1. Ritualized Relief and the Misapplication of Dewey in Service-Learning

This article investigates the way that service-learning educators make use of John Dewey’s philosophy of education. A hermeneutical analysis of service-learning literature demonstrates that in establishing Dewey as a theoretical framework, service-learning educators separate learning from service in their thinking, teaching, and writing. Thus, this article considers the effect of distancing learning from service on students’ assumptions of community and the communities served via service-learning. When service-learning educators ignore the bedrock of their theoretical foundation, service-learning practices have the potential to perpetuate ritualized relief, or a routinization of response to community need that harms communities served and students’ server mindsets.