TY - JOUR
T1 - Civic service through schools
T2 - An international perspective
AU - Arenas, Alberto
AU - Bosworth, Kris
AU - Kwandayi, Hardson
N1 - Funding Information:
While academic achievement has not been a central concern for community service research, it has been of more interest for service learning research. In the case of community service, there are few links between service and higher achievement, in great part because most programmes are not designed to improve this skill (Alt & Medrich, 1994). However, community service activities that require students to focus on academic content (e.g. tutoring) have shown positive academic effects. In a meta-analysis of tutoring studies from the USA, Cohen, Kulik and Kulik (1982) found that tutoring programmes had positive effects on the academic performance of both tutees and tutors. These findings were strongest for tutoring in reading and mathematics, but particularly the latter. Another important finding comes from research done by the Ministry of Education in Argentina on its programme of community groups of study (Ministerio de Educación, 2000). These study groups assist students who have dropped out of school to catch up with their studies and eventually re-join the school. The programme involves intensive community service, such as cleaning the neighbourhood, making signs asking residents not to throw rubbish on the street and respecting public spaces, collaborating with various neighbourhood festivities and elaborating a monthly bulletin with neighbourhood news. Preliminary results have shown that a combination of the groups of study and community work has been instrumental in encouraging children to return to school and having parents motivate their children to remain there.
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - Civic service, which refers to activities that seek to improve the local, national or international community either through community service or service learning, is widespread in secondary schools around the world. Despite this pervasive presence, there are few studies that approach the subject from a crosscomparison perspective. This article addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive review of the international literature on civic service in terms of history, theory, research and practice. In terms of history and theory, the article brings together the work of several key proponents of civic service who, despite working in different countries and continents, placed civic service high in their educational agenda. In terms of research, it presents the most uptodate research on the potential benefits and pitfalls of civic service. In terms of practice, it lists various limitations related to its implementation and presents possibilities for overcoming these. This section stresses the importance of establishing a respectful and honest relationship with intended beneficiaries to avoid fostering unhealthy social patterns, a key problem of many civic service programs. The article ends with areas for future research.
AB - Civic service, which refers to activities that seek to improve the local, national or international community either through community service or service learning, is widespread in secondary schools around the world. Despite this pervasive presence, there are few studies that approach the subject from a crosscomparison perspective. This article addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive review of the international literature on civic service in terms of history, theory, research and practice. In terms of history and theory, the article brings together the work of several key proponents of civic service who, despite working in different countries and continents, placed civic service high in their educational agenda. In terms of research, it presents the most uptodate research on the potential benefits and pitfalls of civic service. In terms of practice, it lists various limitations related to its implementation and presents possibilities for overcoming these. This section stresses the importance of establishing a respectful and honest relationship with intended beneficiaries to avoid fostering unhealthy social patterns, a key problem of many civic service programs. The article ends with areas for future research.
KW - Civic service
KW - Community service
KW - Experiential education
KW - Service learning
KW - Work education
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U2 - 10.1080/03057920500382416
DO - 10.1080/03057920500382416
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:29344470776
SN - 0305-7925
VL - 36
SP - 23
EP - 40
JO - Compare
JF - Compare
IS - 1
ER -