'"Be the change you wish to see in the world"
-Gandhi
What is Service Learning?
Service-Learning is a teaching methodology that enriches learning by engaging students in meaningful service through careful integration with established academic curricula. Authentic service-learning...
Service-Learning is a teaching methodology that enriches learning by engaging students in meaningful service through careful integration with established academic curricula. Authentic service-learning...
- Incorporates service activities into academic studies
- Provides concrete opportunities for youth to learn new skills, think critically and test new roles
- Involves "youth voice" from the beginning
- Provides structured time for students to think, talk, or write about their experiences
- Provides students with the opportunities to use newly acquired skills and knowledge in real-life situations in their communities
- Extends learning beyond the classroom and helps foster a sense of caring for others
Students benefit from service learning because:
- Promotes personal and social development
- Engages students in creative problem solving
- Adds relevance to academic learning, makes learning fun
- Builds positive self-esteem
- Cultivates civic responsibility
- Connects students with the community
- Exposes students to careers
- Provides hands-on experience
Service-Learning strategies benefit teachers because:
- The curriculum is broadened and deepened to create a richer context for learning
- As students gain responsibility for their learning, teachers gain new responsibilities as mentors, facilitators and guides
- Students become more actively engaged in their learning, and teaching becomes more rewarding and fun
Communities benefit because:
- Service-Learning contributes to community development and renewal
- Recipients of service benefit from direct aid, human involvement and personal empowerment
- Agencies receive an infusion of creativity and enthusiasm from participating students
- Service-Learning helps students become more vested in their communities and to become community minded individuals
- As youth contribute through service to the common good, they are increasingly seen as one of the community’s greatest resources and are treated accordingly
- Civically engaged youth are likely to become civically engaged adults