Discusses the need to look beyond good intentions when using service learning to teach writing.
Michelle Trim, lecturer of English, writes about the need for compositionists to look beyond good intentions in their use of service learning to teach writing in the summer issue of Modern Language Studies.
Drawing on theories of democratic education, postmodern ethics and composition pedagogy, Trim critiques some of the popular motivations behind using service learning in composition classes. Ultimately, the article argues for a different kind of social responsibility in service learning, one that facilitates agentive participation by partners and students alike.
The article, “Going Beyond Good Intentions: Reconsidering Motivations and Examining Responsibility in Composition-based Service Learning,” appears in the current issue of Modern Language Studies, 39.1 (Summer 2009).