Social Work and Service Learning

Meryl Nadel, MSW, DSW is an associate professor and director of the Center for Social Research in the Social Work Department at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY. In addition to service learning, her research interests include social work/social welfare history, prevention, qualitative methods, and social work involvement in the summer camp movement. Virginia Majewski, MSW, PhD is professor and associate dean of the Indiana University School of Social Work in Indianapolis, IN. In addition to service learning as a pedagogical approach for social justice, her research and teaching interests include hunger and food insecurity, rural community organizing, and American Indian issues. Marilyn Sullivan-Cosetti, MSW, PhD is an associate professor and director of the Seton Hill University Social Work Program, Greensburg, PA. Her research interests include service learning in the academy, juvenile female violent offenders, and community organization practice.

• Chapter 1 Service Learning and Social Work Education: A Natural but Tenuous Connection Chapter 2 The Components of Service Learning as Pedagogy in Social Work Education Chapter 3 Service Learning Across the Social Work Curriculum Chapter 4 Social Welfare Policy and Services: Service Learning through Social Policy Projects in Human Service Organizations Chapter 5 Social Work Practice: Beginning Practice Skill Development in Introduction to Social Work Courses: Mobilizing Partnerships between Youth Development Agencies and Social Work Education through Service Learning Chapter 6 Research: Infusing Service Learning into Research, Social Policy, and Community-Based Practice Chapter 7 Human Behavior and the Social Environment: An Oral History Service-Learning Project Chapter 8 Human Diversity: Service Learning and Gender Studies within a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Context Chapter 9 Populations-at-Risk/Immersion Experience: Social Work in the Sun: Service Learning at Summer Camp Chapter 10 General Education: Herding Cats and Making History: Service Learning in a Large General Education Social Welfare Course Chapter 11 Developing Partnerships between Community and Curriculum: How Does the Team Assess Student Outcomes? Chapter 12 Service Lerning for Social Justice: Mandate for Long-Term Evaluation? Chapter 13 Service Learning in Social Work: A Curricular and Evaluative Model Chapter 14 Social Work, Service Learning, and the American Democracy Project: The Creation of a More Socially Conscious Campus Community

This is an important book for social work. As a profession, we have long endorsed the concept of service learning but this book provides background, theoretical perspectives, assessment strategies and examples that allow both beginning and experienced educators to develop excellent service learning opportunities for students. Its focus on social justice and empowerment, and its connection with EPAS standards make it a valuable contribution to the social work literature.