Learning by Serving

By Robert Schroeder

It's an idea more than a century old, but a concept that is just becoming a growing trend in schools.

In the early 20th century, progressive education theorist John Dewey championed learning by experience, a concept defined today as service learning.  With growing emphasis on meeting state and Common Core standards, National Louis University's Virginia Jagla, Ph.D., associate professor in the National College of Education, says the effectiveness of service learning has never been greater.

Her chapter, "Service Learning Linked to Standards for a Successful Middle School Experience" in the collected work "Keeping Middle Schools Successful" details how Field Middle School in Northbrook succeeds with 100 percent involvement in service learning.

"Some schools call something service learning when in effect it is really community service," Jagla said. "That is good in and of itself, but as we have so few hours with students in schools, we want them to be able to learn through the project."

Jagla's research detailed numerous service learning programs in the school.  Most notably, the school's original service learning outreach pairs students with local senior citizens in a computer tutoring program.  Students provide instruction in using email and the basics of word processing.  The skills students learn are often intangible but critical to personal development.  Jagla notes students she observed developed self-confidence through a teaching role and patience working with new learners.

"They are so intent on providing the service and finishing the project, it gets ingrained in them because of the engagement," Jagla said. "It gives them a sense of well-being and accomplishing something instead of learning it for a test."

Therein lies the chief argument in favor of service learning.  For advocates like Jagla, by-the-book teach-to-the-test instruction does not provide the same level of engagement as hands-on, experiential learning.  Jagla argues that service learning can meet state and Common Core requirements; the Common Core's emphasis on creativity and 21st century learning skills fit neatly with service learning's focus.  She describes the concept as simply a different pedagogical way of looking at teaching.

Enveloping service learning into curriculum requires a time investment, a challenge for overworked teachers and administrators pushing for results.  Jagla notes that project-based instruction often needs to be tailored to fit the individual needs of students; the results can be "a little messy" as a classroom disperses into disparate individual or small group activities.  Her key is to allow teachers to have the time to experiment and find the right approach to fit their students.

"When you have highly engaged students, and when you have full engagement, you usually have understanding," Jagla said. "We need a lot more work and understanding on the part of teachers as to what service learning really is and what it involves."