International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Volume 1 Issue 1 | Fall 2013 | http://journals.sfu.ca/iarslce A Grounded Theory Investigation into the Process and Effects of Service- Learning in Counselor Education Joseph A. Stewart-Sicking Jill L. Snodgrass Rochelle Pereira Wairimu W. Mutai Robin Crews Loyola University Maryland Service-learning is an approach to experiential learning that is relatively unexplored among graduate students. The authors of this study sought to understand the process and effects of service-learning among 76 graduate counseling students enrolled in an “Introduction to Community Counseling” course over three semesters, 40 of whom engaged in service-learning. Analyzing students’ reflection papers, projects, and blog entries via a grounded-theory approach, the study generated a model of how service-learning impacted these students’ learning and sense of counselor identity. Students went through a process of development: They began with personal engagement, became overwhelmed, readjusted their expectations, and then reconstructed their individual counselor identities. Keywords: service-learning; counselor education; grounded theory The 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) Standards “represent a significant change from content-based standards to competency-based standards” (Gehart, 2008, para. 1). This necessitates applied and experiential pedagogies that enable students to engage in dialectical discourse between the textbook/classroom and the “real world.” In addition, the 2009 CACREP Standards emphasize the importance of social justice, advocacy, and multicultural competencies in counselor education and practice. Service-learning is one method for attending to these standards, as it helps students to recognize “that context matters, that stereotypes may not reflect reality, that multiple viewpoints have merit, that social problems have complex etiologies, and that solutions come from dialogue and cooperation” (Brandenberger, 1998, p. 77). Service-learning emerged in the work of Robert Sigmon in the 1960s as an instructional method for integrating community service experiences into the learning environment in ways that foster citizenship (Rocheleau, 2004; Sigmon, 1996). Though the term “service-learning” was coined in 1967, Kendall’s (1990) literature review evinced 147 derivations or understandings of the term, some focusing on it as a pedagogical approach and others as a philosophy. Amidst a plethora of definitions, we understand service-learning as a “course-based, credit bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs, and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility” (Bringle & Hatcher, 2009, p. 38). Since the 1960s, sustained scholarly study among undergraduate populations evidences significant gains for service-learning students, including an enhanced awareness and ability to deal with social problems (Batchelder & Root, 1994; Roschelle, Turpin, & Elias, 2000), increased civic responsibility (Hunter & Brisbin, 2000; Myers-Lipton, 1996), and an increase in critical thinking ability over the semester (Parker-Gwin & Mabry, 1998). Other researchers have reported that students who engaged in service-learning activities indicated a greater