The Meaning of Service Learning in an MSW Course

Abstract

Service learning is an educational practice that bridges the gap between academics and the real world. Knowledge generated within educational institutions is offered to a community with the goal of strengthening student learning and increasing students' civic engagement. There is a pedagogical congruence between service learning, civic engagement, and the educational and professional values of social work given the field's commitment to social justice and the empowerment of oppressed groups at the macro-level. Though social work may hold an affinity for service learning, there has not been a corresponding connection to research regarding service learning's impact on civic engagement. The following research contributes to knowledge by understanding the experience of a group of graduate-level social work students who demonstrated civic engagement after the completion of a service learning experience.

Keywords:

• service learning
• MSW students
• civic engagement