From Community Service to Service Learning
Students who successfully complete this component of the program will receive a bonus five hours of community service.
STEP 1: Goal Setting
Take some time at the very beginning of the program to ask students these few questions. You may like to discuss them as a group or individually.
Why did you choose to be involved in this program?
What do you hope to achieve by being involved in this program?
Do you have a goal or something you would like to happen?
STEP 2: Journalling – recording the journey
This can occur in a range of ways and is the student’s choice. It may take the form of a photo journal, notebook/diary, interviews, drawings, thoughts recorded, blog etc. It does need to be something that you can ‘show’ your teacher or a friend at the end.
Some questions that might get you thinking over the time include:
What was it like to go to the site for the first time?
What was the atmosphere like?
What did you do to get started?
Who helped you and how?
Describe the people that you me or worked with?
Were there any problems that you encountered? How did you resolve them?
How did things go each day of your experience?
STEP 3: Reflection
Towards the end of the program the students will need to gather feedback from those they have helped and the staff who work with them. Some questions to get feedback from those you helped include:
Each student will complete a final reflection, again this could take many forms; an interview, blog entry, essay, artwork with statement, photo collage with statement etc. Some of these questions may help to direct your thinking.
What was the most fun? What was most difficult/challenging?
What skills and knowledge helped you most?
Have you learnt anything about a community or societal issue?
Did this program challenge any assumptions you had prior?
Who is different as a result of you doing this program?
How did this experience change or impact on you or your life?
What did you learn about yourself?
How do you think this project impacted or changed the life of the person/people you helped?
How might your participation change our local community?
How might your participation change opinions about youth in our community?
Did you accomplish your goal?
Did you achieve something you didn’t set out to?
STEP 4: Sharing and Celebrating
This is a chance to apt yourselves on the back and share what you have done and learnt along the way