An Introduction to Service-learning

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An Introduction to Service-learning

• Building Bridges Between School and Community for
  Meaningful Student Learning
• Georgia Middle School Association
• Annual Conference, February 9, 2000
• By Dr. Allison Nazzal
• And Pam Paschal

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I believe

• Today, more than ever, schools need to help young
  people develop the skills and attitudes needed to
  work for justice, not just those needed to pass a
  basic-skills examination.

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A Definition of Service-learning

• Actions by caring through personal contact,
  indirect service, or advocacy, either in school
  or in the community, with preparation and
  reflection

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From now on in America, any definition of a
successful life must include serving
others.President George Bush, 1990
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Description of Service-learning as a method of
teaching

• (National and Community Service Act of 1990)
• Students learn and develop through active
  participation in thoughtfully organized service
  experiences that meet actual community needs.
  Participation is coordinated in collaboration
  with the school and community.

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Description of Service-learning as a method of
teaching

• Service is integrated into the students academic
  curriculum or provides structured time for
  students to think, talk, or write about what the
  student did and saw during the actual service
  activity.

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No one is useless in this world who lightens
the burden of it for someone else.Ben Franklin
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Description of Service-learning as a method of
teaching

• Service provides students with opportunities to
  use newly acquired skills and knowledge in
  real-life situations in their own communities.

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Description of Service-learning As a Method of
Teaching

• Service enhances what is taught in school by
  extending student learning beyond the classroom
  and into the community and helps foster the
  development of a sense of caring for others.

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Educational Theory and Philosophy Supports
Service-learning

• Socrates (The Republic)
• Education must be for all, with the development
  of citizens who are concerned about the welfare
  of the city as its primary goal.
• John Dewey
• Democracy is an associated form of living. The
  purpose of schooling is to prepare students to
  live together better. (Democracy and Education,
  1916/1944)
• Students learn through experience, or interaction
  with their environment. (Experience and
  Education, 1916/1944)

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Educational Theory and Philosophy Supports
Service-learning

• Jane Roland Martin and Nel Noddings
• The primary purpose of schooling is to promote an
  ethic of care and to prepare students to care for
  themselves, their communities, and ideas. (The
  School Home, 1992 The Challenge to Care in
  Schools An Alternative Approach to Education,
  1992)

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Educational Research Supports Service-learning

• Student Outcomes
• Gains in academic performance (peer-tutoring)
• Gains in self-esteem
• Improved sense of self-efficacy
• Improved attitudes toward others
• Improved behavior in the classroom
• Decreased feelings of alienation in the school
  community
• All of the above results were found in my
  research with at-risk students participating in a
  service project

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There is much concern in the country about
youth at riskwhy not focus instead on youth
potential, youth strengths, youth participation,
and contributions.Ken Nelson
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Four Steps of Effective Service-Learning

• Preparation
• Identify and analyze the issues.
• Choose a project.
• Learn skills needed to perform service.
• Plan the service project.
• Action
• Perform the service as planned. Make adjustments
  to the initial plan as new information is gained
  and new circumstances are encountered.

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Four Steps of Effective Service-Learning

• Reflection
• Individual and group activities during and after
  service that allow students to analyze the
  personal impact of their experience
• (Journaling, scrapbooks, face-to-face meetings
  with those served, group discussion, video, .)
• Celebration
• Community and student celebration of students
  service(Awards, press release, celebration
  party, video and photographs, thank you notes.)

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Putting It All Together Class Brainstorm Session
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Closure

• I dont know what your destiny will be, but
  the one thing I know The only ones among you who
  will really be happy are those who have sought
  and found how to serve.
• Albert Schweitzer

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For More Information

• www.westga.edu/anazzal
• (Click on conference presentations)