Service learning

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Service learning ( English for: learning through commitment, LdE for short) is a teaching method that aims to combine the social commitment of schoolchildren with professional learning in the classroom. Service learning combines cognitive learning (learning) with the assumption of responsibility in the school environment (service). Service learning is considered suitable for all ages, subjects and school types and is also used at universities .

theory

“The aim of service learning is to firmly anchor the social commitment of young people in everyday school life and to combine it with lessons”. The experiences that the pupils have in “commitment to others” are taken up in the classroom, reflected on and linked to the content of the class. In doing so, young people learn that it is worth working for the community. They train social and democratic skills and can incorporate their practical knowledge and experience into the classroom. Lessons are practical and action-oriented. Service learning is based on the principle that social engagement can be combined with professional learning in the classroom. As a result, “service” and “learning” benefit from each other: On the one hand, the social commitment is enriched by the theoretical and conceptual knowledge of the students acquired in the classroom, and on the other hand, specialist learning becomes more relevant and action-related through experience in reality and depth of understanding. "

For the students this means:

  • they work for the common good .
  • they do something for others or for society.
  • however, they are not involved separately or in addition to school, but as part of lessons and closely linked to subject-specific learning.
  • the commitment of the students is planned, reflected on and linked to the content of the educational and curriculum during the class.

We know from research: "Service learning projects ...

  • respond to actual problems or challenges in the community,
  • are coordinated and implemented in close cooperation between the school and partners in the community,
  • are integrated at a central point in the school curriculum,
  • provide structured times for reflection and
  • give the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned at school in authentic problem contexts.
  • promote social and personal skills

Service learning ( learning through engagement ) is a method of learning through action and is part of civic education. With this pedagogical method, which is already very common in the USA, technical content is conveyed in such a way that the learning effect occurs when working in charitable projects.

Service learning in schools

Service learning is suitable for all types of schools and a wide variety of subjects. Many schools that try out and implement the method of learning through engagement have joined forces in the nationwide network learning through engagement . It consists of around 100 schools from 11 federal states as well as extracurricular partners who set themselves the goal of jointly promoting the dissemination of learning through engagement - as an innovative approach to school development, as an important contribution to educational reform and as a way of strengthening civil society Commitments and the democratic assumption of responsibility by young people.

In North Rhine-Westphalia there has been a service learning program since 2009, socially ingenious - schoolchildren are involved in active citizenship. Sozialgenial is funded by WGZ BANK and supported by the Ministry for Schools and Further Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. So far, 46,000 schoolchildren at 500 schools in North Rhine-Westphalia have been involved in socially ingenious projects, 1,300 service learning projects have emerged (as of July 2014).

In Baden-Württemberg, since the educational reforms in 2004 and 2005, the educational plans have stipulated which competencies students should acquire at the end of a certain period. Special emphasis is placed on social skills and personal development. In addition to the classic subjects, the curriculum for secondary schools provides, for example, themed projects (TOP) in various areas. As part of TOP Social Commitment, students support other people - inside or outside of school. Inside they can z. B. in the school medical service, in a dispute resolution team or in homework supervision; externally, for example in an old people's home, kindergarten or special school. The young people help plan their project and implement it independently. Finally, document and present it. In order for service learning to have a lasting effect in schools, it is important that it is integrated into a systematic and age-appropriate social curriculum.

Service learning at universities

The service learning method ( learning through engagement ) can also enrich teaching at universities. In university service learning, the scientific content of a seminar is linked to the charitable commitment of the students. As for the school network, learning through engagement , the motto at universities is: Together we are strong. The German universities that implement service learning in their teaching joined forces on March 9, 2009 and founded the university network Education through Responsibility eV. The aim of the network is to establish service learning at German universities. The six founding members are the universities of Duisburg-Essen, Erfurt, Mannheim, Würzburg and Saarland as well as the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. The network now has around 40 members. The office is run at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt .

With the support of the Freudenberg Foundation, the University of Mannheim has been a pioneer in the introduction of service learning since 2003. The first service learning seminars in educational psychology took place here in 2003, and the resulting student initiative CampusAktiv spread the idea here.

With the competition More than Research and Teaching! From 2011 to 2013 , the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft) and the Mercator Foundation sponsored six German colleges and universities that are taking on responsibility for the community through new approaches. Service learning is one of the fields of action promoted in this program.

The Robert Bosch Stiftung sponsored the Do it! the non-profit agency mehrwert and thus universities throughout Germany in the introduction and implementation of service learning. So far, as part of Do it! Service learning programs introduced at around 20 universities and those responsible are supported with advice and support through added value .

The Virtual University of Bavaria (vhb) offers online courses on the subject of service learning - social learning in schools, universities and further education . The courses on offer familiarize future teachers with service learning as a teaching method. It was developed in cooperation with the Universities of Augsburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg and can be completed by students from all Bavarian universities from the 2012/13 winter semester.

As part of the BMFSFJ- funded joint project Promotion of Potential for Learning through Civic Commitment and Social Responsibility at Universities , the online community campus has been set up on site since 2013 . The local campus aims to bring universities and civil society closer together and to promote the connection between academic teaching and civil society engagement. With the opportunity to exchange experiences between the actors in this still young field, the online community supports the visualization of the diverse activities in the German university landscape and the generation of success patterns for good practice.

Service learning in the context of civil society

The term social capital describes the ability of a society to organize and maintain its social cohesion. Trust, rules and norms as well as networks play a central role. They enable people to solve challenges and problems collectively. Places of social capital formation are on the one hand family and educational institutions, on the other hand all civil society formations such as clubs, associations, groups, citizen (right) movements. In other words, all initiatives whose objectives go beyond the interests of private individuals and small subgroups and are assigned to the civil society sector or third sector in the political definition. Against this background, the concept of service learning is understood as a manual for the formation of social capital. Service learning is predestined to broaden students' horizons and to promote a sense of community and a willingness to take responsibility. With the challenge of proving themselves in a previously unknown terrain, the participants receive important impulses for their own personal development and develop social skills.

criticism

Criticism of the concept of service learning comes mainly from political didactics . So there z. B. criticizes that service learning is an instrument of an activation ideology, so try to solve structural and systemic problems through individual engagement. Service learning could thus contribute to the depoliticization of young people. If the experiences in the context of service learning projects are not processed in terms of political didactics, they could "prevent political learning and political engagement and support and reinforce depoliticizing tendencies as well as the thought pattern of the lack of alternatives ". This criticism led to the development of various "critical service learning" approaches, which increasingly take political framework conditions into account and want to work towards social change.

literature

Service learning in schools

  • Active Citizenship eV (Ed.): Discourse Service Learning. Combine teaching and civic engagement. Active citizenship, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-934738-20-1 .
  • Active citizenship (Ed.): Impact study service learning: How can teaching and civic engagement be combined , Berlin 2013. (PDF; 1.5 MB)
  • Gabriele Bartsch: Social curriculum - How schools can systematically promote the learning goal of social skills. In: Baden-Württemberg school administration. 09/2011, pp. 16-18.
  • Bauer, Ullrich / Stephan Drucks: Conditions for the success of service learning in schools. Research report on the case studies on socially ingenious school projects , Essen 2013.
  • Sandra Frank, Anne Sliwka, Sandra Zentner: Service Learning - learning through commitment. In: Wolfgang Edelstein, Anne Sliwka (Hrsg.): Practical book on democracy education - six building blocks for classroom design and everyday school life. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2009, ISBN 978-3-407-62617-2 , pp. 151–192.
  • Anne Seifert, Sandra Reinmuth: Service Learning - Learning through commitment: Do something for others and learn something! In: buddY magazine. 02/2008, pp. 17-18. (download)
  • Anne Seifert: Learning through engagement: A teaching method that combines social and professional learning. In: FORUM - school foundation. 50, 2009, pp. 129-144. (PDF; 2.8 MB)
  • Anne Seifert, Sandra Zentner: Service learning - learning through commitment: method, quality, examples and selected focuses. A publication of the network learning through engagement. Freudenberg Foundation, Weinheim 2010. (PDF; 446 kB)
  • Anne Seifert: Promoting resilience at school: A study on service learning with students from risk situations. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-18228-5
  • Anne Seifert, Sandra Zentner, Franziska Nagy: Practical book Service-Learning - "Learning through engagement" in schools. Beltz, Weinheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-407-62834-3
  • Anne Sliwka, Susanne Frank (Ed.): Service Learning: Learning Responsibility in School and Community. Weinheim / Basel 2004, ISBN 3-407-62518-9 .
  • Speck, Karsten / Oxana Ivanova-Chessex / Carmen Wulf: Service Learning in Schools. Research report on a representative survey of pupils from socially ingenious school projects in North Rhine-Westphalia , Oldenburg 2013.

Service learning at universities

  • Holger Backhaus-Maul, Christiane Roth: Service Learning at Universities in Germany. A first empirical contribution to the measurement of a young phenomenon. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-365-800123-0 .
  • Karsten Altenschmidt, Jörg Miller: Service Learning in University Didactics. In: Nicole Auferkorte-Michaelis, Annette Ladwig, Ingeborg Stahr (eds.): University didactics for teaching practice. Interaction and innovation for studying and teaching at the university. Budrich Uni Press, Opladen & Farmington Hills, MI 2010, ISBN 978-3-940755-56-8 , pp. 68-79.
  • Karsten Altenschmidt, Jörg Miller, Wolfgang Stark (Eds.) (2009): Out of the ivory tower? Developments in service learning and civic engagement at German universities. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2009, ISBN 978-3-407-32122-0 .
  • Mehrwert - Agency for Social Learning gGmbH: Do it! Learn it! Spread it! Practical guide to service learning at universities. 2009. (download)
  • Anna M. Baltes, Manfred Hofer, Anne Sliwka (eds.): Students take on responsibility - service learning at German universities. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2007, ISBN 978-3-407-32076-6 .
  • Christian Berthold, Volker Meyer-Guckel, Wolfgang Rohe (eds.): Mission society. Commitment and self-image of the universities. Goals, concepts, international practice. Edition Stifterverband, 2010. PDF, 3 MB
  • Thomas Sporer, Astrid Eichert, Julia Brombach, Miriam Apffelstaedt, Ralph Gnädig, Alexander Starnecker: Service Learning at Universities: The Augsburg Model. In: Thomas Köhler, Jörg Neumann (eds.): Knowledge communities: Digital media - openness and openness in research and teaching . Waxmann, Münster 2011, pp. 70–80. PDF version 6.6 MB
  • Thomas Sporer, Jörg Miller, Nadine Ruda, Christiane Roth: On-site campus: Civil society engagement of German universities in the context of studies and teaching. In: Teaching Forum 2014. PDF version

Service learning in the context of civil society

  • Gabriele Bartsch: Service Learning in the Context of Civil Society. In: Karsten Altenschmidt u. a .: Out of the ivory tower? Developments in service learning and civic engagement at German universities. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2009, pp. 102–111.

The beginnings of service learning in Germany

  • Anne Sliwka: Service Learning: Learning Responsibility in School and Community Berlin September 2004, Contributions to Democracy Education A series of publications from the BLK program “Learning & Living Democracy” Edited by Wolfgang Edelstein and Peter Fauser PDF version .
  • Anne Sliwka: Service Learning in Schools in Germany. Report on the pilot project Learning Responsibility - Service Learning by the Freudenberg Foundation. , Weinheim 2002.

Web links

Service learning in schools

Service learning at universities

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Seifert & Zentner (2010) p. 11.
  2. ↑ Network service learning - learning through engagement Network service learning - learning through engagement
  3. ^ Anne Sliwka: Service Learning in Schools in Germany. Report on the pilot experiment Learning Responsibility - Service Learning of the Freudenberg Foundation, Weinheim, 2002, p. 3
  4. ↑ Do it! Learn it! Spread it! Practical guidelines for service learning at universities  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.agentur-mehrwert.de  
  5. ↑ Network service learning - learning through engagement
  6. ↑ Service learning program socially ingenious - students get involved
  7. ^ School - BW
  8. ↑ Bartsch (2011), pp. 16-18.
  9. ↑ Network education through responsibility
  10. ↑ CampusAktiv ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.campus-aktiv.de
  11. ↑ Program website : More than research and teaching! Universities in Society ( Memento of the original dated November 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stifterverband.info
  12. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.agentur-mehrwert.de
  13. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / service.e-learning.imb-uni-augsburg.de
  14. ↑ [1]
  15. ↑ Bartsch (2009), pp. 102–111.
  16. ↑ Alexander Wohnig: On the relationship between social and political learning . 2017, p. 138 ff ., doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-658-15296-3 ( springer.com [accessed October 27, 2018]).
  17. ^ Hans-Peter Burth: The contribution of Service-Learning programs to the promotion of civic engagement and political participation: A critical evaluation . In: Citizenship, Social and Economics Education . tape 15 , no. 1 , April 2016, ISSN  2047-1734 , p. 58-66 , doi : 10.1177 / 2047173416658504 ( sagepub.com [accessed October 27, 2018]).
  18. ↑ Alexander Wohnig: On the necessity of reflecting on the political in social learning - building blocks of a didactic to combine social and political learning . In: Michael Fricke, Lothar Kuld, Anne Sliwka (eds.): Concepts of social education at school: Compassion - Diakonisches Lern ​​- Service Learning . Waxmann Verlag, 2018, ISBN 978-3-8309-8884-7 , p. 220 ( google.de [accessed October 27, 2018]).
  19. ^ Tania D. Mitchell: Traditional vs. critical service-learning: Engaging the literature to differentiate two models . In: Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning . tape 14 , 2008 ( umn.edu [accessed October 27, 2018]).