Chapter 3: Critical Service-Learning and The Black Freedom Movement:

According to Mitchell (2008), Robert Rhoads initially introduced the concept of critical community service into the service-learning literature in 1997. In so doing, he provided a framework through which a substantive distinction could be made between community service that privileged a transformative social justice orientation and those that do not. Mitchell (2008) leverages the work of Ginwright and Cammarota (2002) to illustrate the point. She notes that a traditional service-learning project around homelessness might engage students in a food drive for the homeless; whereas a critical service-learning approach would engage students in an inquiry process to understand the root causes of the social inequality of homelessness and the social institutions as well as policies that contribute to the problem. The students would also learn how to devise a strategic plan to challenge the institutions and policies causing oppression, so that they become more responsive to the needs of the homeless.