tributes to their sense that the people they work with
are 'like me' and demonstrate their growing appreciation for other cultures" (p. 54) and that servicelearning "contributes to greater self-knowledge,
spiritual growth, and finding reward in helping others" (p. 55). We learn that students in classes where
service and learning are well integrated through
classroom focus and reflection are more likely than
those in classes where the service was less well integrated into the course or where no service was done
to: "demonstrate greater issue knowledge, have a
more realistic and detailed personal political strategy, and give a more complex analysis of causes of
and solutions to the problem at the conclusion of
their experience" (p. 81); "show an increase in their
level of critical thinking demonstrated in problem
analysis" (p. 127); and "demonstrate a more systemic locus for causes and solutions of problems"
(p. 149). We also learn that "Students report that service-learning is powerful because it is rooted in personal relationship and in doing work that makes a
difference in people's lives, which helps them connect their learning to personal experience" (p. 98),
and that "Participation in service-learning leads to
the values, knowledge, skills, efficacy, and commitment that underlie effective citizenship" (p. 164).
Chapter Eight, "Program Qualities of Effective
Service-Learning," includes an extremely useful
table showing the relationships of various program
characteristics to student learning outcomes. This
part of the book has the most relevance for practitioners. Not surprisingly, the authors found that
service-learning experiences with characteristics
such as greater service duration, more deliberate
integration between classroom and community
learning, and more structured reflection contributed to better student learning outcomes. In
addition, they also concluded that some of the
intellectual goals of higher education - application of learning, critical thinking, and problem
solving skills - depend both on the quality of the
service experience as well as the integration of theory and practice. The authors also make the valuable point that areas traditionally separated in higher education, e.g. personal and intellectual development, are closely tied and support one another in
important ways in service-learning.
There are other results of interest from this chapter. One is that "community voice" - the extent to
which students identified their work as meeting
needs identified by the community - was not as
strongly correlated with most of the learning outcomes as some of the other program characteristics,
and was negatively correlated with student perception that their service-learning course was intellectually stimulating. As the authors point out, this finding reflects the importance of structuring the service
experience in consultation with the community so as
to insure relevance not only to community needs but
also to students' academic learning. In the category
of reflection, Eyler and Giles find that written reflection has a stronger correlation to many of the student
learning outcomes than discussion-type reflection.
For the authors, this reveals the importance of moving student discussion beyond the sharing of feelings
toward a deeper level of intellectual analysis.
This reader had a few relatively minor criticisms
of this excellent book. The very useful chart showing the relationships of program elements to learning outcomes in Chapter Eight led me to wish that
charts and graphs would have been used more generously throughout the book. The chapter on the
development of citizenship through service-learning
needs further refinement and a more solid theoretical grounding, which may be more reflective of the
state of scholarship in the field of citizenship education than of the quality of the authors' work.
It is hard to overstate the importance of this book
to the field. The research presented here should contribute significantly to those responsible for improving program effectiveness or advocating for this kind
of pedagogy. The careful research and thoughtful
commentary provide a wealth of insights about service-learning and how best to do it. As the authors
state in the concluding chapter:
If we want students who are lifelong learners,
can use what they know, and have a capacity for
critical analysis, then programs like servicelearning, which help them construct knowledge
from experience and reflection, should form the
core of their educational experience. Servicelearning, and especially programs with good
community placements, applications of service
to course work, extensive reflection, diversity
and community voice, make a difference in student learning. (p. 188)
Reviewed by Steven Schultz, Westmont College
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