. Initially, he was concerned about the amount of physical labor (painting, moving furniture, making minor repairs, etc.) that he was asked to do. After the director spent time with him reviewing budget constraints and identifying inadequacies in the facility, he thought that his work was so important that he continued to volunteer for the remainder of the year and devised a plan for recruiting additional volunteers from the university. Outcomes of such experiences include improved tolerance of diverse clients and co-workers, increased respect for agency staff and improved learning.

Create meaningful opportunities for reflection. Students often provide reports regarding their service work, but these reports generally just cover their activity during the work, and don't include reflection and analysis of the process. Instead, have students document their initial expectations so that they can later reflect on how their beliefs have been impacted by the experience. Throughout the project, students should have opportunities to link their experiences with classroom material. These linkages can reflect content from major courses, as well as general education or liberal arts courses. Encourage students to consider to what degree are goals being met. How well are we succeeding? What are they learning from this experience? What's going well and why? What could have gone better and why? How would we do it differently? What roles are involved in the project? What can we learn from looking at our roles and our individual efforts?

Reflection activities, regardless of form and content, are the link between service and learning. Without meaningful reflection, service assignments and projects are little more than volunteer work. Parks and recreation educators have a fine tradition of creating effective service experiences for students. Continued evaluation and development of this tradition will help ensure that our academic programs prepare students adequately for the challenges of the 21st century.--Nancy Brattain Rogers, Associate Professor, Indiana State University