Emotion and Learning: Feeling our Way Toward a New Theory of Reflection in Service-Learning

Abstract

I think therefore I am."Rene Descartes (1596-1650) "The advantage of emotions is that they lead us astray."Oscar Wilde Giles and Eyler (1994), Furco (1996), Hatcher and Bringle (1997), and others trace the theoretical roots of service-learning from John Dewey's educational and social philosophy to David Kolb's conceptions of experiential education.Dewey and Kolb embrace a holistic view of learning as a life-long "process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience" (Kolb, 1984, p. 38).They further recognize that not all experiences are "genuinely or equally educative" (Dewey, 1938, p. 25).Instead, reflection acts as a bridge between conceptual understandings and concrete experiences.Service-learning proponents share this view, and research demonstrates that reflection is one of the core program characteristics necessary to effective practice in service-learning (Eyler & Giles, 1999;Eyler, Giles, & Schmiede, 1996; Hatcher & Bringle;Jacoby & Associates, 1996).Hatcher, Bringle, and Muthiah recently (2004) summarized the consensus among service-learning scholars:When reflection activities engage the learner in examining and analyzing the relationship between relevant, meaningful service and the interpretive template of a discipline, there is enormous potential for learning to broaden and deepen along academic, social, moral, personal, and civic dimensions.(p.39) Reflection and LearningDewey's central pillars of reflective thought and reflective activities serve as the foundation for contemporary service-learning practice, although the concept of service-learning had not been articulated when he wrote his philosophy of education.According to Giles and Eyler (1994), Dewey's explorations of "experience, inquiry, and reflection [are] the key elements of a theory of knowing in servicelearning" (p.79).In Dewey's scheme, reflection is a necessary connection between experience and theory.Experience alone does not produce learning; instead, as Bringle and Hatcher (1999) explain, "Experience becomes educative when critical reflective thought creates new meaning and leads to growth and the ability to take informed actions" (p.180).Dewey posits that learners continuously construct new meanings based on experience and analysis, moving from action to reflection to new action.Dewey's influence is apparent in standard definitions of reflection in the service-learning literature; for example:• Reflection is the "intentional consideration of Emotion and Learning: Feeling our Way Toward a New Theory of Reflection in Service-Learning

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