Stories From the Field: Black Service-Learning Student Experiences

Abstract

The increasingly diverse student population serves as a motivating factor for colleges to reimagine both their academic pedagogy and curriculum to be more inclusive of diverse student learners’ needs. Service-learning is a high-impact practice that positively influences students’ academic success, and student engagement on- and off-campus, along with persistence toward graduation (Kuh, 2008, Finley & McNair, 2013; Harper, 2009; McCormick et al., 2017; Valentine et al., 2021). The National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE) data from 2008 to 2020 reported that Black undergraduate students participate in service-learning courses at higher rates than White students (Harper, 2009; Kinzie et al., 2020; Kuh, 2008; Workbook: NSSE High-Impact Practices, n.d.). However, there is limited scholarship examining the lived experiences of Black service-learners to understand their high participation in this high-impact practice.

The aim of this research study is to provide a macro picture of Black student’s experiences in service-learning through reflective semi-structured interviews (Creswell, 2015; Shah, 2020). To better understand the experiences of Black students' service-learning experiences, a grounded research study was used to highlight themes that emerged from the data collected by participants (Charmaz, 2017; Kimball et al., 2016; Mertler, 2019). Together the conceptual frameworks of transformative learning theory and student voice theory provided a lens into how students make meaning of their service-learning experiences. By sharing their own narrative stories about what they learned (transformative learning theory) and how they learned through their service-learning experiences (student voice theory) (Cook-Sather, 2002; Cook-Sather, 2006; Kiely, 2005; Matthews & Dollinger, 2022; Mezirow, 1997; Welch & Plaxton-Moore, 2019). This study added narrative responses from seventeen semi-structured interviews with Black undergraduate students about their service-learning course experiences. From the participants’ reflective stories about the Black service-learning undergraduate experience, four findings emerged: the importance of reflection, disposition to service, kinship, and service-learning’s impact on their career aspirations. These findings contextualize Black students’ transformative learning from their perspective about the value of service-learning courses. Practitioners, scholars, and faculty members should consider these findings as a start to understanding how the experiences of students of color in service-learning can lead to a change in pedagogy, practice, and scholarship of service-learning that is inclusive of diverse learner experiences.