April 2006
BRINGING NEW LIFE TO LEARNING

One quarter of the population in the U.S. is under the age of 18.
That's 26% who participate in school and community activities,
26% who spend more than $170 billion a year, and
26% who care about the world in which they live.
However, that's also
26% of the population who cannot vote and
26% who are supposed to be seen and not heard,
making for a resounding
100% of the future who may not be prepared nor encouraged to exercise leadership for affecting positive change locally or globally.
Shouldn't young people have a voice in real-life issues that directly impact them? *

Now combine those statistics with the following questions and comments routinely voiced by young people: "School is boring!" "There's nothing to do." "This stuff doesn't mean anything to me. Why do I have to learn
this?" "When do we get to have some fun?" "Why do we have to keep doing these stupid worksheets (or
practice tests)?" "I always finish my work before other kids. What do I do now?" "Why can't I work with my friends?" Sound familiar? Perhaps you have also wondered about these inquiries?

In nearly all classrooms and schools I visit, children and educators are increasingly experiencing learning as a disconnection from life and a deadening of their soul. With an over-emphasis on grades and test scores, there is less and less opportunity, interest or inspiration to deeply engage with ideas, exploration and discovery or relate to one another, with oneself or the needs of their communities.

BRIDGING THE INNER SELF WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Hopeless situation? I don't think so. But a shift is desperately needed. There is a way to breathe new life into learning. It is called SERVICE LEARNING: a valuable and powerful educational methodology providing real-life experiences responding to genuine community needs while promoting student learning and development. It is
a philosophy for cross-disciplinary learning while engaging head, heart and hands in harmony with meaningful service activities - the infusion of community, connection and caring with experiential education.

Based on the teachings of John Dewey who believed that learning has the greatest value when students interact with knowledge and skills in realistic environments, service learning is much more than an occasional
community service project. Because of the careful and thoughtful selections along with deliberate planning
that is aligned with desired and enriching learning outcomes, service learning projects require extended time commitments.

A school should not be a preparation for life. It should be life. Elbert Hubbard

Let's take a look at the many advantages of service learning. I'm guessing you can recall times as a youngster
or during your adulthood when you were (or maybe still are) fully engaged in a long-term service project that addressed a community need, responded to a tragedy or injustice, contributed to the well-being of another or intuitively answered a call to be of support. Do you remember the exuberance, joy, energy, passion, enthusiasm, focus, gratitude, appreciation and deep satisfaction that tingled within you before, during and after? I'm
wondering if you were able to appreciate not only what a difference you made but also the difference it made in you - who you became as a result of your experiences? This is also true for young people.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOOK
When students, educators and communities link learning with life, they experience countless benefits. In addition to the multitude of academic skills acquired, SERVICE LEARNING:

- Develops critical, higher-order thinking and problem solving skills
- Promotes community, civic and social awareness and responsibility
- Fosters social, emotional, spiritual, mental, personal, and interpersonal development
- Creates connections and partnerships with community agencies and/or businesses
- Builds awareness of vocational opportunities and career pathways
- Teaches practical life skills such as organization, research, collaboration, project management, decision making, flexibility, budgeting, intention and goal setting, etc.
- Promotes group cohesiveness, teamwork, cooperation, mutual respect, and positive interactions among students, staff, and community members
- Invites active participation and innovative practices within student-centered, hands-on learning environments
- Helps young people develop stronger ties to school, communities, and society and to be viewed as resources rather than as problems
- Increases the relevancy of curriculum and learning to students' lives which extends well beyond the classroom setting
- Creatively contributes to the on-going unmet needs of agencies and communities by tapping into fresh ideas, perspectives, talents, energy and enthusiasm hungry to make a difference.
- Empowers students to reach beyond self-perceived limitations to reveal capacities, talents, gifts, and abilities yet identified
- Encourages students to assume greater responsibility for their learning
- Provides cross-cultural experiences
- Promotes a sense of pride and accomplishment witnessing how the birth of an idea and completion of a project impacts local issues and societal inadequacies and injustices
- And most importantly, provides oodles of FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Allow me to share with you some of the nuts and bolts of service learning. There is way too much information to include in this newsletter. So, I will also provide you with some links/resources and continue with the most important part of service learning - REFLECTION - in May's newsletter. I will be attending a SERVICE LEARNING CONFERENCE at the end of the month so I shall have more juicy gems for you next time.

Using the PARE model, there are 4 important parts to service learning: PREPARATION, ACTION, REFLECTION AND EVALUATION.

PREPARATION begins with curiosity or interest in a topic or situation. This may come as the result of an incident at school, current events, a story read, political activities, policy making, a television program, etc. With teacher facilitation and deeper exploration, a real-life problem and community need is identified. Two important questions for project consideration: Will this solve a genuine need not already being met in some other way? Will both students and those being served benefit from the process? Through investigation, analysis, research, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and thoughtful consideration, a service project is identified and agreed upon.

ACTION involves first developing a plan and then implementing it. This requires careful planning, designing, organizing, strategizing, defining roles/responsibilities and connecting with community resources and agencies. Students share leadership roles individually and collectively for meeting timelines and project goals. Students also choose the type of project learning or a combination of: DIRECT SERVICE (person-to-person), INDIRECT (working on broad issues, advocacy, environmental project, community development), RESEARCH-BASED (gathering and presenting information on areas of interest and need) or ADVOCACY (educating others about topics of public interest). Then, it's time to put the service project into action continually assessing what's working and making revisions accordingly.

Serving without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke

REFLECTION is the bridge that optimizes and bonds the service and learning together. Throughout all phases of the service project, students step back and think critically about their experiences by examining their own beliefs and feelings, relating experiences to academic content or vice versa, and contemplating the meaning of the self and identity in connection to/with the experience. This may be accomplished through structured or unstructured thinking, reading, speaking, discussing, writing or doing (posters, collages, scrapbooks, videos, etc.) I am a strong advocate of applying reflection within all learning! Stay tuned - additional information on this next month including reflection questions!

EVALUATION determines to what extent the service goals and learning objectives were met. Students are responsible for monitoring, evaluating and reporting their own learning experiences and outcomes. This process provides records and important information for future projects and leaves a legacy for others to benefit from.

CELEBRATION, an optional component, is a time to honor, appreciate, acknowledge and recognize each individual's unique contribution to the process and the project. This practice helps foster gratitude and cultivates habits for a lifetime of commitment to community involvement. Celebration may be accomplished by inviting local officials to visit, school displays, intimate moments shared in community circles or some other creative expression. Celebration is NOT a reward nor a pizza party which has the potential to rob students of staying aligned with the internal value they feel from making a contribution and helping others.

We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than
by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When young people participate in meaningful service, they nurture and nourish their soul's longing to BE in harmonious relationship with humanity and themselves. Their compassionate nature yearns to contribute to the well-being of all. Recent research indicates that babies as young as 18 months have the ability to be altruistic - to have an unselfish concern for the welfare of others. What happens to this authentic sense of self over time?
It is time to let go of the belief that we must fill children with contrived information and test taking skills in order
to be "successful". We are hindering their overall development and interfering with their potentiality!

Consider all the current controversies, fuss and threat of punishment for students deciding to actively participate in the rallies regarding immigration issues. These are important matters of the heart affecting family, friends, neighborhoods, communities and their future. What if students' learning environments afforded them oppor-tunities to transform their intense concerns into deeper understanding and actions positively effecting solutions? Imagine what we might see then!

The spirit of service, being in union with one's ultimate purpose, building upon each other's unique assets and
the joy of learning are what service learning offers. Creating intentional service opportunities, brings a new vitality to life and learning where inquiry, creativity, and probing deeply felt issues are invited and always welcome. Moving from the technical to the transformational, children are free to explore their identity, be engaged with authentic human interactions and acquire knowledge while accessing personal wisdom. Please join me in bringing new life to learning for these "hearts full of grace and souls generated by love" It begins with you, me, and each other. Let's start NOW.

Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't need to know
about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You only need a heart full of grace.
A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant. Martin Luther King, Jr.

With heart full of grace and soul generated by love,
Namaste'
Adrian Reznik

PS DEEP, DEEP LOVE AND GRATITUDE for the numerous emails and calls of love, support and compassion in response to my heart's outpouring in last month's newsletter. Your messages comforted and embraced me in a blanket of love and tenderness that provided a sacred space for healing and peace. I am eternally blessed and thankful!!!

*statistics from http://www.youthactivism.com/

NURTURE A CHILD "NUGGETS"
"I wish adults would understand that students have innovative, mind-boggling ideas, and that students can put those ideas into action. They can make the world a better place." James, 17, Tennessee

SERVICE LEARNING LINKS
Read more about the blessings young people are contributing,
project examples, web and print resources and how to link state standards

Copyright © 2006 Adrian Reznik