Why Should I Bother?

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead

---

An initial response of faculty to the possibility of incorporating a service-learning component into their course might be to ask: Why should I go through the hassle of incorporating service learning into my class when students already learn quite a bit? For some students, this question may be valid. Yet for other students, the application of classroom knowledge accentuates learning and makes it relevant. Service learning provides a means for students to take learning outside the classroom and into the community. Hence, service learning becomes the vehicle for bridging theory and application, connecting service with experience, and partnering the college with the community.

---

When implementing a new learning technique, one must consider its potential contribution to the fulfillment of the institution's mission. It is well settled that the historic mission of higher education in the United States has been to encourage and support student achievement and, at the same time, foster civic-minded individuals. In her article, "A Marriage Made in Heaven," Judith Berson maintained that ' . . . service learning works because it is based on one simple principle: you don't learn the basics by memorizing the basics, but by doing projects in which you utilize the basics.'

---

"More than any other educational institution, the community college's very mission is enmeshed with a commitment to improve the communities that surround its campuses. The real value, though, lies in enhanced learning." Judidth S. Berson. "A Marriage Made in Heaven: Community Colleges and Service Learning". Community College Journal 64, no. 6 (1994): 14-19. Citizenship is paramount to the mission of any Community College. Service learning provides one of several avenues colleges may use to fulfill the goal of producing more civic-minded students through the reciprocity that exists in the learning partnership between the student, the community, and the faculty practitioner/college. Effective implementation of a service learning pedagogy benefits the student, the community, and the college.