ABSTRACT
The work of understanding human behavior and how the mind operates is inextricably linked to social context. In framing the educational task of communicating to students the nature of the science of human behavior, psychologists must define the role of psychology within a changing society and find ways to integrate psychological education from high school through graduate school. The ideas of one of psychology’s founders, John Dewey, form the theoretical basis for understanding how students learn from experiences in the community, while Kolb’s research on experiential learning provides a frequently cited model in the practice of service-learning. Students in Leeds’s service-learning classes develop scenarios that represent relationship dilemmas typical in community agencies, and then they role play the scenarios in training sessions for audiences new to service learning. Relationships between individuals are central to service-learning, but it is also important to consider relationships with the broader community.
