What is Service-Learning?

Introduction

Many of you may have done voluntary work or community service in secondary school, for example:

selling flags to help raise money for charity on Saturday mornings,
visiting elderly people in nursing homes or sick children in hospital, or
doing unpaid work for charity organisations.

But do these activities qualify as Service-Learning?

In this Unit, we will examine what constitutes Service-Learning, and how it differs from other forms of service activities. We will also look at some questions about Service-Learning frequently asked by students.

Definition of Service-Learning

“Service-Learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts of service-learning”

(Jacoby, 1996).

Service-learning is a “course-based, credit-bearing educational experience that allows students to (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility”

(Bringle & Hatcher, 1995, p. 112).

“Service learning is a teaching method which combines community service with academic instruction as it focuses on critical, reflective thinking and civic responsibility. Service learning programs involve students in organized community service that addresses local needs, while developing their academic skills, sense of civic responsibility and commitment to the community”

(Campus Compact National Center for Community Colleges).

Types of Service-Learning Projects

The types of Service-Learning projects you may carry out may entail direct and/or indirect services.

Direct Service

Provides activities that directly serve the community in need
The interactions are person-to-person and face-to-face
Usually requires students to provide services at recipients’ location
More effective in nurturing sense of empathy with people in need

Examples: tutoring children in low-income families, building bridges for remote villages, health education for underprivileged communities

Indirect Service

Provides civic engagement activities that indirectly serve the community or an underprivileged group
Usually requires students to play meaningful parts within community partners’ programmes
Through indirect service, students can appropriately contribute to the service agency to identify problems, and develop and implement solutions

Examples: developing proposals for community improvements, community-based research, raising awareness or advocacy for social justice

Service-Learning vs. Other Types of Service Activities

To understand better what service-learning is and is not, it is probably easiest to compare it with some similar educational activities. Furco (1996) pointed out that there are different types of service programmes – volunteerism, community service, service-learning, field education and internship – that can be distinguished by two dimensions:

the intended beneficiary of the service activity, and
the primary focus of the activity in terms of their relative emphasis on service and/or learning.

Types of Service Programme	Intended Beneficiary	Primary Focus
Volunteerism	Service recipient	The service provided
Community Service	Primarily the service recipient, but the student (as a provider) also receives some benefits in learning	The service provided, which generally involves more structure and student commitment
Internship	Service provider (student)	Providing students with hands-on learning experiences that enhance their learning or understanding of issues relevant to a particular area of study
Field Education(Practicum)	Service provider (student), but also with a strong intention to benefit the service recipient	Maximising student learning in a field of study via co-curricular service opportunities that are related but not fully integrated with their formal academic studies, and with substantial emphasis on the service being provided
Service-Learning	Intention to benefit both the provider (student) and the recipient of the service	Equal focus on both the service being provided and the learning that is occurring

Experiential Learning

By now, you probably realise that Service-Learning is quite different from the more conventional teaching and learning methods, such as lectures and seminars. Indeed, Service-Learning falls into an educational approach category called experiential learning. Unlike conventional teaching, which normally takes place in the classroom or laboratory, experiential learning immerses students in an experience that has been designed intentionally to reinforce the learning outcomes. Under this approach, students are expected to learn by doing.

Service-Learning FAQs

Is Service-Learning just about volunteering?

This is certainly not true. Volunteering is an altruistic activity where you provide services or help other people willingly and without being forced or paid. While it is a good thing to do, the focus is on helping others and there is very little intentional learning for you from the experience. Service-learning, on the other hand, is an integration of academic study with meaningful services with clearly-defined learning objectives and outcomes. It intends to benefit both you and the community being served. You are expected to critically reflect on, and learn from, the experience.

Is Service-Learning time-consuming?

Different Service-Learning projects have different requirements, will serve different communities, and will likely take a different amount of time. The amount of time each Service-Learning project takes will depend a lot on the requirements of the subject, of the community partner organisation, and on how much you are prepared to be involved.

As with all other subjects, if you only put in the minimum effort, then there will not be as much time required. However, since you are working with a group outside your university, often an under-privileged group, it is important to make sure that you are putting enough effort in to deliver the service required. Unlike other university subjects, it will not only be you that suffers if you try to cut corners.

While some Service-Learning projects may require more time, more effort, or more resources, than other university subjects, they are a unique opportunity for you to see how the knowledge and skills you learn in class are useful in the wider world. This helps to solidify your understanding and can add far more to your skill-set than other forms of learning.

Do students learn much from Service-Learning?

In Service-Learning subjects, you learn in a different way. Most of the learning takes place through experiencing and then reflecting upon your experiences. This is obviously a very different way of learning than in regular subjects.

However, it is important to know that this kind of learning is more like the way you would learn when you go out to work! There will be no lectures or tutorials when you are in the workplace. Rather, you will learn by doing, watching other people, and comparing what you did to what you would like to be able to accomplish. So Service-Learning is giving you a sense of how you will need to learn when you leave school!

Do extroverted and outspoken students perform better in Service-Learning?

There is a perception that students who are more outgoing or outspoken will perform better in Service-Learning. In our experience, this may not be the case. We often see quiet, unassuming students who step up and take on significant responsibilities in service projects. Sometimes, it is those students who make the best observations and reflections!

Is there much to learn from the service recipients?

Absolutely yes. You will almost certainly be working with people from a different social, economic, generational, linguistic, or other background. Even though they are lacking in some part of their life (and that is where you are helping to meet their needs), that does not mean that they are inferior to you. In fact, in many aspects of their life, they probably demonstrate more resilience, more wisdom, and better emotional health than you do. They also probably have skills that you do not. Keep an open mind, interact respectfully and humbly, and you will find that there is a lot that you can learn from them.

Do we learn less from Service-Learning projects which are conducted locally?

Our experience is that this is not true. Although international and local service-learning projects may differ quite a lot in terms of their service locations, service recipients, and culture and contexts, they are equally beneficial to your learning because both of them require you to work with people from different backgrounds, understand the served community and problems it faces, and apply your knowledge and skills to deal with complex issues in the service setting. You will learn a lot from the service experience, no matter whether it is a local or an international one.

Summary

Service-Learning is an experiential learning pedagogy that integrates meaningful community service with academic study and reflection to enrich students’ learning experiences.
Service experience, academic learning and reflection are the three main components of Service-Learning.
A good Service-Learning course puts equal emphasis on service and learning, and benefits both the students and the service recipients.
To benefit the most from the experience, you should go through the 4 stages of an experiential learning cycle systematically: Do/Act (concrete experience), Reflect (reflective observation), Think (abstract conceptualisation), and Apply (active experimentation).
There are certain misunderstandings about Service-Learning that we should be aware of.

Benefits of Service-Learning

Culture, technology, society, and almost all other human traits tend to change over time. The world today is not the same as it was 20-30 years ago. As a result, the key skills and competencies that people need to be productive at any given time change drastically over time. Think about the key skills people would have needed in your parents’ generation.

The 6 Cs of 21st Century Competencies

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (a coalition of business, education, and government leaders in the United States) suggests that in addition to strong content mastery, students also need to possess the following “Four Cs” in order to compete and excel in college, work and life in this global society.

To increase your competitiveness in a globalised job market and empower you to become a proactive contributor to a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable world, you need to develop yourself into a global citizen with two additional Cs:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Effectively analyse; and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims, and beliefs;
Synthesise and make connections between information
and arguments;
Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis; and Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes;

Communication

Listen effectively;
Express thoughts and ideas clearly;
Use communication for a range of purposes; and
Communicate effectively in diverse environments.

Collaboration

Work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams;
Be flexible and willing to make necessary compromises to achieve a common goal; and
Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work, and
value the contributions made by each team member.

Creativity and Innovation

Use a variety of techniques to create new and worthwhile ideas;
Elaborate, refine, analyse, and evaluate original
ideas to improve and maximise creative efforts;
Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work; and
Implement creative ideas or innovations and learn from the experience.

Cross-Cultural Competencies

Be eager to learn and explore different cultures;
Be aware of and sensitive to cultural differences;
Adapt or modify thoughts and behaviours in response to cross-cultural environments; and
Communicate and collaborate effectively with culturally diverse groups.

Civic Responsibility and Engagement

Understand rights and responsibilities of citizenship;
Develop empathy for people in need;
Be committed to contribute to a better society; and
Engage in local and/or global activities to achieve the common good

Keep in mind

Remember, however, that taking part in the Service-Learning subject and project alone will not automatically enhance the knowledge, skills or attitudes that you would like to learn from the experience. To learn the most from Service-Learning, you have to reflect diligently and systematically on what you have learnt, what you have experienced, how they relate, and what you will do in the future as a result of your considerations (Act/Do – Reflect – Theorise – Apply). Furthermore, you will need to adopt a proper attitude toward service, and to act responsibly and ethically.

Act/Do

Concrete Experience

Reflect

Reflective Observation

Theorise

Abstract Conceptualization

Apply

Active Experimentation

Benefits of Service-Learning to the Community

Improved services for the community

The effort and resources given by students, faculty and staff in Service-Learning will provide additional human and material resources for the community partners to:

Strengthen their existing services
Serve more clients
Infuse new energy, enthusiasm, knowledge and creativity into the services
Provide new services that they were previously unable to do so
Improve the quality and outcomes of their services

Community empowerment

The services, under the guidance and support of university faculty and staff, will empower the community through:

New perspectives, insights and knowledge
Affordable professional development for community partners
Community-based action research
Enhanced relationship with and access to university resources
Networking with other agencies or organisations
Increased public awareness and visibility of the agency’s work

Summary

Let us recap the main points of this unit:

To succeed in life and work in the 21st century, we need to develop the following six Cs:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creativity and innovation
- Cross-cultural competencies, and
- Civic responsibility and engagement
Service-Learning is an effective educational strategy for developing the Six Cs.
Service-Learning benefits both the students and the community.
The major benefits of SL to students include:
- deeper understanding of the course materials
- enhanced ability to apply knowledge and skills to deal with real-life complex problems
- better understanding and awareness of social issues or problems
- improved generic competencies in communication, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and independent learning
- increased sense of social responsibility and empathy for people in need

Service-Learning benefits the community because it will lead to improved services and community empowerment

Responsibilities, Attitudes, and Ethics

Roles and Responsibilities in Service-Learning

In a Service-Learning subject, three parties will be involved actively in the planning and delivery of the service project, i.e. you (student), the subject leader/course instructor, and the community partner. Each of these has specific roles and responsibilities for achieving the learning outcomes of a Service-Learning subject or programme.

Students

When you participate in a Service-Learning project, you are responsible for not only your own learning from the subject, but also the well-being of your service recipients. You should act responsibly and make your utmost effort to protect your clients and provide the best service for them, under the supervision and guidance of your course instructor and the community partner.

Your specific roles and responsibilities include:

Participating actively in lectures, tutorials and/or workshops, consultation and reflective sessions, and community service activities.
Applying knowledge and skills to plan and implement a service that benefits the community.
Behaving professionally, following the instructions and guidelines given by your course instructor and community partner in completing all tasks.
Protecting the well-being of the people you serve.
Conducting the service activities diligently and to the best of your ability.
Demonstrating your learning from the service experience.

Course Instructor

The course instructor is usually an academic or teaching staff member. He/she is responsible for developing and delivering a good Service-Learning subject or project that integrates vigorous academic study with meaningful service to benefit both the students and the community.

His/her more specific roles and responsibilities include:

Designing and delivering lectures, tutorials or workshops, etc. to equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for the service.
Identifying and collaborating with appropriate community partners to design community service or engagement activities that match the intended learning outcomes.
Advising, supervising, and monitoring students’ performance in service to protect the well-being of the students and the service recipients.
Providing adequate and structured opportunities for students to reflect on their service experience.
Assessing students’ performance and learning from the service in a fair and valid manner.
Monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning of the subject on a regular basis, and make continual improvements based on the evaluation results.

Community Partner

The community partner is responsible for liaising closely with the course instructor, and providing guidance and support for students as required. In some cases, their staffs are also involved in supervising students in carrying out their service plans.

The specific roles and responsibilities include:

Identifying service activities that foster students’ learning and address a genuine need of the community.
Facilitating students’ understanding of the local community and the service users through briefings, discussions, or referring them to relevant materials and key informants.
Providing advice, suggestions, and support for students in service planning and delivery.
Helping the course instructor identify potential risks and assisting in the implementation of risk-management plans to safeguard the safety and well-being of the students as well as the people they serve.
Providing feedback on the quality and impact of the service, and suggestions on how it might be improved.

Developing a Right Attitude towards Service & Learning

As a student taking part in Service-Learning, you are responsible to both:

your clients - (e.g. the service recipients), for the quality of service they receive from you;
yourself as a learner - for your own learning gained through planning and delivering the service.

It is very important that you develop a right attitude towards your service and learning, as what you do affect not only your own learning but also the well-being of those you serve. Furthermore, Service-Learning is rather new and challenging to most of you. You will invariably encounter some problems or difficulties in the process, and you may feel frustrated or stressed at times. But with a right attitude, you will be able to persist despite the challenges, conduct your service successfully, serve your clients well, and learn a lot from the process.

The 7 Key Attitudes of a Good Service-Learner

Do no harm

The community or people whom you are working with in your Service-Learning project are real people, with real feelings, identities, and relationships. That means that whatever you do has a real impact and a real consequence. Therefore, it is our responsibility to make sure that we would not inadvertently harm them in some way!

One of the ways in which students often unintentionally cause harm during Service-Learning is through social media! Yes, Instagram or Facebook. Everybody likes taking selfies with people, and sharing them with friends through social media. So it’s very natural, when we are on a service project, to take selfies with the people whom we are working with, and share them onto social media. Yet, when we do that, we need to be mindful about (1) the privacy of the other person, and (2) the way that we portray them. For example, imagine that you are working on a project with juvenile delinquents. Supposing that you took a selfie with one of them, shared “this is the kid whom I have been working with this week”, and in another post talked about how “excited you are to be working with juvenile ex-offenders”. Now imagine that the kid interviews for a summer job, but the employer just happens to have seen your social media page, and decides not to offer the kid a position.

That’s the reason why some NGOs won’t even allow photo taking on their sites.

Another, more subtle, way of causing harm is by making promises you can’t keep. It is very common for students to get overwhelmed by their experience and promise “to return next year”, or some such. However, once you get back to your world, and the grind of daily life and school sets in, will you still be able to keep that promise? What if next year you get a great internship position at an international company? Would you give that up to go on service? Think hard, before you make any promises. People often take your promises to heart and believe you, and breaking your promises to them does hurt.

Serve with heart and commitment

One important thing that we want students to learn from Service-Learning is to empathise with other people, and develop a stronger sense of civic responsibility to help others and make the world a better place. You may feel that you have to do this because it’s part of a course, and you need the grade, or something like that. However, when you go on the project, think for a moment that whatever you do has a real consequence and a real impact on a real person. For a moment, try to look beyond the mercenary side that we are unfortunately too used to, especially in today’s society, and look deeper into the meaning behind the project. Try to approach the project with an altruistic purpose, from our heart, rather than “this is what I’ll do because I was told to do”. Give it your best effort, be professional, responsible, and dependable. The more you put into the project, the more you’ll get out of it. We promise.

Avoid a “saviour mentality”

Sometimes, in Service-Learning, it is very easy to get “caught up” in the moment. When people are very appreciative, or they praise the work that you have done, etc etc – it feels good. Not that there’s anything wrong with feeling good about helping people – research suggests that we are wired to feel that way, but it does have the danger of making us feel much more important than we really are!

There are no lone heroes in this world. We are not saviours, either. We have given help to people who are in need, but first, it is not like you did it yourself. A lot of preparation has to be done (think: the NGOs that you are partnering with! Your teachers who arranged for you to go!) behind the scenes! Very likely, more than you are aware of. Second, it is not like the community has no ability to help itself. People are much more resourceful and resilient than we would imagine, and whatever help we can provide them is not superior to their ability to help themselves.

On the other hand, don’t be too pessimistic or hopeless either! Sometimes, students come away from Service-Learning projects feeling that they didn’t achieve anything. Sure, you may help only in a small way, but first, that is just a beginning, and second, that is only a small part of the picture. All great movements start with a small step. Collectively, we can help to make the community or the world a better place to live!

Treat clients or service recipients with dignity and respect

Sometimes, when we are put in the position of helping others, it is unfortunately too easy to get an inflated sense of our own importance or ability. One very important thing to remember is that while your clients may need your help in certain respects, it absolutely does NOT mean that they are inferior, or that you’re better than them! Sure, there are certain areas in which you may be stronger than they are, but then, we all have areas in which we are stronger, and weaker. The people whom you work with have their own experiences, strengths and insights. Try to identify them and learn from them.

In all cases, treat the people whom you work with as equals. Give them the dignity and respect that you wish other people to give to you. Keep in mind that it’s not just you who is serving the community, but the community is also serving you and investing in you by providing this opportunity for you to learn!

Value and respect diversity

During your Service-Learning project, you will be working with real people in the real community. Now these people will probably be different from you, whether in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender orientation, mental or physical abilities, or something else.

All of us come into a situation with our own biases. These biases are formed over years of experience, but also, often, ignorance. One of the things that we want you to learn from Service-Learning is to learn about and understand the community. Learn to combat and overcome negative stereotypes and prejudice about these differences.

Be flexible and see difficulties or problems as learning opportunities

Service-Learning involves real projects taking place in real life that affect real people. As we undoubtedly know, real life is messy. It is not clean and clearly defined.

The same “mess” that is inherent in real life will inevitably affect Service-Learning projects. Just take one simple example – the weather. You may have planned for a great event for your elderly clients, only to have them not show up because the weather was horrible that way and it’s difficult (not to mention dangerous) for them to be outside. Or, you may have worked your heart out preparing for a project, only to be asked to change certain things at the last minute or to find that what you prepared was not really what your clients had in mind.

All of these things lead to frustration and stress. You may feel that your teacher did not give you clear enough guidelines. Or you may question your own ability.

However, if you think about it, we learn most from trying out things that we have not done before. In fact, many of our students reported that they learned a lot from applying their knowledge and skills to deal with the problems and overcome the various challenges and obstacles in planning and delivering their services, and expressed a strong sense of accomplishment on completing the service.

So, don’t see the difficulties or problems as obstacles but rather, valuable opportunities for you to learn! One of the things that Service-Learning wants to teach you is how to be flexible and to adapt to real-life circumstances. Move out of your comfort zone and focus on what you are learning from this experience, and doing better next time!

Focus on learning rather than grades or meeting course requirement

Many of you are taking Service-Learning for meeting a course or graduation requirement. However, as important as GPA is, your goal should not be just about getting a good grade. What is the most important is enjoying your learning experience, gaining a deeper understanding of the academic materials, earning the practical experience, and developing positive values and attitudes through reflection.

From our own experience, the best-performing students in Service-Learning were not those who were the most concerned about their grades. They were those who were motivated by their curiosity and passion for learning, and by a desire to help the community and contribute to their team. The interesting part is that they ended up getting good grades anyway!

Ethics in Service-Learning

It is specifically important in a service setting because:

service users are mostly vulnerable groups of people in the community e.g. elderly, disabled people;
you are representing your university and should help to preserve the University’s good image; and
we strive to maintain a high ethical standard in practice and to nurture you to become ethical leaders.

While Service-Learning can be helpful to the community and the service recipients, it can also be harmful as good intent does not always lead to desirable results. Furthermore, there are ethical dilemmas between Service-Learning students and the community and service recipients being served – particularly those from the underserved regions or countries, because of the inherently unequal power relationship between the “serving” and the “being served” groups.

To prevent any intention or unintentional negative impacts on the community or clients you serve, you should be fully aware of, and try your best to adhere to the following guidelines for ethical behaviours, which are considered important and applicable to most of the Service-Learning projects.

Put clients’ well-being first

Be prompt and reliable, and behave professionally in service.
Deliver the service to the best of your ability, and live up to your commitment to the community and service users.
Take responsible steps in planning and implementing your service to safeguard the safety and well-being of your service users, and minimise any potential risks such as physical injury or psychological harm to them.
Do NOT take unfair advantage of your relationship with the clients to further your own personal, religious, political, economic, or research interests.
Be sensitive to and avoid conflict of interest that may arise.
Do NOT create expectations or make promises to your clients that you would not be able to match or keep.

Protect client confidentiality

Respect your clients’ rights to privacy and protect their confidential and personal data from being disclosed, both intentionally or unintentionally
Seek clients’ consent before taking or sharing their photos or images on social media.
Avoid posting photos or images of clients from the more vulnerable groups (e.g. ex-convicts, AIDS patients, ex-child prostitutes, etc.) on social media.

Respect diversity

Seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, marital status, religion, mental or physical disabilities, etc.
Be sensitive to, and respect, the culture and value of your clients.

Reduce negative stereotypes

Treat your clients with dignity and respect.
Understand that you gain as much from the service as your clients do; think of your service as something you are ‘doing with’ instead of ‘doing for’ them.
Be careful NOT to portray your clients as ignorant, inadequate, dependent, or waiting to be ‘saved’, or do things that may perpetuate the negative stereotypes associated with them.

Summary

Dos	Don’ts
DO be fully aware of the importance of ethical, responsible and professional behaviours in a Service-Learning project.	DON’T ignore your ethical responsibilities when participating in a Service-Learning project; it ruins a good experiential learning experience.
DO be involved actively in the whole Service-Learning process and make your utmost effort to render best service to the service users.	DON’T make only minimum effort, passively wait for others to tell you what to do, or focus solely on getting a high grade.
DO develop the right attitude towards Service-Learning; it improves your service quality and makes your learning more effective.	DON’T adopt a negative attitude towards Service-Learning; it is destructive to you, and will cause stress on others around you.
DO be positive about facing problems; treat them as challenges to facilitate your personal growth.	DON’T treat problems as an unnecessary burden; it hinders your achievement and learning in the Service-Learning project.
DO respect the views of service users, observe their needs, and act ethically when delivering service.	DON’T disregard the views and needs of service users, or do harmful acts to hurt them.

Reflecting on Your Service-Learning Experience

What is Reflection?

Reflection is a key component of Service-Learning that links the academic studies with meaningful service to create new learning. But what is reflection? What does it entail, and how does it differ from other forms of thinking?

In the context of Service-Learning, reflection is more than just thinking about something. It is not a straight-forward retelling of what has happened at the service site, or a chance to vent our feelings and frustrations about ourselves, our service, or our service targets.

An active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends.

(Dewey, 1933)

A process of stepping back from an experience to ponder, carefully and persistently, its meaning to the self through the development of inferences.

(Daudelin, 1996)

An evidence-based examination of the sources of and gaps in knowledge and practice, with the intent to improve both.

(Ash and Clayton, 2009)

Key elements

What do you think are the key elements of reflection in the definitions above?

Here are the main ‘take-aways’ from the definitions as we see them:

Reflection involves the reconsideration of some past experience, concept, idea, belief, or practice based on evidence
Reflection must be active and systematic
Reflection must focus on the links between ideas, experiences, and knowledge
Reflection must focus on improvement

To conclude, reflection involves a careful and systematic re-examination of our assumptions, beliefs, perspectives, understanding, and actions in the light of the experience. It is the process in which we look back on, think critically about, and learn from the service experience.

Importance of Reflection in Service-Learning

“Reflection activities provide the bridge between the community service activities and the educational content of the course. Reflection activities direct the student’s attention to new interpretations of events and provide a means through which the community service can be studied and interpreted, much as a text is read and studied for deeper understanding.”

(Bringle & Hatcher, 1999)

“If students are going to learn from service, it will not be instant or effortless. They will be required to organise and construct their own understanding for the rich content embedded within these experiences.”

(Toole, 1995)

The two quotations above clearly show the importance of reflection in Service-Learning.

When we begin our service activities, we often bring with us some preconceived views about ourselves, the community, and the service recipients. We also have some understanding of the discipline-related knowledge and theories that we plan to apply to deal with the issues and problems in practice. However, in the process of delivering the service, we may discover that not all of our preconceptions match the reality, and that our plan does not always work as well as we have hoped in actual practice. To turn the experience into meaningful learning, we have to reflect deeply on it. This involves:

Looking back on our service experience;
Re-examining our own thoughts, assumptions, beliefs, knowledge, and actions in the light of the experience;
Constructing new meaning and knowledge from the experience; and
Applying the new knowledge and skills gained to similar situations in the future.

Through this process, you will be able to:

Identify and question your own underlying values and beliefs;
Recognise and challenge your own assumptions, stereotypes or bias about other people or culture;
Recognise your own strengths and weaknesses, and identify areas for improvement;
Develop a better understanding of the applicability of theories in practice; and
Improve your performance in future.

There are three possible focuses for your reflection in Service-Learning. You may reflect on:

The disciplinary content of the course: for example, to what extent can the concepts and theories you have learnt in class be applied in a real-life service setting? Are there any discrepancies between theory and practice, and if yes, what modifications in theory or practice are needed?
The service activities: for example, does your service plan work? What goes well and what doesn’t? How might your service be improved to produce a better outcome or a stronger impact?
Your own assumptions, values, beliefs and in particular, how you see your roles and responsibilities as a citizen: for example, to what extent are your initial assumptions, values and beliefs consistent with your service experience? Do your values and beliefs change as a result of it, and if yes, why and how? What are your strengths, and what are your weaknesses? How do you see your own role and responsibility to the society as a result of the experience?

Gibbs’ Model of Reflective Cycle

No matter what types of reflective activities you are engaged in, you need to be able to conduct a deep critical reflection of your Service-Learning experience. However, reflection is not an easy skill. You have to learn how to do it, and master it well.

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle is a simple model that has been commonly used to guide students to reflect deeply about an experience in a systematic manner. The model was developed by Professor Graham Gibbs and includes 6 stages as shown in the diagram below.

Description - What happened

At this stage, you should describe in detail the facts and events of the service experience. You should include the background information, such as the service location, recipients and activities, and tell the readers who was involved. You should also review the objectives of the service and summarise the difficulties or challenges that you faced. Be specific and relevant, and give a concise description of your experience. You can use the following questions to guide your reflection.

What did you do?
What did other people do?
What did you observe?
Who else was there?
In what ways did your team help you?
What issue was being addressed?
What were your initial expectations?
What was your role at the community site / in your team?
How were the responses from the service recipients?
How did the service end? Was the service complete or incomplete?

Feelings - Where were you thinking and feeling?

At this second stage, you should recall your emotion and express your feelings that were going on inside your head. This part is not analytical; it is descriptive in terms of personal feelings and thoughts. Some of the questions that will guide your reflection at this stage include:

How you were feeling when the event started?
How did you feel and what did you think during the experience?
How did you feel and what did you think after the experience?
Did you hear or feel anything that surprised you?
What did you think you preformed the best?
What did you like / dislike about the experiences?
How was your experience different from what you expected?
How were you feeling when you worked with your team?
Did any teammate surprise you?
Did anything about your community involvement surprise you? If so, what?
What did you think about the recipients’ situation?
What was your first impression of the recipients?

Evaluation - What was good and bad about the experience?

For the evaluation stage, you should discuss how well you think things went during the Service-Learning project. Consider what was good and what was bad about the experience and try to make a judgment about that. If a lot of different things happened during the service, focus on one or two. If you are writing about a difficult incident, did you feel that the situation was resolved afterwards? Why / why not? This section is a good place to include the theory and the knowledge that you have learnt from the lectures. Try to make a connection to the class content. If needed, remember to include references. Some guiding questions are:

What went well?
What didn’t go well?
Why didn’t your plan work?
How did you react to the situation? How did other people react?
How is the service experience connected to your academic knowledge?
What are the successful elements of your team?
Are there any improvements that could have been made to the teamwork? If so, what?
How did the service end? Was the service complete or incomplete?

Analysis - What sense can you make of the situation

At this stage of your reflection, you need to examine the experience in depth. Break down the event into its component parts and explore them separately. Focus on the causes and consequences of things that happened and explore ways to change and improve these. This part is analytical rather than descriptive. You may use the following questions to guide your analysis.

Why did your clients or teammates behave in the way they did?
Why did you behave in the way you did?
What ideas or theories are you aware of which are applicable to this situation?
Do these theories help you make more sense of what happened?
Could you use these theories to improve this aspect in the future?
What did you learn about the community that you served? And why?
What did you learn about the people that you served? And why?
What did you learn about yourself?

Conclusion - What else could you have done?

In the conclusion, sum up the key things that you have learnt through the reflective process, the main factors affecting the situation, and what to improve. You might identify new knowledge or training that is needed. Think about the following questions.

How could this have been a more positive experience for everyone involved?
How, specifically, has the community benefited?
How has your understanding of the community changed as a result of your participation in this project?
What factors may have impacted upon the clients’ views or experiences of the project?
How does this project address their needs?
Did you learn a new skill or clarify an interest?
Talk about any disappointments of successes of your project. What did you learn from these?
How do your experiences relate to your personal development?
What did you learn about your teammates?
Did you realise any shortcomings about yourself?

Action Plan - If it arose again, what would you do?

At the last stage of your reflection, you should think about what you would do to improve if you were to encounter the event again. Try to be specific about what you would plan to do, for example, improving your skills in communicating with children with special needs. The following questions are useful guides to your reflection at this stage.

What do you need to do in order to be better prepared to face this experience in the future?
Even if the experience was positive and you did well, in which areas can you improve?
What specific steps do you need to take in order to achieve the suggested improvements?
What additional skills and knowledge do you need to develop?
How could your team be improved? (e.g. work distribution, re-arrange the role during the services)
What information can you share with your peers or the community?
How can you continue your involvement with this group or social issue?

Writing for Reflection

How to Write a Good Reflection Paper

In most Service-Learning programmes, students are required to submit reflection journals to document and demonstrate their learning. It is very likely that your course instructor would ask you to do the same.

A reflective journal or paper is quite different from other kinds of academic writing. It is a paper focusing on what you think about an experience and what you have learnt from it.

To write a good reflection paper, you should not only describe what has happened during the experience but also interpret and evaluate it (for example, what works and what doesn’t work). You also have to think critically about the experience, identify the major incidents or events that have occurred, and explain how they impact your own attitudes, beliefs, values, understanding or practice. A good reflection will normally result in a significant positive change in one’s perspectives about themself or others, and/or improved knowledge and skills. However, all these must be grounded on and linked to the experience reported.

Below are some suggestions on how to write a good Service-Learning reflection paper:

Read the reflection prompts provided by your course instructor to understand clearly what Service-Learning outcomes your instructor would like you to reflect on. Should your reflection focus on your understanding of the academic content of the subject, the service, your own vales and beliefs, or a combination of those?

For each of the focuses required by your course instructor, follow Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle to go through the 6 stages of reflection systematically, jotting down brief notes in the process;

Select the most salient points to include in your reflection paper to demonstrate your learning, explaining what happened in your service experience, how it changed you, and why.

Write up your essay, using the appropriate format and style as explained below.

Remember that there is no right or wrong answers in a reflective paper. The emphasis is on how you have changed and why, rather than what.

Writing Sytle

In terms of the writing style, as reflective writing is concerned with your thoughts, it is mostly subjective. Therefore, in addition to being reflective and logical, you can be personal, hypothetical, critical and creative. You can, therefore, use a combination of different modes of writing and language:

Descriptive (outlining what something is or how something was done)
Explanatory (explaining why or how it is like that)
Expressive (I think, I feel, I believe)
Use full sentences and complete paragraphs
You can usually use personal pronouns like ‘I’, ‘my’, or ‘we’

Depth of Reflection

What distinguishes between a good and a less-than-good reflection is the extent to which you are able to include in it evidence of your thinking through all six stages of the reflective cycle, as well as the depth of your thinking and analysis.

Summary

Reflection is a core element of Service-Learning which turns students’ experiences into meaningful learning.
Reflection is an active and deliberate learning process in which students are required to look back on their experiences, make sense of and think about the experiences, construct new and deeper understanding from the experiences, and apply the new knowledge and skills to future similar situations.
Gibbs’ reflective cycle model provides a guide for systematic reflection on your SL experience through six stages: Description – Feelings – Evaluation – Analysis – Conclusion – Action Plan.
A good reflection should include evidence of your thinking through all six stages of the reflective cycle, and demonstrate deep thinking and analysis of your experience.