This article describes a brief service-learning assignment in which graduate art therapy students at an urban university in the United States worked with children residing in a homeless shelter. The term service-learning refers to the integration of community service into a college course to help students achieve specific learning objectives. In this case, service-learning was intended to supplement an art therapy internship course through an opportunity for students to increase knowledge about homelessness. Students’ learning was assessed using the criteria of two art therapy education standards: Cultural and Social Diversity, and Human Growth and Development (American Association of Art Therapy [AATA], 2007). In addition to achievement noted in these areas, the service-learning assignment unexpectedly seemed to foster achievement in a third education standard: Studio Art. This article demonstrates how even a short-term service-learning assignment can enhance art therapy education and benefit the community, when it is thoughtfully integrated into the curriculum and connected to education standards.
Service-learning is a term that refers to assigning community service in an academic course in order to facilitate certain learning objectives of the course. In addition to academic learning, service-learning is purported to help students better understand themselves and how they interact with others, and to develop their sense of responsibility to others (Fenzel, Peyrot, Speck, & Gugerty, 2003; Howard, 2001 and Rhoads, 1997). A number of service-learning programs exist around the world that combine academic study with substantive volunteer work (International Partnership for Service-Learning & Leadership, n.d.) In the case described here, a service-learning assignment was integrated into an art therapy internship course to help students increase their knowledge about homelessness, and to foster a sense of social responsibility toward people experiencing homelessness.
While it was assumed that going to a homeless shelter would be of value to students’ learning, in order to make their learning explicit, the assignment was connected to two related education standards of the American Art Therapy Association (AATA)—Cultural and Social Diversity, and Human Growth and Development (AATA, 2007) (Table 1). By making these two standards learning objectives of the course, students were motivated to intentionally practice and reflect on these objectives and skills. Although this assignment was by no means the only place in the art therapy curriculum to address these standards, they were appropriate to address here because of service-learning's emphasis on personal awareness and social responsibility, as well as incorporating an understanding of the broad factors influencing health and quality of life (Gelman, Holland, Seifer, Shinnamon, & Connors, 1998). For many students, coursework and internship teach knowledge and technical skills, but fall short on helping students develop social responsibility, personal awareness, or interpersonal skills necessary for work with diverse populations. Fenzel et al. (2003) studied alumni who participated in service-learning and those who did not, and found service-learning alumni were more likely to have attitudes and behaviors toward both personal responsibility, and community responsibility for improving the welfare of others (Fenzel et al., 2003).
