Community Service and Learning: Building Quality and Impact

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Community Service and Learning Building Quality
and Impact

• Professor Barbara A. Holland
• Pro Vice-Chancellor
• University of Western Sydney
• Community Service Program Forum, Sept. 2007

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Community Service (WA)

• Activities undertaken for the benefit of
  individuals and/or community for no financial
  reward.
• Benefit others
• Be in an area of need
• Be purposeful and meaningful
• Provide opportunities for learning and reflection
• Be unpaid

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Service Strategies

• In or out of school
• Individually or collaboratively
• One or multiple activities
• Curricular or extracurricular
• Over one or more years
• Directly or indirectly

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The WA Goal? Service will

• Develop a culture and ethos of service in schools
• Help develop leadership and problem-solving
  skills
• Help students learn by helping others
• Recognise students who already do service
  activities

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Research Findings

• Increase in
• Self-esteem, self-efficacy, responsibility
• Communication skills
• Performance on tests, grades, standards
• Awareness of career options and work skills
• Attendance pro-social behaviours
• Community attention to schools
• Teacher satisfaction
• Decrease in
• Risky behaviours
• Drop-out rates
• Teacher turnover

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Quality Factors

• Clear and rigorous learning goal !
• Student voice
• Preparation/orientation
• Sufficient duration
• Directness of interaction with community
• Meaningful and challenging activity
• Cognitively challenging reflection
• Consequential assessment of learning through
  service

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Community Service (WA)

• Activities undertaken for the benefit of
  individuals and/or community for no financial
  reward.
• Benefit others
• Be in an area of need
• Be purposeful and meaningful
• Provide opportunities for learning and reflection
• Be unpaid

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Todays Reflection

• What would success look like? What knowledge,
  skills, attributes would students demonstrate?
• Among students who have a positive experience
  now, to what do you attribute that success?

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Purposeful Meaningful Service

• Most effective Actions that require knowledge
  and skills such as
• Leading, communicating, organising,
  tutoring/mentoring, creating/producing
• Less effective Actions that involve time more
  than knowledge such as
• Picking up trash, handing something out,
  washing/cleaning, making copies, stuffing
  envelopes, filing, chores at home

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Why Quality Practice Matters

• Without attention to proven practices, students
  may lack motivation, do minimal service, wait
  until the last minuteetc.
• Simple service will reward good students.
• Quality service linked to learning and reflection
  will also transform many students who are less
  successful.

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Student Motivation

• Some high achievers may not want to invest time
  or see the value others may see benefit in
  building credentials for career or uni (Yvonne)
• Low achievers lack confidence and presume you
  have low expectations
• Mid-level students also need encouragement,
  especially regarding link between CS and
  academics (Devon)

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1. Link to Learning Objectives

• Academic Learning
• Academic content in any subject
• Learning to be a Learner
• Critical thinking skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Communications skills
• Learn about community
• People, issues, resources, policies

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Learning Objectives (Continued)

• Inter and Intra-personal Learning
• Working collaboratively with others
• About other groups and cultures (diversity)
• Exploring personal values, ethics
• Developing self-efficacy and empathy
• Learning to appreciate different views
• Career learning
• Discovering talents and interests
• Enhancing motivation

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2. Reflection is the Link

• Connect experience with learning
• Develop a sense of community in the school/class
• Improve observation and communication skills
• Develop an appreciation of community assets
• Deepen knowledge of issues or policy
• Develop a penchant for taking action
• Develop inquiry skills

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Reflection Strategies

• Journals key phrase critical incident
  structured questions
• Directed Readings and written reaction
• Class presentation
• Group debriefing
• Creative activities
• Art, music, skits, poetry

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Effective Reflection

• Reflection should be
• Continuous throughout the course
• Connected to specific learning objectives
• Challenging demand high quality student effort
  linked to other learning
• Contextualized appropriate to the subject
  commensurate with the level and type of other
  course assignments and level of students

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Todays Reflection

• What learning goals can be linked with my
  students service activities?

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Ideas?

• Teacher buy-in and involvement
• Multiple program options
• One should be intensive, all school
• Developmental approaches
• Cognitive dissonance
• Student voice

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Facts from USA

• 55 of teenagers participated in service through
  a school requirement (2004)
• 78 of those participating in school-based
  programs meeting quality criteria said they were
  very satisfied and more interested in public
  issues
• 72 of private school students participate in
  service 52 of public students
• 83 of all high schools offer some form of
  service opps
• 75 of service-learners said they learned more
  than in a typical class
• Approx 33 of schools have taken up
  service-learning 35 states have policies
  encouraging service-learning

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