by Alan Melchior, Guest Editor

This issue of the CYD Journal represents an effort to reinforce the connection between service-learning and the world of Community Youth Development (CYD). Despite the widespread involvement of young people in service through community-based agencies and youth-serving organizations, service-learning is all too often thought of as something that happens only in schools. And, despite the involvement of thousands of schools and students in community-focused efforts, CYD is all too often seen as something outside the school, in isolation or even opposition to schools as institutions. But the fact is that both schools and community-based programs are focused on young people and share a common youth development goal. Our hope is to highlight the potential of service-learning as a youth development tool available to a variety of institutions and to encourage schools and communities to find new ways of working together to involve young people as active contributors to our common life.

What do we mean by service-learning? Service-learning is a teaching and learning process that involves young people in service to their communities in conjunction with a structured learning process or curriculum. In a school-based setting, service-learning is a method of teaching that integrates volunteer service into instruction as a means of teaching regular academic curriculum. As part of that process, students plan, implement, and reflect on projects that reinforce classroom subjects, in part by demonstrating their application in "real world" settings. In community-based programs, service-learning is tied to learning about issues of concern to youth and communities and to developing skills related to youth development, community-building, or civic engagement. In both cases, what distinguishes service-learning from voluntarism or community service is the link to an organized learning process where participants are expected to place their service in context and to reflect on the meaning and implications of their service experience.

Why is service-learning important? One answer is that it offers an effective means of meeting many of the youth development goals shared by schools and communities. Through service-learning young people can build a sense of responsibility, self-worth, and self-awareness, as well as improved academic skills, a sense of mastery, and a sense of membership and belonging-all core youth needs and key elements of the CYD philosophy. Another answer is its emphasis on educational goals: building academic skills, promoting civic skills and civic engagement, building social and personal skills, exposing young people to the workplace, and supporting career development. Like CYD, service-learning reflects a holistic approach to youth development and draws on the community as a source of support.

The articles in this edition were collected both to illustrate the range of service-learning and to help place current community and school-based efforts in a broader context. The feature article reports on the work of the National Commission on Service-Learning. Led by Senator John Glenn, the Commission provides an important endorsement for service-learning from a blue-ribbon panel of policy and educational leaders. Kielsmeier and Klopp provide an introduction to service-learning and remind us of its core elements. Spangler and Teter's article draws the connection between service-learning and community action, as does the article on the Institute for Community Research's efforts to involve young people in Participatory Action Research. Rappaport highlights a school-based service-learning program that involves students in community problem solving. McCabe asks where we go from here in order to support a continuum of involvement in service over time. Holdsman, Mitchell, and Toole's commentary looks at how we might apply the ideas of social marketing to support service-learning among teachers and other key constituencies.

We hope that these articles will encourage you to look around your own community. Where is service-learning taking place and how can you participate? How can you help to create new opportunities for young people and new partnerships in the community? And how can schools, community agencies, and community members work together to make service-learning an integral part of CYD efforts.