ERIC ED429176: Service-Learning: Getting to the Heart of School Renewal. A Guide for Implementing School-Based Service Learning.

35 Pages·1998·0.96 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 429 176
CE 078 404
TITLE
Service-Learning: Getting to the Heart of School Renewal. A
Guide for Implementing School-Based Service Learning.
INSTITUTION
Project Service Leadership, Vancouver, WA.
PUB DATE
1998-00-00
NOTE
33p.
PUB TYPE
Guides - Non-Classroom (055)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Curriculum Development; *Educational Resources;
Elementary
Secondary Education; Guidelines; Models; Program
Implementation; *Service Learning; State Programs
IDENTIFIERS
*Washington
ABSTRACT
This booklet, based on school and community experiences
in
the state of Washington, was written to provide practical
strategies to
enable teachers and administrators to enrich instruction
through service and
service learning. Filled with vignettes and examples of service
learning that
is taking place in Washington schools, the booklet includes
information on
the following:
(1) the rationale for service learning and benefits for
students;
(2) options for infusing service; and (3) educational leadership
for service learning. Throughout the guide, practical tips
are offered for
planning and implementing service-learning programs in elementary
and
secondary schools. The guide also contains a list of 81
resource people and
programs, books, and videotapes. A list of standards of quality for
school-based service learning is included.
(KC)
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*
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that
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*
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Natiortail.fforni. Von dOr
for Seivicp Le*raim
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Ste :fa 4 kin 651 is
61 07,
.
-A product of-
Prbjedt Seiviceteadership and Washington
Secondary SchOol Principals' Association
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
1
ffice of Educational Research and Improvement
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE
AND
CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
CENTER (ERIC)
BEEN GRANTED BY
This document has been reproduced as
received from the person Or organization
originating it.
critacdy
0 Minor changes have been made to
k/\i4
improve reproduction quality.
Points of view or opinions stated in this
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
document do not necessarily represent
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
official OERI position or policy.
Natior:z1
Ceht&
for Servic3
Learning
1954 Buford Ave,
RCom R290
St. Paul, MN
55108-6197
.Foreword.
The following Washington State principala have
been helpful in developing this guide:
Ken Crawford, Nooksack High School
Susan Dersé, Shorecrest High School
Betty Fowler, Davis High School, Vice Principal
Linda Jenkins,,Washington Elementary School
John Morefield, Hawthorne Elementary School
Jan Reeder, Gig Harbor High School
Throughout Washington a growing number of
schools and community leaders are involving
students in service to their community. This pam-
phlet is written to enable teachers and administra-
tors to benefit from these exemplary programs and
to provide practical strategies for enriching instruc-
tion through service and service learning:
A special thanks to Kristin DeVoe for editing and to
Wordesign and ESD 112 for the book layout.
Introduction
Schools Where Service
Washington Elementary
(Mount Vernon)
Is a Way of Life and
Service has become the way teachers at
Learning
Washington Elementary do business. Every
fourth grader tutors four hours a week and
students graduate with service portfolios
Gig Harbor High School
documenting the various ways they have
At Gig Harbor High School learning through
contributed to the school and community. A
service is an integral part of the curricular,
wide variety of service
athletic and leadership programs.
opportunities are
-"It makes me feel so
The biology and ecology classes run
a
available through
good to help some-
science lab at the neighboring elementary
student leadership,
one else.
I know why
school five days a week.
clubs, Conflict Manag-
I have to learn things
Football players watch Monday night
ers, and the Future
now, and maybe
football with senior citizens at convalescent
Teachers of America
when I grow up I will
centers.
Club. Service has also
help other children
The Spanish classes write and translate
been incorporated into
learn that and feel
children's stories into Spanish and the
each integrated
good, too."
drawing classes illustrate them. These books
curriculum theme. For
Fifth grade student
are then donated to a local shelter for
example, fifth graders
Washington
homeless families to assist the program
studied birds, worked
Elementary
director in encouraging Hispanic parents to
with the Audubon
read to their children.
Society, and then established a bird sanctuary
around the school. The third graders learned
Leadership students are matched as mentors
about their culture by talking with senior
for elementary school children.
citizens who have the same cultural heritage.
Business eduCation students keep the
Together they taught others about their common
accounting books for the local food bank.
traditions.
Teachers in every department are enriching
their instruction through connections with the
community.
4
Page 3
through writing, presentations and interviews.
Shorecrest High School
Through these opportunities students develop a
greater understanding of the community and
Shorecrest High School students annually
experience the interdependence of school and
provide over 15,000 hours to the community. In
community.
many small ways they have made a very huge
contribution, and through these activities they
are learning that they can and do make a
More and more teachers, schools and
difference.
districts across Washington are finding exciting
Service-learning has
ways to involve young people in service. They
been incorporated into
Through service, all
are creatively restructuring their school day,
Shorecrest's core
young people at
partnering with local colleges and universities
curriculum. The ninth
Shorecrest are given
and innovatively funding their programs using
graders focus on service
an opportunity to
local dollars.
to oneself and becoming a
contribute and to feel
This booklet will share their stories,
meaningfully con-
member of the school
providing helpful suggestions for youth,
community. Building on
nected to their
principals, district administrators, superinten-
school and their
those concepts in the
dents and community members interested in
tenth grade, students
community. It is a
developing community service learning
excellent way of
move into the community.
programs and policies. It will address common
For a half day every
gaining greater
challenges and questions.
Tuesday these teenagers
understanding of
While this pamphlet is unable to address all
work in service agencies
career paths.
concerns, it focuses on the following:
and on community
Susan Dersé,
projects that best suit their
Service-Learning: What is It?
interests. The Home and
Family Life department
Why Bother?
has teamed with the
Options for Infusing Service
English department to encourage students to
learn about themselves and their community
Leadership for Service Learning
Resources
Page 4
Service Learning: What Is It?
Service-learning is a method by which
young people learn and develop through active
participation in thoughtfully organized service
experiences which:
Meet actual community needs.
Are coordinated in collaboration with the
school and community.
Are integrated into each young person's
academic curriculum.
Provide structured time for a young person
to think, talk, and write about what he/she
did and saw during the actual service
activity.
Service learning has turned students
Provide young people with opportunities to
from passive learners to active
use newly acquired academic skills and
participants. Students don't just
knowledge in real life situations in their own
learn for learning's sake, but have
communities.
a reason for learning.
Ken Crawford, Principal
Enhance what is taught in the school by
extending student learning beyond the
classroom.
Help foster the development of a sense of
caring for others.
From Alliance for Service-Learning in
Education-Reform (ASLER), Standards of
Quality for School-based Service Learning,
May 1993.
6
Page 5
Because teachers
and their students
are involved with
activities which are
valued by the
community there is
greater recognition
and they feel more
connection with the
community. Gig
Harbor students
recently received a
national award for
their work with
homeless children,
and students are the
primary providers for
the local food bank.
The community now
comes to the school
if it needs help.
Jan Reeder, Principal
Page 6
Service Learning: Why
Bother?
Service-learning potentially has a variety of
Second graders at Washington Elementary
benefits for students, schools and communities.
use math skills to plan and build worm
The following are just a few:
composting bins, science skills to understand
how soil is made, and language arts skills to
Teaching New and Basic Skills
write their own personal guides to
Promoting Citizenship Education
compostingguides which
they then bring home to
Integrating Curriculum
educate their families.
Tell me and I forget
...
Developing Authentic Assessment
In Tacoma, industrial
Teach me and I
design students built a
Strengthening Youth Development
remember ...
wheelchair for an 18 month
Involve me and I learn.
Developing Teachers as Facilitators
old child with multiple
Anonymous
sclerosis. As they built the
Restructuring the School Schedule
chair, the students applied
Enhancing School-to-Work Transitions
the information they had
learned about material
Connecting Elements of School Reform
strength and design principles to create a
product that was light, yet durable for
an active,
growing child.
Teaching New and Basic Skills
Young people frequently see little
connec-
tion between what they are doing and learning
in school and the communities in which they
live. Through service-learning students clearly
understand the connection between the school
and the community. Service becomes
a
I
powerful motivator for learning because it
is
meaningful and real. The learning environment
r
lOrn
n100176/2
is success-oriented rather than competitive
and
it offers opportunities for real-life problem
(yi
solving. As students
engage in efforts to address
Er
roci
significant issues, they recognize the need for
more theoretical background and they find
reasons to improve their basic skills.
/
(1/1117 fie41
Page 7
8
Tutoring as an Instruction
Technique
Student tutoring benefits everyone
involved. Youngsters receiving tutoring not
only gain extra individual attention and
practice, but also an older friend and role
model. Student-tutors learn material better
when they have to explain it to someone
else, and they gain self-confidence by
knowing they have something to offer
others. Finally,
teachers benefit when
One becomes
students help one
Promoting Citizenship Education
virtuous by doing
another, especially in
virtuous acts.
schools that are struggling
Service prepares students to become
to meet the diverse needs
contributing citizens and fosters citizenship
Aristotle
of youth. Experience has
development in a number of ways:
also taught that tutoring
Developing habits and skills of active
someone else can ignite a
citizenship. Knowledge about how a bill is
flame in an otherwise unsuccessful child. A
passed or the names of state capitols has
Stanford University study conducted in more
little correlation to active participation in
than 500 schools suggests that peer tutoring has
civic issues. Because service-learning
a more cost-effective impact on student
involves youth with local agencies and with
achievement than smaller class sizes and
the local policymaking process, students
computer-assisted instruction.
develop the habits of citizenship and the
patterns of action needed to revitalize our
democracy.
The Learning Pyramid'
Teaches the responsibilities of citizenship.
Aver:age RetentiOn Rates
for
Service-learning develops the capacity to see
DifferentTeaching Methodologies:
issues from a broader perspective. Through
5% Lecture
service-learning students may interact with
homeless families and examine the tension
10% Readin
between individual rights and public good.
20% Audio Visual
Service as Citizenship. Community
30% Demonstration
involvement develops the "habits of the
heart" and fosters an ethic of service and
50% Discussion Group
volunteerism. Youth who are active in social
75% Practice by Doing
agencies are more likely to participate in
90% Teaching Others
community service clubs and support the
essential independent sectors of the commu-
National Training Lab, Bethel,
Maine
nity.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Page 8
Integrating Curriculum
Service learning is a concrete
way to
connect curricula. Environmental action
requires the use of math, science, communica-
tion skills, and social studies skills. Improving
the quality of life in homeless families requires
language skills to write letters and gather
information, knowledge of public policies
to
understand how shelters are funded, familiarity
with economics to understand why
an increas-
ing number of families are homeless and
an
understanding of the political decision making
process to participate in local decision making.
Strengthening Youth Development
Community issues rarely honor the boundaries
of academic disciplines.
Service has long been viewed
as a powerful
way to develop character, foster an ethic of
caring, and nurture a sense of membership in
Developing Authentic Assessment
the community. In agrarian cultures
young
Service projects can also be
an effective way
people are essential for the survival of the
for students to demonstrate their ability
to apply
family. They naturally develop
a sense of
what they are learning to real issues.
At
personal value as they care for animals, plant
Seaside High School seniors must identify
and
and harvest crops, and provide for their family
create a service project for the community.
and siblings.
First, the students research their idea and
write
In contemporary
an extensive paper demonstrating their base of
America many youth
At Hawthorne
understanding. Throughout the
year, they
have lost this sense of
Elementary we begin
contribute at least 50 hours to their project,
and
personal worth. Schools
with the expectation
process their learning through journals,
attempt to address this
that service is
discussions and papers. At the end of
the year
void with self-esteem
important; even at a
the seniors must present their projects
to
curriculum which creates
very young age one
community members,
peers, faculty and family.
fabricated activities
can feel the joy of
The community panels
assess the students on
instead of immersing
service.
the quality of the projects and
on how well the
students in meaningful
John Morefield,
students demonstrate and substantiate the
skills
roles in society. Service
Principal
they acquired through their work in the
can provide the opportu-
community.
nity for youth to experi-
ence that they are valued
by their communities. As
students work along side adults feeding
homeless families or as they help
younger
children to learn, they
see concretely that they
Page 9