• Ian

    Member
    25 June 2020 at 9:49 am

    My school needs to build a culture of service learning. We have a fantastic vision (โ€œFrom the classroom to the worldโ€), however, as a young school, weโ€™ve been busy applying band-aids over the past few years. There are a few teachers (myself included) who try to build sustainable partnerships in our community and follow student-centered inquiry cycles when possible. However, the service learning culture is not currently sustainable. We work with a great consultancy team (Inspire Citizens), and they have helped a few of us become teacher-leaders within the realms of service learning and sustainability.

    • Tara

      Administrator
      25 June 2020 at 10:01 am

      Hi Ian,

      You are at the same place as many individuals in schools, this can be frustrating without needed systems and structures. When you take the Serve Learn Framework Survey- you will have an idea of all the moving parts for a sustainable program. In taking it, you will be closer to identifying areas of growth as well as celebrating what is going well. I usually cover this in Service Learning Coordinator PD, another whole course so we can go deep and create an entry plan. Happy to chat leadership strategy when your ready.

      Tara

      • Ian

        Member
        25 June 2020 at 10:36 am

        Thanks, Tara! I’m going to take some time tomorrow to reflect on my framework survey results and dig deeper into the standards and benchmark doc for a big picture view.

    • Laurence

      Member
      25 June 2020 at 10:05 am

      Ian,

      You make a good point about the need for on-the-ground support for learning programs and strategies. I know Steve Sostak quite well (from his days back in Malaysia, prior to his moving to Beijing) and he has some great ideas, engaging process and lots of amazing energy. But without someone on the ground such energy is hard to sustain. Inspire Citizens (as with any external organization) needs internal support to allow the time to develop, fail, adjust and succeed in the process it offers. You seem to want to do that, but the conversations in that regard might need to include structure and function of your existing program which indicates a need for administrative buy in. On the other hand, no one is too small to make change, and finding a good balance of your work along with examples of how it’s supported deep learning, and public celebration might support the larger conversations to adjust the current structures to support lasting change. My two cents worth. :-).

      • Ian

        Member
        25 June 2020 at 10:34 am

        Hi Laurence,

        Thanks for taking the time to get back to me in-depth. We’re in the middle of that process as we speak. Some failures, some successes, and we continue to grow on the journey of implementation as a grass-roots, teacher-led attempt with some financial and scheduling support from admin.

        Ian

  • Kevin

    Member
    25 June 2020 at 10:36 am

    Taking the survey, we have quite a long way to go. We have focused a bit on CAS in the Diploma but we don’t have a comprehensive idea of service-learning that goes beyond our mission “We inspire innovation and compassionate action”.

    That sounds good, but we need to move further. I am currently not the CAS coordinator, but just talking today has given me a renewed purpose to become a bit more involved.

    Beyond CAS, we have a student-led Week without walls (but mostly in school given our location except for international trips) and we require grade 9 and 10 students to complete a collaborative service-learning project each year. This is not done in a class but in during homeroom time. They loosely follow the CAS stages.

    Quite a lot of work to do to build structures, but that seems a common problem in our school at the moment.

    I am undaunted!

    • Laurence

      Member
      25 June 2020 at 10:55 am

      Kevin,

      I mentioned this in my reply to Ian above as well, but you are exemplifying a trend of educators looking at their own work as more transformational than just going through the motions or required learning. I love CAS but without the “why” in place CAS can also become a checklist of things required. The “why” is what you’re referring to in your response. You’re perhaps also recognizing the need for this to be “bigger” than an outsourced learning experience (as seems to be the grade level items you describe). Don’t get me wrong, those are great first steps, but in my mind they are merely the beginning of what I like to call a “culture shift” toward service minded communities. :-).

    • Tara

      Administrator
      26 June 2020 at 10:20 am

      Hi Kevin,

      Isn’t it nice to know where your at? I love that your undauted by what is not a perfect program..is there one? Knowing next steps, involving others, building the culture take time and your on the right path ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Jeremiah

    Member
    25 June 2020 at 11:30 pm

    Unfortunately, my school has not started on this journey and hence I am excited to be able to share my takeaways from this course with my colleagues and getting them fired up, hopefully. We have tried to partner with a local NGO but there wasn’t any investigation from the onset. I ‘forced’ a plan to partner with the NGO as I have been volunteering with them and had them come in to share with our students. The students were excited to participate but now that I have learned about these 5 stages, it makes more sense to have the students taking ownership of this from the very beginning by having them, together with their teachers, investigate the real needs of the community.

    • Tara

      Administrator
      26 June 2020 at 10:18 am

      Hi Jeremiah,

      Thats ok, you know where your starting from. Getting foundational knowledge is a start, we can help with leadership experience when you need it. It is nice to know where your heading and key factors for sustainability of your program ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Deleted User

    Deleted User
    26 June 2020 at 2:07 am

    My school is also at the very beginning of the journey towards a comprehensive Service Learning/Sustainability program that is embedded college-wide. Currently we are K-7, growing to K-12 by 2025. On reflection of our school Vision and Mission statement, service learning is able to be connected quite authentically. The idea of service learning sits nicely with the gospel values that underpin our school community.

    Our logical next step would be to get some staff buy-in/people excited about service learning and to develop a college wide understanding of service learning.

    • Tara

      Administrator
      26 June 2020 at 10:36 am

      Hi Brett,

      Your on the right path, and yes it certainly fits with your school ethos, vision/mission. Ownership includes all stakeholders. I would encourage your leadership team to also take the survey, this helps get everyone on the same page. Happy to help advise when you need.

  • Katherine

    Member
    26 June 2020 at 3:40 am

    I came into the SaA Coordinator role at the start of this past AY. It took me most of the year to wrap my own head around the IB MYP requirements, understand exactly where our school was at, and construct/document a vision for moving forward in regards to SL. I only started working with departments to look at curriculum connections in February really. That said, I feel I have good clarity and will be able to articulate that well to the school community next year, but we have a long way to go in regards to consistency, building student leadership, PD and overall school buy-in.

    Something I am struggling with, which I am sure is true for many others as well, is that my administration says they really want this, they want to see service in action and they want students to connect with the community, but I don’t think they realize what an undertaking it actually is. I feel a lot of pressure in this role and sometimes feel overwhelmed thinking about all that needs to be done. Where do you all plan to start?

    • Tara

      Administrator
      26 June 2020 at 10:39 am

      Hi Katherine, your story sounds a lot like my journey which led me to where I am ๐Ÿ™‚

      Happy to create a survey for your school specifically and help advise your leadership in a meeting based on the feedback. Just know your not alone and we can help you with this to help releave the pressure ๐Ÿ™‚

  • satybaldievasel@gmail.com

    Member
    26 June 2020 at 8:55 am

    Our school is also on the same page with some schools here, as I have noticed from the discussion, we are at the beginning of our journey at implementing Service Learning Understanding in our context, in Cambodia.

    I would like to start SL activities at our school and it means from scratch, feeling so much pressure on my shoulders,being absolutely new in this field. The good side that school administration is supporting and also wants it to be incorporated in school’s culture.

    • Tara

      Administrator
      26 June 2020 at 10:41 am

      Asel,

      Knowing where your at in starting is the first step. Building knowledge and understanding of how to move forward is the next step. It will be good to find more people who are passionate like you to help in your journey. We are happy to help too ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Rebecca

    Member
    27 June 2020 at 1:52 am

    It’s a brand new elementary school. They started online learning in May. The students come back to the classroom on June 19th. I start my employment on July 13th.

    They are on Step 0. But Step 0 is a great place for me….as we get to set the tone from Day 1. I anticipate that I will get to spearhead Service Learning alongside my technical role of Head of Science. Fingers crossed!

    • Tara

      Administrator
      28 June 2020 at 3:28 am

      Im sure you will be amazing. It is always nice to have a plan, science is an easy in for service learning, and you wont have to sneaky- which is a bonus!