Resources from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

Posted by on April 1, 2005

The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has resources which may be helpful to you. To inspire students in their service-learning experiences, try:

Service-Learning Reader: Reflections and Perspectives on Service
http://www.servicelearning.org/lib_svcs/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=1523 – this books is split into 8 chapters, each of which include a selection of short readings (36 altogether). Examples include ‘Value
Differences in Intercultural Communication’ by Myron Lustig in the chapter on orientation skills and getting started, ‘Filtering People: Understanding and Confronting our Prejudices’ by Jim Cole in the chapter on selfhood and society, and ‘On Being a Good Neighbor’ by Martin Luther King, Jr. in the chapter on the roots of service.

For resources to address the academic and practical aspects of service-learning for students, try:

Writing and Community Action: A Service-Learning Rhetoric with Reader
http://www.servicelearning.org/lib_svcs/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=5339
The table of contents for this book can be viewed here:
http://www.ablongman.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0321094808-TOC,00.html

Building Bridges: The Allyn & Bacon Student Guide to Service-Learning
http://www.servicelearning.org/lib_svcs/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=4294
Chapters include: Benefits of Service-Learning for the Student; Costs for the Service-Learner: Strategies to Avoid Difficulties; Helpful Skills for the Service-Learner; Tips on Doing Field Research: A How-To Guide for Participant Observation; Writing Service-Learning Papers: What is Reflection, Exactly?; and Writing Service-Learning Papers: On Avoiding Some Common Mistakes

To help students understand the background of service-learning and its place in higher education, try:

Service-Learning: A Movement’s Pioneers Reflect on Its Origin, Practice, and Future
http://www.servicelearning.org/lib_svcs/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=3760 – includes the following chapters: Early Connections Between Service and Education; Strategy and Practice: Empowering Students to Serve Communities; and Passing the Torch: Advice to Today’s Practitioners and
Students

Regards,

Alex Lumb
Resource Specialist
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
Toll-free 1-866-245-7378, ext. 240
http://www.servicelearning.org
“America’s Resource for Service-Learning Information”