Some Reflections on Service-Learning and the Heritages of Liberal Arts Higher Education

The term, service-learning, is in the air at just about any conference involving educators. The range of different kinds of programs reflects the range of different interpretations of what the term itself might mean. In some institutions of higher learning, dedicated staff members and enthusiastic students have made service-learning an important part of the collegiate experience. In other institutions, similarly dedicated staff members straggle to gain acceptance for the very notion that service-learning could be legitimate, let alone be an integral or valuable part of the curriculum. It is not uncommon to hear discussions regarding strategies for gaining the attention and support of colleagues for the service-learning enterprise. All too often, this takes on the tone of a "Trojan Horse:" if only a significant enough program could be inserted into the institution, then people would see its value, and begin to support service-learning as an ongoing part of the campus culture. Tragically, in my view, some of the very best reasons for supporting service-learning are buried in mission statements, where we never look to see them. The comments which follow are addressed to those working within liberal arts colleges--especially private, church-related institutions, I'll not try to discuss various types of service-learning programs or opportunities, but rather to suggest why it is incumbent upon institutions to think seriously about the role of service in their curriculum and culture. All kinds of reasons can be advanced for students being involved in service-learning--such projects can provide valuable networking for possible future employment, the experience is an excellent item to include in a resume, students can learn teamwork working with each other or members of the community, the experience fulfills religious or philosophical convictions about the need to do good, student participation in service will be good for public relations, etc. Yet all these reasons begin by thinking about the experience itself and working backward to justify its inclusion in the collegiate framework. I believe that the dual heritages of the civic-republican tradition and the Judeo-Christian tradition, in which so many of the nation's higher education institutions were founded, not only allow service-learning, but virtually compel it, if those heritages are taken at all seriously. The very term liberal arts, coined by Cicero centuries ago was used by him to refer to those skills and knowledge appropriate to free citizens in a democratic society, fitting those citizens for involvement in public deliberations. Too often given only lip service in official documents, preparation for citizenship was the principal goal of a liberal arts education. Such an education was to produce individuals whose character and aptitudes would impel them to improving the state of the society of which they were members. On one hand, service-learning programs become, not something that is grudgingly tacked on to the list of requirements, but rather a laboratory for civic education as essential as laboratory experiences in biology, chemistry, or physics. What are the skills, aptitudes, and characteristics of citizenship which are to be nurtured by a liberal arts education? Certainly communication skills are basic. Clear, concise speaking and writing are needed for the citizen to let others know his or her thoughts. Just as important are analytical reading and listening, so that ideas from others may be weighed and adopted, rejected, or modified. The citizen is convinced, with J. S. Mill, that in a world in which human fallibility prevents any of us from having only right answers, openness to ideas of others is crucial as both a test of and a complement to one's own. The good citizen exercises justice, moderation and self control, and courage to put these in action. …