Is ENG W397 Service Learning?

After our class discussion about whether or not the Writing Center Theory and Practice course (ENG W397) is a service learning course, I e-mailed Sara (that is, Dr. Webb-Sunderhaus) to get her input. She agreed that the Writing Center Theory and Practice course is not a service learning course because it is job-training. She went on to say that "Service to others--unpaid work--is not part of the course curriculum."

Sara did say that with a "generous interpretation," a person could argue that the Writing Center's clients benefit from the service, but still the consultants are paid for their work so it's not exactly service learning. She explained, "There just isn't the voluntary contribution to a community partner in 397." Of course, then a person could argue whether or not service learning is voluntary because it is typically required as part of the course curriculum. Either way, I don't think that ENG W397 could be considered a service learning course.

Sara also brought up something about service learning that we haven't talked about in much detail in class (although Suzanne has mentioned it, I believe): the work that is required for a professor or instructor in order to facilitate service learning in a course. Sara mentioned the following professor/instructor responsibilities: "do the planning, find a community partner, deal with liability issues, etc." I can understand why some professors or instructors might not want to have a service learning component in their courses; it take more time and effort than simply having students write papers and take tests.

Finally, Sara gave me a link to a service learning website with the following definition of service learning, which I thought we could add to our ever-expanding collection:

Service-learning combines service objectives with learning objectives with their intent that the activity will change both the recipient and the provider of the service. This is accomplished by combining service tasks with structured opportunities that link the task to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the acquisition and comprehension of values, skills, and knowledge content.