Volunteerism: Service-Learning for Socially Conscious Teens By Karen D. K. Nanton, Extension Graduate Assistant

"Charity is a behavior, not a motive." - Arthur Brooks

The American legacy of volunteerism has taken a front row seat since former Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the forty-forth president of the United States. President Obama caught the interest of adolescents, adults, and the young at heart during his presidential campaign that included a call for community involvement. As recently as March 31, 2009, the President commemorated the legacy of Cesar Chavez's work as an educator, environmentalist, and a civil rights leader who struggled for fair treatment and wages for American workers. However, the term volunteerism has evolved among groups of volunteer and service programs into the revelation of a profound measure of community service preferably termed service-learning that is intertwined with social justice activities.

Volunteerism is the willingness of people to work on behalf of others without being motivated by financial or material gain. According to volunteer expert John Wilson (2000), "Volunteering is any activity in which time is given freely to benefit another person, group or cause. Volunteering is part of a cluster of helping behaviors, entailing more commitment than spontaneous assistance but narrower in scope than the care provided to family and friends."

Although developed independently, the study of volunteerism and the study of social activism have much in common: they are easily incorporated with currently used forms of social justice and public involvement called service-learning. Service-learning is a highly acceptable form of social justice education.

Researcher Courtney Bell (1997) argues that social justice education is both a process and goal in that "it begins with people's lived experience and works to foster a critical perspective and action directed toward social change." But just how is social justice activities linked to service-learning education? It is the phenomenon of developing socially conscious students in grades K-12 into providing service to their communities from a mindset of helping to rebuild lives. For instance, in elderly communities residents are more likely to have broken house windows, stripping, and non-existent paint on their homes. Teens that are educated from a social justice service-learning point of view will become active in helping the elderly preserve the integrity of their community by painting and fixing windows, or getting involved in clean street projects for the elderly.

Volunteerism falls under the guidelines for service-learning education. It is a type of social justice activity that promotes learning for teens and adolescents outside the classroom. Service-learning is intended to benefit the provider and the recipient of some type of service given in a public setting or a community-based environment. "Service-learning is the linkage of academic work with community-based engagement within a framework of respect, reciprocity, relevance, and reflection (Bringle & Hatcher, 1995; Butin, 2003; Morton, 1995; MJCSL, 2001)."

Service-learning brings community service activities and educational curriculum together. It is reported that, "Over one-third of all K-12 schools use some form of service-learning and more than 1000 postsecondary institutions are members of Campus Compact, a national organization committed to community engagement," said author Dan Butin. "Justice learning lies at the intersection of service-learning and social justice education."

Service-learning and social justice education evolved during the civil rights era when according to Butin, "Both were committed to engaged empowerment; both cognizant of unequal distributions of power, privilege, and knowledge." These two forms of community involvement spotlight what teens across the nation are learning about volunteerism in their classrooms and the communities they serve. As a result, service-learning and social justice education are linked to major federal funding through programs like Learn and Serve America funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Learn and Serve America recruits American children and youth by integrating community service projects with classroom learning. These programs and methods of service-learning education introduce teens to the world around them. It teaches young people to be active and to make a decision to serve others from the mind set of providing social justice.

In the state of Alabama, the CNCS provides 14,000 Alabama students with grants through schools and non-profit organizations to facilitate community services, incorporated with academic achievement and the development of civic skills through this type of service-learning. The CNCS has reported that more than 26,000 people of all ages and backgrounds in Alabama are involved in 88 national service projects in Alabama from tutoring and mentoring students to building homes, restoring the environment, or responding to natural or manmade disasters.

Finally, researchers Hollander and Burack (2009) have noted that, "Understanding the process of civic engagement includes understanding the effect that poverty, race, and school environments have on civic organizing and the development of a young person's civic identity."

The association between educational attainment and civic engagement is clear and positive: education is associated with higher levels of civic participation. There seems to be general agreement among educators that being engaged civically is a 'good thing' and an important part of our democracy.

Hollander, E., & Burack, C. (2009). How young people develop long-lasting habits of civic engagement: A conversation on building a research agenda. Spencer Foundation. Retrieved October 6, 2009.

Wilson, John. (2000, August). Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology, 26(1), 215-240.

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