Service-Learning as Social Education

Service-learning is a pedagogical process that actively involves students in social analysis, social criticism and social participation. This effort is not community service - which all too often conveys the impression of rather forcefully providing cheap, low skill, manual labour for less-than-affluent communities (Institute for Justice, 1994). This effort is not charity - which all too often appears to perpetuate stereotypes, to provide the elite with a false sense of altruism, and to inflict upon the disenfranchised a reinforced sense of despair (Freire, 1964). Rather, service-learning encourages students to speak in their own voice, to research authentic social needs, to be advocates for their social interests, and to serve their communities in the pursuit of social justice. This article examines one methodology that links service-learning to social education.