What are Service-Learning and Civic Engagement?

Abstract

Across the united states and around the world, students and their instructors are leaving the classroom and engaging with their communities in order to make learning come alive and to experience real-life connections between their education and everyday issues in their cities, towns, or states. If you are reading this book, you are probably one of these students. In some cases, you might even travel to a different part of the country or to another country to "serve and learn." Depending on the curriculum or program, the length of your experience can vary from a couple of hours to a few weeks or months, and occasionally to an entire year. (If you are traveling across the country or internationally to your service-learning site, make sure to read chapter 12, "Global and Immersive Service-Learning: What You Need to Know as You Go.")