Developing a More Critically Minded Citizenry: Rethinking Service-Learning in the Social Studies

This chapter looks at how the integration of critical pedagogy in the social studies helps students better understand how social injustices are perpetuated and how students can take a more community responsive approach to service-learning. Based on a study conducted in a high school U.S. Government class in a large Midwestern city, the authors discuss how connecting in-class studies of government agencies—specifically the Department of Housing and Urban Development—to local issues through service-learning projects revealed a deeper understanding of, as well as a more critically minded approach to, citizenship and working toward social justice by participants. Findings from this mixed methods study reveal that the approaches used in this classroom fostered more critical thinking by students around why inequities persist and that involvement in such projects resulted in students’ desire to effect institutional change beyond completion of a single service-learning project.