WST 3015
May 1, 2010
Activism Log 9
Reflection
According to the University of Central Florida, service learning is defined as "a teaching method that uses community involvement to apply theories or skills being taught in a course." The program seeks to further the learning experience beyond that received in a basic academic setting. It focuses on community needs and "require students to reflect on their activity in order to gain an appreciation for the relationship between civics and academics." It is also shown to be a "reciprocal process" which involves students, the community, and faculty. Service learning projects are beneficial for all because they promote engaging academics, civic responsibility, and community connections.
Reciprocity
This whole process has been a memorable and important learning process for me. Actively working to increase feminist values in the youth of America while working with the Girl Scouts was a very good choice for this service learning project for me. In our readings it mentions in the first chapter that "[w]omen's studies seeks new ways of understanding - more comprehensive than those offered by traditional academic disciplines. The discipline started as a critique of scholarship that ignored women's lives or treated women in stereotypical wasy. Women's studies sought to provide missing information, new theoretical perspectives, and new ways of teaching," (Kirk & Okazawa-Rey 3). By utilizing the UCF Service Learning system, I believe our class was able to find a new and exciting way to learn about feminist studies. It has been an interesting journey for me since I decided to add Women's Studies as a minor. I constantly talk about class and issues and lessons and readings around my friends and family now. I am officially referred to as a feminist and for the first time I really don't understand the negative connotation that some tag onto that title. When my room mate and sister actually said that to me I made the point to respond back: "So are you! You just don't know it."
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Fifth Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.
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