Tips for Creating Your Own ServiceLearning Tipping Point

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Tips for Creating Your Own Service-Learning
Tipping Point

• Presentation by Nelda Brown, Executive Director
  of the
• National Service-Learning Partnership at the
  Academy for Educational Development

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Getting Serious about Advancing Service-Learning

• But if we are serious about achieving this
  mission, what is it going to take to achieve?
• What would it really take to make
  service-learning a universal experience for all
  young people?

• The Partnerships mission is to make
  service-learning a core part of the life and
  education of all young people

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• Whether it be all young people nationwide, in
  your state, in your school, or on neighborhood
  block
• We must make service-learning a social epidemic
  or phenomenon.
• And you can start right in your own backyard.

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• WHO? What type of people need to be involved?
• WHY? Why are these type of people important?
• WHAT? What should these people do to help you
  promote, expand, or sustain service-learning?

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Demystifying the Tipping Point In Malcolm
Gladwells Own Words

• ideas and behavior and messages and products
  sometimes behave just like outbreaks of
  infectious disease. They are social epidemics.
• One child brings in the virus. It spreads to
  every other child in the class in a matter of
  daysThat's typical behavior for epidemics they
  can blow up and then die out really quickly, and
  even the smallest change -- like one child with a
  virus -- can get them started.
• My argument is that it is also the way that
  change often happens in the rest of the world.
  Things can happen all at once, and little changes
  can make a huge difference.
• In Chapter Two, I talk about the central role
  that three personality types--that I call
  Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen-- play in social
  epidemics.
• One of the things I'd like to do is to show
  people how to start "positive" epidemics of their
  own. The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is
  that just a little input is enough to get it
  started, and it can spread very, very quickly.
• Excerpted from Gladwell.com. Visit Gladwells
  website to read the full QA.
• Read excerpts from Gladwells book for more
  information.

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What are the Implications for Service-Learning
Advocates?

• Three personality types play a central role in
  creating social epidemics
• Connectors
• Mavens
• Salesmen
• These three types of people do little things that
  ultimately make a BIG difference

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Creating Your Own Tipping PointThe Connector

• Famous Connectors in History
• Paul Revere. His ride was effective because he
  had a wide-range of contacts along the
  countryside. Rather than crying out in the dark,
  he knew exactly whom to inform and where to find
  them.
• Kevin Bacon. Theres a reason why you can name
  almost any actor and link him or her to Kevin
  Bacon in six degrees or less. Hes known as one
  of the most connected modern actors because
  hes played a roles in several movies that span
  from a variety of genres, and with people from
  multiple ages and backgrounds.

• Connectors
• know lots of people and have an extraordinary
  knack for making friends and acquaintances and
• have the ability to span many different worlds
  and are connected to many different types of
  people.

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Creating Your Own Tipping PointThe Maven

• Mavens
• Yiddish expression meaning one who accumulates
  knowledge
• Have information on a lot of different products,
  prices, or places and know things the rest of us
  dont
• Connect us with new information and likes to
  initiate discussions and respond to requests are
  information brokers

• Famous Mavens in History
• Al Gore. Remember Al before he was cool? He
  often spoke at length about global warming and
  the Internet. Very few understood it and even
  more made fun of him because of it. Entire
  Saturday Night Live sketches were written about
  it. But when the public began to care about
  climate change and being green, Vice-President
  Gores wealth of knowledge and PowerPoint
  archives inspired an Oscar-winning film.

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Creating Your Own Tipping PointThe Salesman
Saleswoman

• Salespeople
• Have the skills to persuade us when we are
  unconvinced of what we are hearing
• Often described as expressive, charismatic, and
  mesmerizing

• Famous Salespeople in History
• Oprah Winfrey. If I go to a movie or buy a book,
  its usually because Oprah told me to do it.
  Ive never met herand probably never willbut
  she feels like family and for this reason, I
  trust her opinion. Heckshes the person who
  convinced me to buy The Tipping Point ?

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Lets Pause for a Moment

• Reflect on the key players of Gladwells Theory
• Can you identify the Connectors, Mavens, and
  Salespeople in your school or community?
• Which roles/personality types best describe you?

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• Okay...Connectors, Mavens, and Salespeople
• Pretty basic concept, right?
• So, now what?

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• How can you put this theory into action to build
  support for service-learning in your own school
  or community?

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Simple Ways to Translate Theory Into ActionWhat
Connectors Can Do

• Expand our circle of friends by daring to engage
  new and unusual suspects.
• Come in through another door and connect to the
  other groups or issues Influentials care about.
• Expand advisory groups boards
• Start an email update list
• How the National Service-Learning Partnership can
  help
• www.nslpconnections.org
• www.servicelearningunited.org
• Access hot topic PowerPoints at
  www.slprovidersnetwork.org

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Simple Ways to Translate Theory Into ActionWhat
Mavens Can Do

• Get smart about how were organizing our
  information.
• Create a local clearinghouse of information.
• Create LOCAL fact sheets to capture data about
  impact, student participation, and program
  models.
• Provide easy start-up materials
• Utilize existing materials about how
  service-learning supports the objectives of No
  Child Left Behind. www.seanetonline.org

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Simple Ways to Translate Theory Into ActionWhat
Salespeople Can Do

• WHAT join others around the country for a week
  of special events and outreach activities to
  raise public awareness and build support for
  service-learning
• WHEN October 6-12, 2008
• WHY to build awareness by
• Kicking-off upcoming service-learning activities
  in your school or community
• Celebrating past service-learning accomplishments
• Engaging key decision-makers
• Expanding your network of supporters

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For more information

• So, I tried to summarize what is usually an
  hour-long presentation into 15 PowerPoint slides
  or less.
• Im over by 2 slides!
• If youd like to continue exploring or discussing
  these topics further, here are a few ways we can
  stay in touch

• 1. Visit SLYPNs online community and join the
  Nonprofit Management affinity group
• www.slyoungprofessionals.org
• 2. Check the Service-Learning Blog for a
  soon-to-be posted series of Tipping Point
  commentary and insights
• www.service-learning.blogspot.com
• 3. Leave a message for me via the SLYPN Online
  Community message system. Username nelda
• These are all great ways to share your thoughts,
  reactions, and questions as well as to see what
  others think!

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Contact information

• National Service-Learning Partnership
• at the Academy for Educational Development
• 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW
• Washington, DC 20009
• www.service-learningpartnership.org
• nslp_at_aed.org