Publication date:

08 July 2007

Length of book:

250 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

239x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780742559455

Service learning and social work education comprise an exciting, yet underutilized, partnership. This book represents the first comprehensive overview of this active and empowering approach to learning in social work. Both educators and practitioners will discover conceptual and practical guidance for developing productive community-based projects.

Often envisioned as located at the midpoint on a continuum from volunteer work to internship, service learning combines the opportunity to serve with the opportunity to learn. It offers community agencies a chance to collaborate with academic colleagues to meet identified community needs, frequently with an explicit social justice dimension.

The contributors illustrate how service learning facilitates students' understanding and interacting with community members as partners, not clients. Service learning encourages students to use critical thinking skills to reflect on their work and its implications. This combination of study-action-reflection in conjunction with course content is highly effective.

The book explores its subject from several perspectives. The first section serves as a conceptual and theoretical orientation to service learning in social work. The second section offers models that illustrate many ways of implementing service learning across the components of the social work curriculum. The final two parts of the book focus on evaluation and service learning in the broader context of civic engagement.
This is an important book for social work. As a profession, we have long endorsed the concept of service learning but this book provides background, theoretical perspectives, assessment strategies and examples that allow both beginning and experienced educators to develop excellent service learning opportunities for students. Its focus on social justice and empowerment, and its connection with EPAS standards make it a valuable contribution to the social work literature.