Service Learning Commons^™

Out Of The Classroom And Into The Community: Service Learning Reinforces Classroom Instruction, Roy Bonnette

Project Summaries

Technology students successfully developed four complete sets of house plans including floor plans, framing plans, and elevations. Because Habitat relies on donations of doors, windows, and cabinets, detail drawings and schedules vary and were not included. Unskilled persons who volunteered time and labor for Habitat needed concise and unambiguous directions from supervisors. The students' drawings of floor and elevation plans provided these workers with a clear and graphic representation of the construction goals. As noted above, students were held to professional and technical accountability. This process was put in place to replicate real-world practices and to give students a sense …

Service Learning Training & Curriculum Guide, Wayne-Westland Community Schools

Curriculum

Service-learning is a powerful teaching methodology wherein students perform service in the community to meet real needs as means of learning important subject matter. Service-learning is being widely practiced throughout the United States and internationally in K-12 schools. Having students learn important curricular objectives by providing service yields benefits for all involved.

4 Practical Resources For Linking Service Learning And The Florida Sunshine State Standards, Florida Learn & Serve

Curriculum

In the 1990s, the Florida Department of Education (FLDoE) and other state education agencies established and adopted education standards to cover major curricular areas in K-12 public education. Florida's standards are linked with statewide assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. The statewide assessment, termed the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, or FCAT, is a primary tool used to evaluate student and school performance. Student promotion and graduation are based partly on FCAT scores. In addition, schools receive a grade each year, from A-F, based on their students' FCA T performance and other weighted factors.

Service-Learning Designation: A Faculty Handbook, Deanna Anderson, Marlene Bacon, Josh Gold, Marianne Mcknight, Gail Jessen

Curriculum

Service-learning is a progressive and innovative pedagogy. It is both a creative and a diverse tool for teaching and learning. Service-learning is not merely community service and when structured correctly, service-learning will greatly impact student learning and enhance the typical classroom experience. It is also entirely up to the discretion of individual faculty members as to which pedagogies they will employ within their classroom. So why make the effort to formally designate your intentions to utilize service-learning?

How Service-Learning Can Enhance The Pedagogy And Culture Ofengineering Programs At Institutions Of Higher Education: A Review Of The Literature, Jessica L. Paquin

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Many colleges and universities are actively renewing their commitment to service and to the transmission of knowledge for the public good. Students, faculty and administrators alike recognize the need to synthesize academic proficiency with responsible citizenry, in order to effectively participate in a diverse democracy.

As societal needs change, disciplines change as well. The field of engineering is no exception. A competitive, diverse, global market has forced vast changes in accreditation standards, which heavily impact the university and college engineering programs that tailor instruction to meet accreditor's requirements. In response to the evolving demands of industry, the field of engineering …

Community-Based Learning: Engaging Students For Success And Citizenship, Atelia Melaville, Amy C. Berg, Martin J. Blank

Partnerships/Community

In recent years, national tragedies—both man-made and natural—have forced Americans to see how much we rely on strong neighborhoods, communities, and democratic institutions. We’ve seen how lack of attention to their well being affects us all. These events lay bare the moral imperative that underlies the mission of public education—to develop active, engaged citizens who are able to participate in and contribute fully to a democratic society.

Disciplining Service Learning: Institutionalization And The Case For Community Studies, Dan W. Butin

Service Learning, General

This article argues that the service-learning field has been pursuing the wrong revolution. Namely, service learning has been envisioned as a transformative pedagogical practice and philosophical orientation that would change the fundamental policies and practices of the academy. However, its attempted institutionalization faces substantial barriers and positions service learning in an uncomfortable double-bind that ultimately co-opts and neutralizes its agenda. This article argues that a truly transformative agenda may be to create a parallel movement to develop an "academic home" for service learning within academic "community studies" programs. This "disciplining" of service learning is the truly revolutionary potential of institutionalizing …

Service-Learning In Watershed-Based Initiatives: Keys To Education For Sustainability In Geography?, James Eflin, Amy L. Sheaffer

Service Learning, General

A call for combining the strengths of geographic education with environmental education to produce an 'education for sustainability' addresses local problems for sustainable development. A place-based approach encourages civic responsibility among students. Using service-learning to extend education beyond the classroom in this case study connected students with local clients in a watershed-based initiative. Theoretical underpinnings of service-learning for geographic education are discussed, and the case study is viewed from instructor, student, and client perspectives to identify successful outcomes and provide suggestions for those who might adopt service-learning for the first time.

Preparing Community-Oriented Teachers: Reflections From A Multicultural Service-Learning Standpoint, Marilynne Boyle-Baise

Diversity

The Banneker History Project (BHP) reconstructed the history of a local, segregated school. The Benjamin Banneker School served African American youth from 1913 to 1951. Oral histories from surviving alumni as well as primary documents from the times were sought. This article focuses on ways that one group of participants, 24 preservice teachers of color. experienced and interpreted the BHP. Data are reported in response to three questions: (a) Whose community does service learning serve? (b) What meanings do preservice teachers make of culturally responsive teaching? and (c) Does a community orientation count in teacher education? The author reflects on …

Assessing The Impact Of The Kids Consortium Kids Living Democracy And First Year Kidscan Programs: First Year Findings, Center For Youth And Communities

Project Summaries

KIDS Consortium is a New England based non-profit organization that works with teachers, administrators and students to involve students in addressing real challenges faced by their communities. It provides tools and training around its KIDS As Planners service-learning model for educators and community organizations, and conducts student Apprentice Citizenship leadership programs. Together teachers and students identify, research, and work to address local community needs. KIDS provides funding, guidance and training to teachers who match community projects to school curricula, with the ultimate goal of promoting positive outcomes for students, teachers, schools and communities.

Youth Helping America - Building Active Citizens: The Role Of Social Institutions In Teen Volunteering, Corporation For National And Community Service

School K-12

At a time when many are worried that the United States is experiencing a general decline in civic and political engagement, volunteering appears particularly strong among today’s young people. While volunteering is just one form of community involvement, research has shown that it is often connected to other forms of engagement, and, among youth, volunteering plays a valuable role in shaping how youth learn to interact with their community and develop the skills, values, and sense of empowerment necessary to become active citizens.

Learning To Give: Final Evaluation Report Overview & Recommendations (2004-2005), Michigan State University

Higher Education

The Learning to Give project has evolved considerably from its inception nearly a decade ago. From an almost exclusive concern with helping children understand philanthropy and their potential role in it, the project has broadened its focus to include helping children learn how to contribute positively across all aspects of civil society. The earlier years were necessarily focused on creating and testing curricular lessons; more recently the emphasis has fallen on disseminating those tested materials and encouraging their adoption in more schools. In the last two years the project has begun to expand beyond Michigan and currently is establishing itself …

Service Learning: Strategies For Developing Character, Catherine Berger Kaye

Special Topics, General

Simply put, service learning connects school-based curriculum with the inherent caring and concern young people have for their world-whether on their school campus, at a local food bank, or in a distant rainforest. With the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, young students are especially attuned to how we as a nation, truly rely on the spirit and actions of volunteers to bring both essentials for daily living and to restore hope.

Character, Civic Renewal And Service Learning For Democratic Citizenship In Higher Education, John Annette

Civic Engagement

This article explores the civic republican conception of citizenship underlying the Labour government's programme of civil renewal and the introduction of education for democratic citizenship. It considers the importance of the cultivation of civic virtue through political participation for such developments and it reviews the research into how service teaming linked to character education can lead to the civic virtue of duty or social responsibility.

Paying The Bills Is Not Just Theory: Service Learning About A Living Wage, Nina Banks, Geoffrey Schneider, Paul Susman

Higher Education

This article discusses how to combine service learning, and spccifica!Iy a living wage research project, with radical political economy-based undergraduate economics courses to promote critical thinking, civic engagement, and active learning in students. The authors explore how instructors can integrate service learning into the teaching of political economy. In addition, the article describes the authors' experiences with living wage projects that they have implemented. The article makes the argument that the combination of experiential learning and political economics enriches the course experience for students significantly, leaving a much more lasting impression on students than a standard economics class.

Quo Vadis: What Can Students Do For American Cities?, Harris Wofford

Special Topics, General

The experience of service learning can be deeply rewarding, whether the service rendered is voluntary or a required part of the curriculum; whether it is part-time or full-time (as it is in most programs of national service); whether it takes place in the community where the college or university is located, in a student's home community, or in other parts of the country-- or overseas in the peace Corps.

Becoming Culturally Responsive Teachers Through Service-Learning: A Case Study Of Five Novice Classroom Teachers, Elinor L. Brown, Bobby R. Howard

Service Learning, General

In the effort to augment teacher candidate education beyond text-based direct instruction, universities and teacher preparation programs are incorporating more field-based interactions through which teacher candidates can master skills and reinforce pedagogy through experience. The term "service-learning" was first used by the Southern Regional Education Board in 1969 to describe "the accomplishment of tasks that meet genuine human needs in combination with conscious educational growth" (Staton, Giles & Cruz, 1999).

The Impact Of Participation In Service-Learning On High School Students' Civic Engagement, Shelley Billig, Susan Root, Dan Jesse

School K-12

Recent evidence suggests that there is a growing problem of civic disengagement among youth in the United States. Young people in high school report having little interest in civic and political affairs and little knowledge of or trust in the political system (Levine & Lopez, 2002; National Commission on Service-Learning, 2001; Rahm & Transue, 1998; Torney-Purta, 2002). Results from a recent poll indicate that many young people do not feel they can make a difference, solve problems in their communities, or have a meaningful impact on politics or government (Lake Snell Perry & Associates and The Tarrance Group, Inc, 2002). …

Student Nurses Participate In Public Health Research And Practice Through A School-Based Screening Program, Christine A. Bronsan, Sandra L. Upchurch, Janet C. Meininger, Lynne E. Hester, Gwen Jonson, Mona A. Eissa

Service Learning, General

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions among children in minority populations, placing them at risk for diabetes and hypertension. The importance of educating a generation of nurses who have the knowledge, skills, and passion to address this public health need is crucial to the profession and to America's health. This article describes the use of a Community Partnership Model to frame baccalaureate nursing students' (B.S.N.) service learning within the context of a research study to screen middle- and high-school students for health risks. The missions of education, research, and practice are linked together in the model by three processes: evidence-based practice, …

Whose World Is This?, Jayne R. Beilke

Higher Education

As. defined by critical theorists, critical multicultural education requires the development of a critical consciousness (conscientization). The elements of critical consciousness include dialogue, problem-posing, and the exploration of generative themes such as race, class, and gender. The formation of a partnership between university students and a community nonprofit, youth-serving agency, can be a powerful catalyst in the development of critical multicultural consciousness.

This article describes an on-going partnership between university secondary education majors in a multicultural education class and the local Boys and Girls Club. It draws upon student reflective journals to illustrate the process of developing critical multicultural consciousness …

Inform And Influence: Advocating For Service-Learning - A Step-By-Step Guide, National Service-Learning Partnership, National Center For Learning And Citizenship

Guides

This guide is for people who believe that service-learning should be a part of every young person's education and who want to contribute effectively to expanding the use of service-learning.

The Banneker History Project: Historic Investigation Of A Once Segregated School, Marilynne Boyle-Baise, Paul Binford

Special Topics, General

The Banneker History Project was a service learning project in which students investigated the history of the Benjamin Banneker School, a segregated school that operated from 1915-1951 in a Midwestern college community. This article discusses the research these students conducted and the perceptions they adopted as a result of their work.

Developing Civically Rich Culminating Projects, Project Service Leadership

School K-12

The Culminating Project is a new graduation requirement that has been passed by the State Board of Education. The graduating class of 2008 will need to complete these projects in order to receive a regular diploma from Washington state. By adopting a state-wide graduation requirement of a Culminating Project for all high school graduates, the State Board of Education has provided a new and challenging opportunity for students across the state to realize the vision articulated by Washington state’s education reform law.

Fostering Educational Resilience And Achievement In Urban Schools Through School-Family Community Partnerships, Julia Bryan

Partnerships/Community

In this era of education reform, school counselors are among educators being held accountable for the academic achievement of minority and poor children, School counselors in urban schools serve a disproportionate number of minority and poor children at risk for school failure. Urban school counselors can play critical roles in engaging their school's stakeholders in implementing partnership programs that foster student achievement and resilience. This article discusses team facilitator, collaborator, and advocacy roles and strategies for urban school counselors and specific types of partnership programs they need to promote to foster academic achievement and resilience in minority and poor students.

Democratic Service Learning, Lew Allen, Kathy Thompson

Civic Engagement

The ultimate purpose of American public education is to help students learn how to be compassionate, problem-solving citizens in a democratic society. It is the job of schools to help each generation envision a better future and acquire the dispositions, skills, and experiences to make this vision a reality. Our youngest citizens need a democratic education, for which service-learning is an indispensable element.

Transportation Mural, Cesar Chavez Foundation

Project Summaries

10th-12th grade identified graffiti as one of the main problems in their community; in order to combat this in a creative way the students decided to paint a mural to discourage tagging. As a part of the Transportation Academy at Franklin High School their mural depicted a timeline of transportation in the American West—from walking, to horses, to trains, and finally the local Gold Line Metro rail. The students partnered with a local mural artist to create a vibrant and colorful mural. 100 students participated in the design and painting and so far the wall has remained graffiti-free.

Gang Prevention Service-Learning Project, Cesar Chavez Foundation

Curriculum

11th grade U.S. History students have determined that 6-7th grade youth are the age group susceptible to joining gangs. The Jefferson High School youth worked on an assembly program to educate middle school students at Los Angeles Academy about the realities of gang life and the alternatives that exist to avoid future gang affiliation and involvement. Skits, speakers, pamphlets, collages, surveys, and small groups discussions were used to promote gang prevention.

Community Service Work-Study Program (Cswsp) Student Handbook, Center For Service And Learning At Oberlin College

Curriculum

Materials for the Be Proud! · Be Responsible! CONGRESO do Latinos Unidos, Inc. event on June 14 - 15, 2005.

Learning To Give: Addendum (2005-2006), Michigan State University

Higher Education

This report is best understood as an addendum to the final report that the Michigan State University evaluation team submitted to the Learning to Give project staff in September 2005. This overview summarizes the three evaluation tasks that were yet to be completed at the end of the 2004-2005 school year and ends with a few reflections on the evaluation process and the overall findings.

Engaged And Engaging Science: A Component Of A Good Liberal Education, Judith A. Ramaley, Rosemary R. Haggett

Higher Education

We live in a period of rapid and complex socioeconomic change. The forces driving this change are reshaping the educational landscape in ways that we are only beginning to understand. Many recent reports and books, including the 2002 report from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Greater Expectations: A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College, have explored the implications of these changes and have identified growing gaps between the intentions and assumptions of faculty, the actual experiences of students, and the demands of the workplace. The lack of clarity of purpose in undergraduate education …