A Critical Assessment of Service

Abstract

Introduction:  The efforts to get students involved in service projects as part of their higher I education is accepted as a virtue by large numbers in higher education. The chief criticism seems to come from the defenders of academic specialization, who fear any distractions in time or resources from the cloning of people such as themselves. Having been and early proponent of service learning and a continuing supporter and practitioner in several academic projects described below, the author is a critic of our failure to confront the major challenges to effective service-learning. Having made that rather presumptuous statement, however, the identification of those challenges is a daunting challenge itself.