Chapter 1: Imagining a Better World: Service-Learning as Benefit to Teacher Education

Service-learning has a remarkable history in the United States. Its roots are grounded in the1930s’ progressive movement in politics, education, and social endeavors. During subsequent decades, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and the War on Poverty helped shape the ideologies of service-learning. Conceptually, service-learning can be traced to American pragmatism of C. S. Pierce (1839-1914), W. James (1842-1910), and J. Dewey (1856-1952). Dewey insisted that we learn essentially by and from experience and that education should meet public needs and be responsive to the conditions of modern life. Although Dewey himself never mentioned the term service-learning, the pedagogical goals and methods of service-learning clearly find affinity with his philosophy. Progressive education suggests that “service-learning should take the form of education in community organizing and community-building” (Rocheleau, 2004, p. 18).