Service-Learning in Times of Crisis: Early Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Effects on Reciprocity

This study has two main objectives: (1) to analyze how different constituencies (students, teachers, and community partners) in service-learning courses at VU Amsterdam (Netherlands) responded to the COVID-19 crisis during the first outbreak and (2) to investigate the effects of these responses on reciprocal interactions between them. Our results show that the switch to an online environment caused a high burden on teachers. However, their motivation, adaptability, and creativity have been essential to safeguard students' academic outcomes and the benefit to community partners. Also, the responses to the COVID-19 crisis have created opportunities for urgent and relevant community-based activities and for new conceptualizations of community. This article presents the current state of the impact of a crisis situation on experiential pedagogies such as service-learning and provides recommendations on how to safeguard different types of reciprocity in an online environment and better respond to crises in the future.