Integrating Service Learning

Before deciding where I wanted to do my service learning, I knew I wanted to do something that had some relevance to my degree that I will be receiving in healthcare management. I was eager to gain more experience and become more knowledgeable of how an organization operates as it relates to healthcare management. I was able to secure an opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. After completing the required VA forms, I got partnered with Mr. Alonzo Price Jr. who is a Management Analyst in Ambulatory Care, which is the department that oversees the Primary Care Providers.

In the assigned article entitled “Why Service Learning” by Bruce W. Speck, it provides great insight as to why we need to engage in service learning. This article focused on the questions that were like the reasoning behind service learning and how does it benefit the student. One definition in the article that stood out to me was service learning being defined as a pedagogy that fosters the development of skills and knowledge needed for participation in public life. This was prevalent because it allows the student to network with others outside of the community while giving back. Service learning was created to get away from the traditional way of learning while implementing a new learning system.

Assistant Professor of Education, Dan Butin, asserts in his essay " Service- Learning is Dangerous" that service-learning is dangerous because it forces the focus of education outside of the classroom and challenges pre-existing notions of what higher education entails and how it is structured. He suggests that it should be more than just a course, but should be the course itself. He also contends that service-learning is able to provoke the student to question who they are and what they believe. It is able to combine conventional education with life experience for a more rounded approach to educating.

In the summer of 2014, I started as a volunteer tutor for the Youth Tutoring Program

Before commencing service learning, I had a number of misconceptions towards people with disabilities. Before volunteering, I had a lack of understanding, viewing people with disabilities as dependent and in need of constant help. Another misconception towards people with disabilities was focusing on the person’s lack of ability rather than the individual which consequently resulted in a one-dimensional outlook towards people with disabilities. Reflecting upon these views, I am appalled with these naive and prejudice

Service Learning is an educational strategy set in place to enlighten students with instruction and experience, in addition to improve learning , teach responsibility, and support the community. Service learning is vital to the development of the student, given that it intertwines academic and personal development together. It is aimed to enhance a student’s learning in all aspects of life.

The service learning project for ForKids organization was organized to analyze the existing data and information concerning the performance of the beyond-the-bell (BTB) tutoring program. During the semester-long project working for ForKids, I observed and now better understand the best practices of nonprofit organizations. Additionally, although most best practices are universal in nature, there must be considerations for the unique characteristics of a nonprofit organization such as organization culture and the community it serves.

The purpose of the service learning activity is to experience community service and feel more connected to the community, Edgewater. When I am able to reach out to my community members, specifically older adults, I believe I will be able to address their needs as well as contribute myself to provide them the essential services they want/need in their surroundings. Also, as a part of the course “Aging in America,” my goal is to be familiar with the different aspects of Aging in America such as demographics, aging and ageism, gerontology, and healthcare workforce. Upon completion of this service learning as well as this course, I want to be able to demonstrate the aging process, describe the theories of aging, and appreciate the multidisciplinary

If I could do a service learning project I would do an adoption event for cats and dogs, I chose this because a lot of people love animals and I think a lot of people would love to help with this sort of event. Also there are a lot of animals out there that need homes and they absolutely do not deserve to be put down so it’s really important. I think personally talking to people would be the best way to get them involved, possibly having a presentation so more people can focus on you and listen to what you have to say would also work.

The $100 solution is a service learning model that institutionalizes community development. This solution is meant to encourage students from all grades and age ranges, to interact with people in their community and create sustainable projects to make their community better.

Throughout my service learning, I have mainly experienced working with children, at all different levels of skill set. There are several children in my classroom, who have Individualized Education Programs (IEP). I have worked with most of these particular students in small groups. One student I have spent a quality amount of time with is recovering from a serious brain injury. Although, my assistance has also been provided to all the students through teaching lessons and reading to the classroom. Thus, my service learning experience, has consists mainly of differentiating approaches, in order to provide support to students with a vast range of ability.

A service-learning project is designed to have some kind of lasting effect on a community. Nursing schools have begun encouraging students to do service-learning project in order to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree or simply a BSN. These projects can range from teaching a class to helping future nursing students. Regardless of what is chosen, the nursing students in my class have started to make an impact on the community. This paper is directed towards talking about my own service-learning project.

Service-Learning is a way of teaching and learning. It is a great opportunity to involve in community service activities and to apply the experience to the academic and personal development.

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

Service learning is something that will be beneficial for me as a future educator. Service learning provides me the opportunity to take what I’m learning in the classroom and implement it. I had the opportunity to experience this at Watson Elementary school with Ms. Sherri Mccune. Ms. Mccune works with K-2 students who are struggling in the areas of math and reading. When I began my service learning Ms. Mccune, explained how she uses IEP’s with many of her students. According to Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education textbook, IEP’s our, “ Is the legal document that describes the educational services a student receives” (Hallahan, Kauffman & Pullen, 2012, p.28). Ms. Mccune explained to me how she has to meet with all of her students parents and go through a plan of action for their child. I found this to be beneficial for me as a student to learn from her while she was working on one. When I learn in a classroom I like to apply what I’m learning, so I can fully understand what is being taught.