Practicing What We Teach, Practitioner Reflections

Abstract

While the impact of service-learning on students and to some extent on communities is well documented, little research addresses the direct impact on instructors. To fulfill the historic civic mission of education and contribute to civic health, a holistic understanding of impacts on all stakeholders will be necessary. This chapter presents the findings of interviews conducted with diverse service-learning practitioner types (higher education faculty members, K-12 teachers, and nonprofit instructors), institutions and years of experience. The findings demonstrate three categories of benefits that accrue to practitioners: pedagogical, personal and relational. Additionally, indirect impacts also contribute to practitioners' satisfaction. Many of these impacts map nicely onto the existing literature that describes the motivations that lead practitioners to undertake service-learning. The link then between motivations and actual benefits received leads to several salient recommendations that can support instructors and administrators wishing to advance engaged work at their institutions.