Self Reflection On Service Learning

Modules 1 and 2 is where I gained most of my knowledge about service-learning, as I was not exactly sure of what it was when entering the course. Through module 1, I learned that service learning is about you providing the community with your service, while at the same time it is a learning experience for you. It allows you to take what you have learned in a classroom and apply it to real life situations. The required reading by Cress (2005), “What is Service-Learning”, taught me more about what service learning is and what to expect of it. This article discusses how taking part in service learning gives students the opportunity to figure out how to apply everything they have learned in classrooms, since learning about it and actually experiencing …show more content…
The first key principle is, being of service in your setting, and ensuring that the way in which you are helping does not make more work for the teacher. Connecting your service learning experience to academic content is another key principle, which is, to make connections between what you have experienced in the real world and what you have learned in the classroom. Another key principle is, self reflection and reflecting on your experiences, which requires you to think about yourself and how you are helpful to this community. Considering the broader context is another key principle of service learning, where you relate your experiences within the community to broader social, political, and other social contexts. The last key principle of service learning is building transferable skills, which is the skills we acquire through real life situations that cannot be learned in a classroom …show more content…
In module 3 we learnt about journaling and what that must consist of. In learning what types of experiences should be included in my journal made me realize what I should be focused on in the classroom. I also learned how to relate my experiences to the three lenses we have discussed, which are, sociocultural, developmental and exceptionalities, academic content as well as the broader context. Another idea talked about in module 3 was observations. Through this section I learned that it is not only important to pay attention to the students and make observations based on what they are doing but also it is just as important to pay attention to yourself and make observations based on what you do. An article in module 3, discusses the importance of reflection and putting meaning to observations (Guthrie & McCracken, 2014). This article showed me why it is important to pay attentions to the observations you make, it states that, by reflecting on observations, you can find meaning in the observations that you may not have understood if you did not critical assess the situation through reflection (Guthrie & McCracken,