A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SERVICE-LEARNING THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN EDUCATORS IN URBAN SCHOOLS

Service-learning combines academic coursework with volunteer community service experiences. Its components include the coursework, community service, course credit, and reflection on the experience. Critical service-learning emphasizes social justice (Mitchell, 2008). The broader literature explores both service-learning and critical service-learning, which result in more connections to local communities. Yet, both maintain a central focus on the students engaged in community service, overlooking the rich history of volunteer service within the communities being served. African American communities have been woven together with rich histories of service to the community. Without this historical knowledge, the future of service-learning is destined to continue to utilize an unsustainable model that relies on outside volunteers who come into underserved communities for short periods of time and return to their own lives, leaving the communities to wait on the next wave of volunteers to enter. If the outcomes of service-learning are to impact marginalized communities significantly, then service-learning programs must consider the rich histories of volunteering within these communities. The implications of this study suggest that traditional service learning programs should expand their understanding of the valuable history of volunteering within the Black community.