What makes inclusive service-learning inclusive?

ABSTRACT

Although the literature on inclusive service learning generally reports positive outcomes for students with disabilities, it provides little insight into the process of inclusion that occurs when students with and without disabilities meet within a service-learning framework. This distinction between students with and without disabilities became less clear, especially as all students began to see that they have disabilities or that they lack something that the other has or vice versa, experience themselves without disabilities even if others have defined them that way. In this paper, we address this issue through a case study of a service-learning course that brought together students with and without disabilities. The course was based on a five-facet model for inclusive service learning that comprised theory, experiential learning, community projects, dialogue, and reflection. A qualitative analysis of the course illustrates that both students with and without disabilities experienced significant changes in perception of disability such that they no longer saw themselves as two separate groups. The paper looks at the processes that produced this change and suggests the idea of ‘continuous mutual learning’ (CML) as an important component in education for inclusion, arguing that CML can deepen the inclusiveness of inclusive service learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive service-learning
• disabilities
• inclusion
• continuous mutual learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 All students’ words in this section were taken from their personal reflections, unless otherwise noted.

2 Quoted from an interview with a course participant.

3 From the course’s video ‘From rhetoric to practice: promoting the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the community.’

4 From the course’s video ‘From rhetoric to practice: promoting the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the community.’

5 From the course’s video ‘From rhetoric to practice: promoting the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the community.’

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Noam Lapidot-Lefler

Noam Lapidot-Lefler, PhD, is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education in the Faculty of Education, Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel. She is a member of the Action Research Center for Social Justice at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College. Her main research topics center on social-emotional learning and social inclusion.

Nasreen Kais

Nasreen Kais is a social worker. Most of her work in the field focuses on social change and achieving social justice among disadvantaged groups. She is also a member of the Action Research Center for Social Justice at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel.