MANDEL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
ABOUT YOUTH SERVICE
What Is Service Learning?
Service learning is a philosophy, pedagogy, and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.
Two key characteristics that distinguish service-learning from volunteerism or community service are:
- An educational component which requires a conscious effort to include a direct tie to subject area learning. An educational component can be a classroom based curriculum or a community based education program.
- Reflection throughout the project. High-quality reflection assists participants to understand and learn from their experience which helps them to apply this new knowledge and understanding to future situations.
What is Service Learning?
Benefits of Service Learning
Principles of Effective Practice for K-12 Service-Learning
Creating a Service Learning Project
Additional Resources