Hallmarks of Good Service Learning and Community Action

Below are some examples of "best practices" for effective and rewarding service learning experiences. If you are currently enrolled in a course that offers a service learning component, be sure to follow these guidelines to ensure that the experience is mutually beneficial to you and the community partner. We took the first letters of "Community Action" and came up with words that begin with those letters and are also hallmarks of effective service learning

1. Contact – You make the first contact, preferably by phone, then by e-mail.

2. Clarify and Communicate – Be clear about what you would like to do, how much time you can commit, and the duration of your commitment.

3. Contract – Once you establish a time commitment and responsibilities, get it on paper and have your site supervisor approve and sign it. It’s best to have this all in writing!

4. Consistency and Commitment – Be committed once you establish your service times, dates, and responsibilities. Go consistently according to what you established with your supervisor, and show the people you’re working with that you will be a stable, consistent, committed presence in their lives.

5. Contextualize – Find out about the social and political issues surrounding the community group with which you are working. Understanding the history of affordable housing in Boston, for example, is important if you are working with the homeless.

6. Connect to Course Content – Remember the course you are doing this for and keep your service connected to that knowledge and learning. Keeping a journal that relates service experiences to course concepts is a good way to do this.

7. Connect to Change – Think about this work as it relates to social change. Learn about the sociological, economic, and psychological factors that affect the people or systems you’re working with. Connect your work to larger movements toward social change in these areas.

8. Closure - Communicate clearly your end date and remind your supervisor two weeks in advance. Send thank you notes to your supervisor and others who mentored and supported you and took the time to hook you in to their work.

Is there one “C” word that’s noticeably absent from this list? Yes, the word Charity. Your service is not charity – you are learning from this experience just as much as you are contributing. And although charity is “give as much as you can,” this work requires you to give what you said you would – it is a commitment, not a donation of whatever time you feel you can give. Your work should be and feel more connected to change than charity.

1. Academic – Remember, “field experience” is academic; charity is not. You should make every effort to keep your service connected to your academic coursework.

2. Attitude – Do your best to keep a positive attitude. The situations you encounter can be very depressing at times and may make you feel cynical about the world. This is all normal, but don’t let it control you. Those around you at your site may sense your frustration and think it has to do with them, not with the larger social problems you find yourself pondering.

3. Appropriate – Though Emerson is known for encouraging creative expression, please keep in mind appropriate attire for when you attend your service site. Some schools may have dress codes, but even if they do not, think twice about the cigarette company T-shirt or the low-slung jeans.

4. Awareness – Utilize this experience as an opportunity for you to promote awareness of the social issues you’re learning through your service experience. You can at least promote awareness in your classes, but think about organizing students with similar interests and coordinating an awareness-raising event on campus.

5. Advocacy – Find out what’s going on in the local and federal legislatures in relation to the work that you’re doing. If you’re volunteering at an under-funded after-school program or an ESL program that is in danger of funding cuts, find out who your legislator is and write to him/her about not cutting funding for these programs. Also, write editorials or guest articles in local papers about this issue to promote awareness and action. And if you are eligible to vote, remember to research candidates and ballot questions and vote!