Teachers’ conception of reflection in service-learning (original) (raw)
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The Role of Reflection in Service Learning
Business Communication Quarterly, 2006
Abstract: Service-learning pedagogy rests on a stool of three legs: service, learning, and reflection. In this field, much has been written on service and learning, but not much has been written specifically about reflection. Given the critical role reflection plays as a bridge ...
How Reflection Enhances Learning in Service-Learning Courses
2000
This study examines the importance of structured reflection in service-learning courses. The study consisted of interviews with 15 faculty and 72 students from three different higher education institutions; interviews were conducted between October 1998 and March 1999. Focus group interviews with faculty gathered information about course design, classroom practices, and faculty perceptions of student learning. Student interviews focused on how students interpreted the service experience in relation to the course, that is, the connections between academic course material and the community work/service experience; the role reflection played in the course and in their personal and academic development; and the things they did in and out of class to help connect the service experience and the formal course content. The study found that it is essential to provide structured, intentional reflection in service-learning courses, and that reflection enhances learning by connecting the service experience to the academic course. (Contains 36 references.) (CH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015
Today, there is a growing belief among researchers and practitioners that reflection promotes students' learning and development in different ways. Despite this belief, the clear role of service-learning in enhancing learning is still debated. Although it is understood though with less clarity that reflection plays a key role in promoting learning, there is less clarity about the nature, types and practice of reflection in different contexts. There are different views on this subject from various quarters. There is much discussion in the current literature on reflection and its application in the developed world. However, less is known how reflection helps enhance students' learning in developing world context. The aim of this paper is to review the role and application of reflection in service-learning field in multiple contexts. In this regard, the paper extensively surveys works from different writers about the nature, type, models and application of reflection as a means for promoting learning. On the basis of the review of the current literature, the paper concludes that unlike conventional teaching approaches and irrespective of its contextual application and models used, reflection plays a key role in enabling students to challenge their own beliefs, test their own assumptions, create new knowledge and develop new ideas.
In this chapter, we discuss an approach for teaching pre-service teachers how to critically reflect on their experiences in a Servicelearning program in an advanced subject about inclusive education. The approach was informed by critical social theory, with the expectation that students would engage in transformational learning. By explicitly teaching the students to engage in critical reflective thinking (Fishbowl discussions) and examine the depth of their critical reflection against a heuristic (the 4Rs reflection framework), the finalyear Bachelor of Education students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and experience transformational learning. We provide contextual information about the Service-Learning program and discuss critical social theory for transformational learning, as well as how the teaching team taught critical reflection. Based on the evidence gathered from the students, we consider lessons learned by the teaching team and provide recommendations for teaching reflection in Service-learning programs.
Service Learning in Action: Integrating Reflection to Deepen the Educational Experience
Proceedings of the iConference, 2013
A constructivist learning environment perspective was applied to the potential for library science international service learning projects to provide a short term learning environment that introduces pedagogy, provides the opportunity to develop and apply new skills, energizes students to develop cultural competence, and develops reflective skills towards the pursuit of wisdom. Through the service learning experience, students are able to contribute directly to underserved communities while evolving their own cultural intelligence. The role of reflection in the service learning environment emerged as the dimension with highest significance in terms of short term educational goals of the program and long term student development as citizens of the world. Students reported that the actual experience of reflective behavior exceeded their anticipated levels of reflection at the beginning of the project. Professors reflected on the overall results in order to enrich the experience for future participants. Keywords:
Shedding light on the shadow-side of reflection in service-learning
Developmentaland cultural factors may inadvertently play a contributing role in the discomfort that occurs during service-leamingexperiences. Ironically, reflection exercisesmay actually exacerbate the emotional and cognitive dissonance that occursin these experiences. Both students and faculty require an understanding of what it means to "squirm and leam" in these circumstances as well as reflection strategies that allow students to process what is characterized as the "shadow-side"of reflection. This essay recounts one professor's own experienceswith this challenge and provides insight into the developmental and cultural aspects of the shadow-side of reflection, concluding with a description of reflection strategies for consideration.
Reflection in Service Learning: Making Meaning or Experience
Educational Horizons, 1999
Traditional methods of instruction based on lectures and textbook readings can be effective in some instances and for some types of! earning, yet many educators seek methods to enhance traditional student learning and to expand educational objectives beyond knowledge acquisition. Two related issues illustrate the limitations of traditional methods. The first is contextspecific learning. Students are taught a particular module of content, they are provided examples of how to solve particular types of problems, and then they practice solving these types of problems. However, when the nature of the problem is varied, or when similar problems are encountered in different contexts, students fail to generalize prior learning to these new circumstances or situations. The second issue that frustrates educators is the shallow nature of the content learned through traditional instruction and the degree to which it does not promote personal understanding. That is, although students may demonstrate rote learning of a particular educational module, that new information does not always enlighten understanding of their own lives and the world outside the classroom. When knowledge acquisition is viewed as the most important goal of education, the educational system fails to develop intellectual habits that foster the desire and capacity for lifelong learning and the skills needed for active participation in a democracy. Recognizing these limits to traditional instructional methods, a Task Group on General Education, appointed by the American Association of Colleges in 1994, recommended that college instructors focus more attention on active learning strategies. Several types of active learning strategies identified in the report address these challenges (i.e., context-specific learning, personally relevant learning) and successfully expand the educational agenda beyond the acquisition of knowledge. Recommended active learning strategies include using electronic and interactive media; promot-Reflection activities are a critical component of effective service learning because they connect the service activities to the course content, extending the educational agenda beyond rote learning. Robert G. Bringle, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and director