“You Have to Learn Who Comes with the Disability”: Students' Reflections on Service Learning Experiences with Peers Labeled with Disabilities

Abstract

Service learning is the integration of community-based student projects into the formal curriculum of a school or course of study. This qualitative, descriptive study presents understandings about disability issues that seven undergraduates constructed through participation in a semester-long service learning class. Paired with same-aged peers with disabilities for 2 hr/week, students shared campus-based classroom, work, and social experiences. In-depth interviews and examination of reflective journals revealed that students used their experiences to question prior notions of the nature of relationships with people with disabilities, of the meaning and uses of disability labels, and of the perceptions about and place of people with disabilities in society. Results support previous literature highlighting the benefits of real-life experience, framed by constructivist and reflective teaching practices, in developing and reinforcing critical thinking skills.

The Use of Service-Learning Among Special Education Faculty

“…One of the primary benefits is that SL provides opportunities for preservice teachers to gain hands-on experience using effective teaching strategies (e.g., progress monitoring, literacy instruction, individualized instruction, behavior interventions; Al Otaiba, 2005;Griffith, 2005;Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009;Muscott, 2001;Muscott & O'Brien, 1999). SL courses can be designed to coordinate experiences with specific populations (e.g., persons with severe disabilities, culturally and linguistically diverse students, parents of students with disabilities, rural communities) that would not otherwise be possible in classroom settings (Al Otaiba, 2005;Alvarez-McHatton, Thomas, & Lehman, 2006;Davis, Emery, & Lane, 1998;Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009;Novak, Murray, Scheuermann, & Curran, 2009;Smith, 2003). A second benefit of SL courses appears to be the increased understanding of persons with disabilities and the societal issues that have marginalized this population.…”

“…For example, SL may be used as an instructional approach to promote inclusion and increase positive perceptions of persons with disabilities within their schools and communities (Karayan & Gathercoal, 2003;Muwana & Gaffney, 2011;Parker, 2009). In addition, some courses may be specifically designed to promote public awareness regarding the contributions persons with disabilities make to their communities (Curran, 1999;Karayan & Gathercoal, 2003;Novak, 2010;Smith, 2003) or facilitate the inclusion of new special educators and students with disabilities in their schools and communities (Kennedy, 2005).…”

“…In many ways, the literature on SL in special education parallels the teacher education literature. A wide number of special education SL courses have been developed including introductory courses (see Griffith, 2005;Mayhew & Welch, 2001;Parker, 2009) and methods courses (see Al Otaiba, 2005;Griffith, 2005), undergraduate courses (see Parker, 2009;Smith, 2003) and graduate courses (see Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009), and courses involving mandatory participation in SL (see Al Otaiba, 2005) and voluntary participation (see Griffith, 2005). SL courses have addressed a broad array of curricular areas such as literacy instruction (see Al Otaiba, 2005), supported employment (see Novak et al, 2009), recreation (see Parker, 2009), and family collaborations (see Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009;Novak et al, 2009).…”

Incorporating Service-Learning in Special Education Coursework: Experiences of University Faculty

“…A review of the special education literature shows that special education faculty have used SL in a variety of courses, including introductory courses (Griffith, 2005; Lawson & Firestone, 2018; Lodato-Wilson, 2005; Mayhew & Welch, 2001; Muwana & Gaffney, 2011; Santos et al, 2012), methods courses (Al Otaiba, 2005; Griffith, 2005; Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009), and special topics courses (Novak et al, 2009) at both the undergraduate (Hildenbrand & Schultz, 2015; Santos et al, 2012) and graduate level (Kennedy, 2005; Regan, 2006). Students enrolled in these courses have included special education majors (Al Otaiba, 2005; Hampshire et al, 2015), nonmajors (Novak et al, 2009; Smith, 2003), and both majors and nonmajors (Alvarez-McHatton et al, 2006). In some courses, SL is a course requirement (Hildenbrand & Schultz, 2015; Lawson & Firestone, 2018) while in others participation is voluntary (Griffith, 2005; Hampshire et al, 2015).…”

“…SL projects in special education have enabled students to learn how to work with individuals with a range of disabilities and backgrounds. For example, projects have included hands-on experiences working with students with high incidence (Griffith, 2005; Muscott & O’Brien, 1999) and low incidence disabilities (Smith, 2003), students of varying ages (Stringfellow & Edmonds-Behrend, 2013), students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (Hampshire et al, 2015; Woods & Conderman, 2005), students from urban (Alvarez-McHatton et al, 2006) and rural communities (Davis et al, 1998), and students from other countries (Kaff et al, 2015). In addition, many projects have targeted specific skills such as tutoring, mentoring, and collaboration with families (Al Otaiba, 2005; Baker & Murray, 2011; Griffith, 2005; Hampshire et al, 2015; Jenkins & Sheehey, 2009; Muscott & O’Brien, 1999).…”