Module 1 Service Learning and Community Service PDF

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Module 1 SERVICE LEARNING AND COMMUNITY SERVICEOverview:Service Learning refers to those programs that have been developed to enable students to gain experiences in serving others and to learn from those experiences. Service Learning is excellent preparation for living a worthwhile life in society. ...

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Module 1 SERVICE LEARNING AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

Overview: Service Learning refers to those programs that have been developed to enable students to gain experiences in serving others and to learn from those experiences. Service Learning is excellent preparation for living a worthwhile life in society. In service learning, students not only provide an important service to the community, they also learn about the causes of problems in the community and how to communicate effectively to others as they serve. They learn important skills and life lessons that they can use when they go out into the world beyond school. It is training for life. This module focuses on service learning and community service. In this module, we will be aware of meaning & importance of service learning, outcomes for the stakeholders Objectives: At the end of this module, you should be able to: • define service learning and know its importance; • determine outcomes for stakeholders; • define community and community service; • identify types and examples of community service; • apply the steps in a successful community service project. Course Materials: Unit 1: Service Learning Defined and Its Importance Service Learning is a form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students work with others through a process of applying what they are learning to community problems, and at the same time, reflecting upon their experience as they seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding for themselves. It is a flexible pedagogy which can be used in a variety of classroom and community settings. Students, Community Partners, and Instructors are key players in developing effective service-learning activities. Service learning is connected to course content and is organized around clear learning goals; service learning provides meaningful service activities which address 2

real community needs as defined by the community; and service learning provides students opportunities for critical reflection upon their service experiences. Effective service learning practice supports both student learning and community service goals. Learning practices are grounded in objectives, enhance disciplinary skills, engage students in welldefined tasks, and allow for both formative and summative assessment. Service activities meet genuine community needs, provide meaningful tasks for students, and promote communication and collaboration with community members. further discuss these goals. Service learning provides students with opportunities to develop civic engagement skills. By working with community members, students can enhance their group, organizational and interpersonal skills. They also can gain important experience working with diverse members of their communities. Unit 2: Outcomes for the Stakeholders Service Learning Outcomes for Learners ➢ Young people who serve ultimately gain much more in understanding than they give in serving. ➢ Learning does not necessarily come from the experience of service alone, but from reflection and creating meaning from that experience. ➢ Service learning can help young people grow from the natural dependence and egocentrism of childhood into mature personal interdependence and engagement in the community. ➢ Young people who serve learn wholistically. All functions of personality contribute to development of the self. ➢ Students learn and grow as they feel and think about service experiences (i.e., through behavior, affect, and cognition). Because learning begins with behavior, students gain efficacy and self-direction. ➢ Service learning empower youth to become service-oriented citizens and youth leaders. Outcomes for Education: The Teacher ➢ The curriculum is broadened and deepened to create a richer context for learning. ➢ As students gain responsibility for their learning, teachers gain new roles as mentors and guides as well as presenters of information.

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➢ Service learning holds the promise of partnership – quality relationships between teachers and students. ➢ Service learning requires performance-based methods of evaluation. ➢ Staff collegiality improves as staff work together in an interactive learning environment. ➢ Mutually beneficial school/community partnerships are formed. Outcomes for the Community ➢ 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 youth. ➢ Service learning helps students become interested in their communities as community-minded citizens. ➢ As youth contribute through service to the common good, they are seen to be one of the community’s greatest resources. Unit 3: Community and Community Service Defined A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighborhood) or in virtual space through communication platforms. It is a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in geographical locations or settings. Community service is the engagement of individuals or groups in an organized activity that contributes to the local, national or world community. It is also known as volunteering which is defined as the practice of people working on behalf of others or a particular cause, without payment, for their time and services. Unit 4: Types and Examples of Community Service There are three types of community service and service-learning: direct, in-direct and advocacy. Once a community need is identified, the project activities that are developed will align with one or more of the types. Direct. You can develop direct service activities where students interact with the recipients of service or the physical environment they have targeted for improvement. You and your chapter can volunteer at a food kitchen to serve community members in need or perhaps you can work with your community senior center to create an adopt-a-grandparent program that lasts for a week. In-Direct. If you don’t have the ability to come in direct contact with the beneficiaries of service, you can organize an indirect service activity where students channel resources to 4

a problem but do not interact with those being served. This can include organizing a canned food drive to donate to a food pantry in a neighboring community or participating in a community beautification project. Advocacy. It is important to always be an advocate for the issues that inspire you. During advocacy service activities, students bring awareness to an issue and inspire others to take action. Advocacy can also address the underlying causes of a social problem by attempting to influence policymakers or elected officials.

Examples of Community Service General Ideas • • • • • • • • • •

Donate or raise money for your local Red Cross Organize a community blood drive For your next birthday, ask for charitable donations instead of gifts Read books or letters to a person who is visually impaired Contact a tree farm about donating Christmas trees to nursing homes, hospitals, or to families who can't afford to buy their own Collect unused makeup and perfume to donate to a center for abused women Help register people to vote Organize a car wash and donate the profits to charity Help deliver meals and gifts to patients at a local hospital Write articles / give speeches advocating financial literarcy. First you should learn about the topics themselves, like calculating housing costs, or understanding personal loans, and then give presentations on these topics.

Helping Children and Schools Tutor children during or after school

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Donate stuffed animals to children in hospitals

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Knit or crochet baby blankets to be donated to hospitals or homeless shelters Collect baby clothes and supplies to donate to new parents Organize a Special Olympics event for children and teenagers Collect used sports equipment to donate to families and after-school programs

Organize games and activities for children in hospitals or who are visiting hospitalized relatives

Volunteer at a summer camp for children who have lost a parent Coach a youth sports team Put on performances for children in hospitals Give free music lessons to schoolchildren 5

• • • • • • • •

Organize a summer reading program to encourage kids to read Organize an Easter egg hunt for neighborhood children Create a new game for children to play Organize events to help new students make friends Babysit children during a PTA meeting Organize a reading hour for children at a local school or library Donate used children's books to a school library Volunteer to help with Vacation Bible School or other religious camps

Helping Senior Citizens • Read to residents at a nursing home • Deliver groceries and meals to elderly neighbors • Teach computer skills to the elderly • Host a bingo night for nursing home residents • Host a holiday meal for senior citizens • Make birthday cards for the elderly • Donate and decorate a Christmas tree at a nursing home • Organize a family day for residents of a retirement home and relatives to play games together • Ask residents of a retirement home to tell you about their lives • Pick up medicine for an elderly neighbor • Perform a concert or play at a senior center • Help elderly neighbors clean their homes and organize their belongings • Rake leaves, shovel snow, or wash windows for a senior citizen • Deliver cookies to a homebound senior citizen Unit 5: Steps in a Successful Community Service Project Steps in a Successful Community Service Project Step 1: Find Out What Is Needed in Your Community Step 2: See What You Have the Ability to Do Step 3: Choose a Project Step 4: Develop a Plan Step 5: Recruit Your Volunteers Step 6: Make a Budget Step 7: Make a Timeline Step 8: Raise Money Step 9: Do the Project Step 10: Evaluate and Celebrate

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Step 1: Find Out What Is Needed in Your Community There are many ways to do this. Start out by asking your friends and family members if there are things that they have seen that need a solution. Talk to neighbors. Talk to community officials (local government) and police officers, and speak with non-profit groups in the area. Once you have an idea of the issues present in your area, spend some time researching them. What is the history of the issue? Is it a new thing or has it been around a long time? What realistic steps can be taken to address it? What, if anything, have other groups done in the past to fix the issue? It’s also a good idea to research what kind of events have taken place in your community in the past. What projects were successful? What sort of activities had nobody show up? You can do this by talking to your local city government or local non-profit groups that have held events. You may also know from personal experience of events that you have attended. Which were the most engaging and resonated with your community? Step 2: See What You Have the Ability to Do It's time to start asking yourself the tough, specific questions. Remember to be honest and realistic as you answer them: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

What skills and talents do you have? How many people do you realistically think you will be able to get to help you? What skills and talents will they have? How many hours per week can you devote to the project? How soon do you want to do the project? What is a realistic amount of money you will be able to raise for the project? Do you have any materials at hand that will be helpful?

Step 3: Choose a Project List your activity ideas. If you have a group of people you're going to work with, allow them to help you rank the ideas from most to least important. Vote on or decide which activity you want to do. Make sure it is reasonable, within your means, and that you can actually make an impact. Be honest with yourself and your group when assessing how to make the most impact. Be realistic with your expectations and honest about the best way to reach your end goal.

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Step 4: Develop a Plan To start, write down exactly what you are hoping to accomplish. This will include a bigpicture goal as well as the specific smaller tasks that you will need to do in order to get to that main goal. You also need to go into the practicalities of the project. How much equipment will you need? How many people will you need to successfully complete each part of the project? How much time can each person commit to the project? How will you organize different volunteers? Remember that you're responsible for the success of the project and one large part of that is that it takes place safely and legally. Do some background work to check out your liabilities and research the potential complications that can arise from the project you're planning. Step 5: Recruit Your Volunteers If you don’t already have a group of people helping you, now is the time to get some people involved. Also, ask friends and family if they know people who would like to be involved. For each person, make sure that you have their contact information (email and phone number), as well as what areas they are best able to help in (making food, publicity, etc.). Get specific time commitments from your members. How much time can they contribute every week? How much time can they contribute on the day of the event? Make sure they are realistic and don’t commit more than their schedules will allow. Step 6: Make a Budget Now that you know your goals, you have to get specific with how much money is going to be needed to make your plan come to life. Make sure you list the type of items that you need – be specific! How many will you need of each item? What is the cost per item? What is the total cost? Don’t forget that your budget has to include more than just the physical items involved in your project. If you need a license to have an event or if you are going to pay someone to make an appearance, that will need to be factored into the budget as well. Finally, be sure to consider practical needs, like the cost of transportation and food on the day of the event for your volunteers.

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Step 7: Make a Timeline You should already have a rough idea of how long your project will take, but now you need to narrow it down to the specifics. Pick an end date for your project that will give you enough time to put it together. Make sure that the date is approved by all necessary authorities. Make specific schedules for each of your volunteers based on how much time each can contribute. This is important – you don’t want to end up having to do everything yourself at the last minute because you assumed that people would be putting in more hours than they actually can! Try to be realistic with your expectations of what can be accomplished every hour. Mark specific goals on your timeline. By a certain date, a certain amount of the project should be completed, etc. Step 8: Raise Money There are a number of ways to raise money: street collection, organized events like raffles or an auction, direct mail donations, asking for contributions through church newsletters, and more. You can also contact local businesses for sponsorship. Offer them some sort of advertisement in return. Whatever you choose to do, you will need to develop a strategy. Decide what your plan of attack will be to raise the amount needed. Step 10: Do the Project Now it's time to execute all of your planning! It may seem like the hard work is done at this point, but the actual event needs to go off without a hitch! Make sure that as much as possible every preparation is done and set up the day before the event. Don’t stress yourself out more than you need to on that day. It’s also good to send out lots of reminders the day before to volunteers, participants, media, and anyone else who is important. Make sure you have a detailed schedule for what you will do the day of the event. Also, make a list of volunteer contact info, vendor contact info, and who will help in emergencies. Keep this with you at all times. 9

Try to enjoy yourself, but stay on top of how things are progressing! Don’t forget to take pictures and stay active on social media during the event. Step 10: Evaluate and Celebrate What to Do Afterward Once your project is over, you hopefully have experienced and learned new things. Take some time to reflect on this on your own and also get feedback from the volunteers and participants. What didn’t go to plan? Consider how you could have done things differently and avoided problems. What went well? Why were those things successful? What have you learned about yourself? This can be many things like teamwork, leadership, or planning skills. Also, make sure you stop and consider if you actually were successful in your goals. Did you help your target group? How can you tell that you have made progress and an impact? Take notes of these things. Finally, take some time to celebrate. You’ve just undertaken and accomplished something that many people would shy away from.

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ASSESSMENTS Task 1: Answer the following: 1. Define service learning and explain advantages to students, teachers, and communities. Explain two advantages to each group. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Describe the three types of community service. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Explain why self-reflection is important to community service. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Task 2: Create a plan for the community service you and your group have chosen. Identify a problem in the community that you feel you could make a difference in solving if you could organize a group of people to work on it. Who would be your beneficiaries? What would you need to do in preparation for the activity? Who could be your teammates in the service? Could your school implement the project? Prepare also the program for this activity.

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REFERENCES Bucao, A. et. al. Modules in National Service Training Program, PUP Sta. Mesa. Definition of Community. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community#:~:text=A%20community%20is%20a%20social,virtu al%20space%20through%20communication%20platforms. Definition of Community. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1446907/ Definition of Community Service. Retrieved from https://w...