Reflection:Learning From Our

Experiences

4-H Service-Learning Initiative Trainings

Ruston and Crowley, LAJuly 2005

“There are one story intellects, two story intellects,

and three story intellects with skylights.

All fact collectors who have no aim beyond their facts are one story people.

Two story people compare, reason, generalize,

using the labor of the fact collectors as their own.

Three story people idealize, imagine, predict.

Their best illumination comes through the skylight.”

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Reflection” in Service Learning

Defined as the “use of creative and critical thinking

skills to help prepare for, succeed in,

and to learn from the service experience,

and to examine the larger picture and context in which the service

occurs”

Toole & Toole, 1995

I hear and I forget, I hear and I forget,

I see and I remember, I see and I remember,

I do and I understand.I do and I understand.Confucius c. 450 BCConfucius c. 450 BC

The Importance of Reflection

• Moves the experience beyond “learning by doing”

• Allows participants the opportunity to integrate their learning

• Allows for closure and completeness to their experience

• Allows participants time to reflect and interpret meaning for themselves

“No problemcan be solved from the

same level of consciousness

that created it.”- Albert Einstein

Opportunities for Reflection:

• During preparation for service

• During action or service

• Following service

• During demonstration

In pre-service reflection:• examine their beliefs,

assumptions, and attitudes about issues.

• Questions:

Is there a problem?

What is the problem?

How severe is the problem?

Is it my problem?

How and does it affect me?

During service reflection:

• Learn from their peers, share observations, ask for and receive feedback, ask questions and solve problems.

• Questions:

What makes a person “homeless”? How does it occur?

Have friends observed homeless people around their communities? What did they see?

How should I act if a homeless person came up to me?

How can I help the homeless?

During post-service reflection:• look back at their initial beliefs,

assumptions and attitudes to assess their own development.

• Questions:How have my beliefs and attitudes changed about homeless people?Does the service learning project address the problem of homelessness? If not, how can we change it to better address the problem? OR How can we rethink how to address the problem for future service learning projects?Is homelessness truly the problem? How can I start the cycle of prevention earlier? Where do I begin? Who can help me?

Simplifying for younger children:

• What was special about this activity today?• What did the experience remind you of?• What did you learn that you didn’t know

before?• How did you feel being at the service site?

How did your feelings change from when you first arrived to when you left?

• How did you make a difference today?• Five years from now, what do you think you

will remember about this project?

The 4 C’s of Reflection:• Continuous in time frame

• Connected to intellectual and academic needs

• Challenging to assumptions and

complacency

• Contextualized in terms of design and setting

Source: Eyler, Giles and Schmiedes, A Practitioner’s Guide to Reflection in Service-Learning

Whom to Involve in Reflection:

• Youth and adults engaged in service• Community members • Parents • Program leaders, administrators• Elected officials• Other adult allies

“A mind

that is stretched

by a new experience

can never go back

to its old dimensions.”- Oliver Wendall Holmes

Principles of Good Practice for Effective Reflection:

• Links service objectives to the course (curriculum) objectives

• Is guided and purposeful

• Occurs regularly within the course (throughout the entire service)

Principles of Good Practice for Effective Reflection:

• Includes components that can be evaluated according to well-defined criteria

• Provides opportunities for both private and public reflection

• Fosters civic responsibility

• “Service-learning holds up a MIRROR for us to see ourselves, a MICROSCOPE for us to examine our society, and BINOCULARS for us to see what lies ahead.”-Mark Cooper

Resources:

• An Asset Builder’s Guide to Service Learning, Search Institute, www.search-institute.org.

• Connecting Thinking and Action: Ideas for Service Learning Reflection, RMC Research Corp., www.rmcdenver.com/products.

Eyler, J. (2001). Creating your reflection map. New Directions for Higher Education, 114, 35-43.

• Eyler, J. (2002). Reflection: Linking service and learning – linking students and communities. Journal of Social Issues, 58 (3), 517-534.

• Guide to Service Learning, National 4-H Design Team on Community Service Learning, www.louisiana4h.org.

• Reflection Toolkit, Northwest Service Academy, www.northwestserviceacademy.org.