History and Origins of the Service Learning Practice :: Informative

III. Review of Related Literature History of Service-Learning The history and origins of the service-learning practice in the United States is older than its own name (Clearinghouse, Titlebaum, Daprano, Baer, & Brahler, 2004). However, the phrase service-learning was first used in 1966 to describe a joint project between Tennessee college students and professors working on area developmental organizational projects (p. 4). Subsequently, in 1967 Robert Sigmon and William Ramsey, while working at the Southern Regional Education Board, coined the term for the first time (Giles & Eyler, 1994; Sigmon, 1979; Stanton, Giles, & Cruz, 1999). Later in the 1970s, Sigmon published in the Synergist his manifesto entitled, Service-Learning: Three Principles (1979), in which the author framed the foundations of service-learning as a pedagogical method. According to Sigmon, every service-learning practitioner should adhere to the following three principles: 1) Those being served control the service(s) provided. 2) Those being served become better able to serve and be served by their own actions. 3) Those who serve also are learners and have significant control over what is expected to be learned (p. 10). The point at issue here is the conceptualization of service-learning as a dialectical process in which all participants equally evolve as active learners and agents of change. During past decades, particularly the 1980s, much of the service-learning debate revolved around its definition (Crews, 2002). It seems like previous scholars could not establish a consensual agreement on what to call â€Å"service-learning† and what should be included (Plann, 2002). Even though the broad scope of service-learning allows other programs to exist under the same description (Furco, 1996), sometimes such a rubric also tolerates the emerging of â€Å"moniker† programs (Butin, 2010). Kendall’s (1990) review of the service-learning literature illustrates the aforementioned case. The author provides 147 different definitions depending on whether service-learning is seen as an educational or philosophical method. Although such conceptualizations will change to meet the goals and expectations of civic, social, educational, and governmental institutions (Maurrasse, 2004; Shumer & Shumer, 2005), some of them brought a much-needed conceptual clarity to the fi eld. For instance, the National and Community Service Act of (1990) defined service-learning as: A method (A) under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that (i) is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; (ii) is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program,