Learning is done by individuals who are intrinsically tied to others as social beings, interacting as competitors or collaborators, constraining or supporting the learning process, and able to enhance learning through cooperation and sharing.

As noted earlier, I have grouped these last two principles together and moved them to the end of the list. It was the highly socially interactive nature as evidenced in the challenging yet (we hope) supportive learning climate that made the enactment of the previous eight principles possible.

This principle was evident in the community-oriented nature of the CSL. Students were encouraged to work together and communicate in person and online throughout the semester. Working in groups was a common classroom practice in both SOCI 101 and ENGL 101. However, this social interaction extended to the work the CSL students did with their students.

Dana noted a special affiliation with a student who seemed unable to stay focused on a task and regularly had his name put on the board for misbehaving and lost his recess to complete his work:

I have grown attached to the children, especially T. He has come to mean a lot to me and he is the one child that I feel I have touched. His behavior has improved since I have gone to the school. His name wasn't on the board today. It made me feel good not so see his name and to see that he was able to play [outside at recess] with the children after his work was done.

Ann expressed her engagement with her students and the satisfaction that it gave her:

I felt like I was helping out, and it felt good. I also felt good that I was giving them incentive to do their work because I wouldn't give them the answers to their questions until they did what they were supposed to do!

Learning is strongly affected by the educational climate in which it takes place: the settings and surroundings, the influences of others, and the values accorded to the life of the mind and to learning achievements.

This principle assumes that an effective learning climate has to provide the "right" balance of comfort and stress. Activities need to be challenging enough to forestall boredom and to ask students to move beyond what they already know or can do but possible enough so that students think they can meet the challenges. Such motivation from teacher to students and from students to students was evident in all three courses in the CSL.

Kristin commented on the learning climate in this way:

I really love this hands-on approach to learning [in our community service]. It is such a nice alternative to being in a [college] classroom for two hours. I did community service in high school but so much of that was actually a bit removed from the problem; many times I never even saw the people I was helping. But this [experience at Clara Barton] is so amazing -- seeing the children react and interact with me is just so much fun.

Next Section: "Closure"