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PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR SERVICE-LEARNING PEDAGOGY
The following 10 principles were created to fully understand and
integrate service-learning into coursework to have a successful
service-learning experience faculty must adhere to each of these 10
principles equally2.
Principle 1: Academic Credit is for Learning, Not for Service
This first principle speaks to those who puzzle over how to assess
students’ service in the community, or what weight to assign
community involvement in final grades. In traditional courses,
academic credit and grades are assigned based on students’
demonstration of academic learning as measured by the instructor. It
is no different in service-learning courses. While in traditional courses
we assess students’ learning from traditional course resources (e.g.
textbooks, class discussions, library research,) in service-learning
courses we evaluate students’ learning from traditional resources, from
the community service, and from the blending of the two. So, academic
credit is not awarded for doing service or for the quality of the service,
but rather for the student’s demonstration of academic and civic
learning.
Principle 2: Do Not Compromise Academic Rigor
Since there is a widespread perception in academic circles that
community service is a “soft” learning resource, there may be a
temptation to compromise the academic rigor in a service-learning
course. Labeling community service as a “soft” learning stimulus
reflects a gross misperception. The perceived “soft” service component
actually raises the learning challenge in a course. Service-learning
students must not only master academic material as in a traditional
course, but also learn from unstructured community experiences, and
merge that learning with other course resources.
2
Excerpted from Jeffrey Howard, ed., Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning: Service-Learning Course Design Workbook (Ann Arbor, MI: OCSL Press, Summer 2001: 16-19).
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