Hi Folks,

At the last meeting I mentioned an article that was somewhat critical of service learning based on the "charity model" of doing good works for communities. The authors compared service learning at "white" institutions (e.g., big state universities) with service learning at Tribal Colleges and HBC (Historic Black Colleges). The idea was to move from "doing for" to "doing with."

One reason I was attracted to UW-Madison (I just finished my first year here) was my sense that many of the service-learning projects organized through the Morgridge Center seemed to have made this transition away from an exclusive focus on student outcomes and the charity model of volunteer service, toward something more meaningful for our community partners.

At any rate, several people at the meeting asked for the citation for that article. Here it is:

Ward, K., and Wolf-Wendel, L. (2000). Community-centered service learning: Moving from doing for to doing with. American Behavioral Scientist, 43(5), 767-780.

I was able to download a .pdf copy through our library.

cheers,
sam

Samuel F. Dennis, Jr., PhD, RLA, ASLA
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
School of Natural Resources
University of Wisconsin-Madison
42A Agricultural Hall
1450 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1562
608.263.7699 (voice)
608.265.6262 (fax)
http://www.wisc.edu/la/