Academic Service Learning, also known as Real-Life Learning

The following summarizes an article entitled “High Schools That Work: Real-Life” by Alicia Woodard Green

• Students need a “hook”, a real-life application of the curriculum. This piques interest and “will make them want to come to school and want to learn and want to do their best.”
• Experts are in agreement that finding a real-world hook is the key. “For high school kids the question is, ‘Why does any of this matter?’” says Kati Haycock of The Education Trust, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group for disadvantaged children.
• Gene Bottoms, a former vocational teacher states, “Many youngsters have to see a reason to learning algebra and geometry and trig, chemistry and physics,” he says. “And the best way to do that for some students is to link that to experiences in their lives, to the community or to a career in which they have an interest.”

Using service-learning in the classroom is powerful and effective for teaching content and for helping youth tap into a career path. In the same way, this technique can be used to tap into a student’s natural philanthropic tendencies and develop a service path for a lifetime.

As quoted on the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse Web site, the Corporation for National and Community Service, conceived in 1990, said that service-learning:

• Promotes learning through active participation in service experiences
• Provides structured time for students to reflect by thinking, discussing and/or writing about their service experience
• Provides an opportunity for students to use skills and knowledge in real-life situations
• Extends learning beyond the classroom and into the community
• Fosters a sense of caring for others

(as adapted from the National and Community Service Act of 1990)

“Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.”

http://www.servicelearning.org/welcome_to_service-learning/service-learning_is/index.php

Each Learning to Give unit includes an experiential component that engages the learner, and in most instances this educational tool is service learning.