Civic Engagement Through Service-Learning

1. Civic Engagement Through Service-Learning Kristy C. Verdi University of South Florida Randall Middle School School District of Hillsborough County

2. Workshop Objectives • Participants will review the research that supports service-learning as a leading pedagogical strategy for civic education. • Participants will learn the basic steps in service-learning. • Participants will be introduced to the national standards for quality service-learning practice. • Participants will take home civics service-learning projects that align with the new Florida Next Generation Social Studies Standards for Civics Education.

3. Pre-test • What is the first step in the service-learning process? What are the other steps? • Are there national standards for quality service-learning? How many? • Whose voice is critical for quality service-learning? • When should reflection occur in the process?

4. YOUTH HELPING AMERICA Educating for Active Citizenship: Service-Learning, School-Based Service and Youth Civic Engagement March 2006 Spring, Dietz, and Grimm, Jr.

5. Students who report current or previous participation in a service-learning course that includes reflection, planning, and service that lasts at least one semester are 40 percent more likely than school-based service participants to say they are very likely to volunteer in the upcoming year and 71 percent more likely than individuals who have never engaged in school-based service.

6. Youth who report current or past participation in service-learning courses that include reflection, planning and service that lasts at least one semester are 63 percent more likely than those who have never engaged in school-based service to say that they take a good deal of interest in world events.

7. Participants in school-based service talk about politics with their friends and parents more often than non-participants do — and even more so when the service is part of a service-learning course that includes reflection, planning, and service that lasts at least one semester.

8. Youth who report current or past participation in service-learning courses that include reflection, planning, and service that lasts at least one semester are almost three times as likely to believe they can make a great deal of difference in their community than youth who participated in school-based service without any of the quality elements of service-learning.

9. CIRCLE Working Paper #33 • Billig, Root, and Jesse • MAY 2005 • A gradually accumulating body of evidence suggests that service-learning helps students: • develop knowledge of community needs, • commit to an ethic of service, • develop more sophisticated understandings of politics and morality, • gain a greater sense of civic responsibility and feelings of efficacy, and • increase their desire to become active contributors to society. • (Billig, 2000; Westheimer & Kahne, 2000; Youniss & Yates, 1997; Youniss, McLellan, & Yates, 1997)

10. Studies have provided evidence for positive effects of service-learning on: • Civic-related knowledge, including awareness of community needs (Berkas, 1997; Melchior,1999; Morgan & Streb, 1999) and knowledge about government (Berkas, 1997; Hamilton & Zeldin, 1987; Morgan & Streb, 1999). • Civic-related skills, including an understanding of how to design and implement a service project (Melchior, 1999).

11. Studies have provided evidence for positive effects of service-learning on: • Service behavior (Melchior, 1999) and intentions to serve in the future (Berkas, 1997; Metz et al., 2000; Morgan & Streb, 1999). • Social capital, including increased connections to schools and other organizations and increased social networks (Morgan & Streb, 1999).

12. Volunteering - performing a service willingly and without pay. Community Service - meets a community need or addresses a social issue Service Learning - meets a community need or addresses a social issue will teaching a learning

13. Service-Learning is a teaching method that allows students to practice what they learn in class through participation in meaningful, hands-on service projects. • Service-Learning Projects: • Meet curriculum benchmarks / standards • Allow time for meaningful reflection • Connect academics to real-world applications.

14. Service-Learning teaches the interpersonal and collaborative skills necessary for forming healthy and effective personal and work relationships.

15. Core Components of Service-Learning Investigation  Planning Action (Direct, Indirect, or Advocacy) Reflection Celebration/Demonstration Shelley Billig, RMC Research, 2009

16. The National Standards Meaningful Service Link to Curriculum Reflection Diversity Youth Voice Partnerships Progress Monitoring Duration and Intensity

17. Major Considerations • Know the curricular goals… plan backwards! • Teach SL! Let the kids know what you are doing. • Use “guided discovery” to get students on board. • Make sure administration is on board. • Pre-assess, reflect & monitor, post-assess. • Document, document, document! • Celebrate & demonstrate!

18. DRAFT March 9th!

19. DRAFT March 9th!

20. Patriots Day 2011 Grand Prize Winners!!

27. References • The civic mission of schools. (2003). New York, NY: CIRCLE; Carnegie Corporation of New York. • Corporation for National and Community Service. (2008). Office of research and policy development, community service and service-learning in america's schools No. 2011). Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/08_1112_lsa_prevalence.pdf • connections high school. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from http://www.hsd401.org/ourschools/highschools/global/GlobalBrochure.pdf • Kahne, J., & Middaugh, E. (2008). High quality civic education: What is it and who gets it? Social Education, 72(1), 34. • Kaye, C. B. (2010). Complete guide to service learning (Second ed.). Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing. • Kirlin, M. (2003). The role of civic skills in fostering civic engagement. No. 6). University of Maryland: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). • Levine, P. 1. (2007). The future of democracy : Developing the next generation of american citizens / peter levine. Medford, Mass. : Hanover: Tufts University Press ; Published by University Press of New England. • National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. (2011). National service-learning clearinghouse for learn & serve america. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://www.servicelearning.org/about-nslc • Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011). Overview: Framework for 21st century learning. Retrieved October 30, 2011, from http://www.p21.org/ • Theoretical foundations of service-learning. Retrieved June 29, 2011, from http://servicelearning.boisestate.edu/aboutsl/theoretical.asp • Spring, Dietz, and Grimm, Jr. (2006). Educating for Active Citizenship: Service-Learning, School-Based Service and Youth Civic Engagement. Youth Helping America. Corporation for National and Community Service. • Billig, S., Root, and Jesse. (2005). Working Paper #33. CIRCLE; RMC Research Corporation.