Service-Learning as Crucible: Reflections on Immersion, Context, Power, and Transformation

Abstract

Each of these students spent three months in jail. Week after week, they attended class with other Temple University students and a group of individuals incarcerated at the facility. Having class inside a prison is compelling—an experience that’s hard to shake. And that is one reason we do it. I don’t want my students to shake these encounters easily; in fact, I want the students to be shaken by them. I want them to analyze what they experience and question it all: who is locked up and why, how these decisions are made, what these institutions are all about, and what each of us can do to change the situation.

I was caught completely off-guard by how powerful Inside-Out has turned out to be. This program has been a learning experience unlike any other that I have had the privilege to be a part of and it has absolutely had an impact upon the way that I view the world.

Mike, outside student

I didn’t expect to learn so much. I didn’t expect to grow and change as a result of the process…. As I reflect on the power of this course, I am awestruck and humbled …

Catherine, outside student