8 A Writing Center Administrator Teaches Service Learning (8/8) -- Who Teaches Writing?

8 A Writing Center Administrator Teaches Service Learning Laura Tunningley Push play on the soundbar above to listen to the chapter. 19 min read AWritingCenterAdministratorTeachesServiceLearning.print What You Will Learn in this Chapter - What service learning is and what it entails. - The importance of intentional kindness and respect in relationships with community partners. - What a mutually beneficial and collaborative partnership will look like, as well as being mindful of differences and listening to our diverse partner’s perspectives. - Tips on how to get started on your service learning project. Key Terms - Service Learning - Intentional Kindness - Mindfulness of Difference What is Service Learning? Service learning is a way for student assignments and curriculum to become intertwined by working together with community partners, such as K-12 schools, local libraries, and non-profit organizations, in a way that benefits both students and community partners. As Cushman (1999) states, “When activist fieldwork is a cornerstone of the course, students and community residents can develop reciprocal and dialogic relations with each other; their relationship is a mutually beneficial give-and-take one” ( p. 330). Some examples might include working with fifth graders on writing narrative and persuasive essays, helping adults work on resumes and job application materials at a local family crisis services center, or working with a local high school to open a writing center. Service learning gives you the opportunity to fully participate in a project with others in the community, and learn in a hands-on way that you may not otherwise be able to do in a traditional composition classroom. These projects can be very meaningful, since you are building relationships with community members, learning about them and the issues they face, and taking what you learn to help benefit the community and also yourself (Flower, 2008). It is an opportunity to work with and learn from people who may be similar or different from you, and learn from those differences. As Flower (2008) states “In community-based service learning projects, one uses the role of student, mentor, teacher, researcher, or activist to move beyond the academy and form working relationships across differences of race, class, culture, gender, age, status, or discourse” (p. 3). Moving beyond the academy entails learning outside of the college classroom, and being actively involved in the community where we will work side by side with community members. When utilizing service learning in your first year composition course, your writing and actions inform each other. Actions within the community partnership develop critical thinking skills by forcing you to think more deeply about your writing topic, and your writing helps you process your thoughts and adapt your practices within the partnership to better work with participants. Your writing also has practical applications that you and your community