Community Service Education

This article focuses on the rise of community service education in K-12 public schools and the effect these programs can have on students both while still in school and throughout the rest of their lives. More commonly known as service learning, community service education provides experiential learning by pairing classroom concepts with real-world community needs, and helps students develop critical thinking skills and learn to function as part of a group. Successful program examples are also noted.

Keywords Civic Responsibility; Community Engagement; Community Service; Experiential Learning; National & Community Service Act of 1990; Reflection; Service Learning; Volunteerism

Service Learning > Community Service Education

Overview

Community service education has become an important component of many K-12 programs. More commonly known as service learning, community service education provides experiential learning by attempting to pair classroom concepts with real-world community needs to help students answer the question, "Why do I have to learn this?" while helping to foster a commitment to community service and concern for the community and its citizens that will last a lifetime. Community service education helps students develop critical thinking skills and learn to function as part of a group. For older students, community service education can also help define career goals and direct their collegiate studies by exposing them to professions they may not know exist and learning about the skills required of the profession. There are many opportunities for schools throughout the nation to adopt community service education programs. Projects can be short term or long term; but to be considered a true service-learning program, it must include the element of student reflection. Schools, communities, and teachers may also benefit from community service education programs. Schools can develop better relationships with the communities they serve, communities can have a genuine need addressed and problems solved, and teachers can become rejuvenated by seeing renewed student interest and additional skills acquired.

The National and Community Service Act of 1990, as amended through December 17, 1999, cements service learning as a process by which learners can increase their knowledge base and skill set by participating actively in community service projects. The service learning project is mixed into the academic curriculum or the educational elements of the program, and the experience must address actual needs in the community and help foster civic responsibility. For it to be considered true service learning, it must also supply structured reflection time for students to reflect, discuss, and observe the results of their service experience and how they felt while performing the services.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics conducted a "National Student Service-Learning and Community Service Survey." It discovered that “64 percent of all public schools, including 83 percent of public high schools, had students participating in community service activities that were recognized or arranged through their schools; 57 percent of all public schools organized community service activities for their students; and 32 percent of all public schools organized service learning as part of their curriculum. The percentage of students participating in service learning was as follows: 25 percent of elementary schools, 38 percent of middle schools, and 46 percent of all high schools” (“Service-learning,” 2007, p. 4). The most frequently cited reasons schools included service learning in their curriculum were to aid students in becoming active participants in the community, help them learn more about their surroundings and the inner workings of a community, build a strong relationship between the town and the school system, and inspire caring and helpful student motivation (U.S. Department of Education).

All community service education projects are a group effort. Students learn to use critical thinking skills, function as part of a group, and make the connection between what they are learning in the classroom and how it applies to real-life situations. This can result in more interest in classroom work and better, more active classroom participation. Critical thinking skills are used in analyzing data and reports to determine which project the group elects to undertake, coming up with solutions to solve the problem, making decisions throughout the project, as well as during the reflection process at the end of the project. Students learn to function as part of a group throughout the entire project by deciding which project to do, determining how the project will be done, and deciding which students do which aspects of the project. It is important that instructors are explicit in explaining to students that homework assignments and classroom projects apply to real-life situations. By emphasizing the connection, students are able to better understand that classroom teaching relates directly to everyday life, which can increase their interest in learning.

Community service education can help shape students' character by promoting responsibility because students must commit to a project, show up for the project, and see the project through to its conclusion. It can also help students learn to care about people other than themselves and their immediate families. By working on a project to help others in need, community service education helps develop a sense of civic responsibility and the need to give back to the community in order to make it a better place to live for everyone.

For many students, community service education provides a different setting in which they might be more successful than they have been in the usual classroom setting. Students who sometimes struggle with mathematics may flourish while working on measuring, cutting, and determining how much wood is necessary to make access ramps for wheelchair accessibility. Abstract concepts begin to have concrete meanings when they are used to solve real life problems. An effective community service education program reinforces what is taught in the classroom, such as mathematics skills, presentation skills, English skills, and woodworking skills. For example, a teacher may want to have students work on a garden in conjunction with a soup kitchen or food bank. Students can see their science lessons come to life by planting, growing, and tending the fruits and vegetables. If they decided to try to sell at a farmer's market and donate the proceeds, they could put their economics and mathematics lessons to use and also work on their presentation skills. If they wanted to sell the fruits and vegetables from the school grounds, they could use their computer and English classroom skills to produce fliers and posters to promote the sale and garner community interest and support (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2002).

Community engagement is an important factor in community service education. Community service education can help strengthen the ties between students and the communities in which they live, providing them with a better sense of belonging and a feeling of responsibility toward their communities. In working on a necessary, meaningful project through to its successful conclusion, students see that they can make a difference in society and that their involvement helped make their community a better place to live. Such success helps foster volunteerism and an ongoing commitment to contribute to the community that can last throughout their lives.

Through community service education, students can come into contact with people who work in professions that they may otherwise never know or hear about. Students can meet government administrators, civil servants, college professors, social workers, scientists, health care workers, and others who work throughout the community. By working with these professionals and seeing what skills and competencies are necessary for them to carry out their duties, students can acquire a realistic view of what duties various occupations entail and how the knowledge they acquire in school relates to them. This can also help direct college choices and aid them in declaring a major when the time comes.

Solid community service education programs also provide many potential benefits for the community, by helping to change the perception the community may have about the youth for the better. This can result in more favorable support for the schools, such as passing an important school bond issue that has consistently failed during past elections. When students pair up with a community group, the recipients of the community project are beneficiaries as well as the students. Students can help bring a new perspective and renewed energy to the program or project. Community service education projects also tend to generate a lot of publicity for both the project recipient and the school, which can lead to an influx of new memberships, volunteers, and donations from the community at large. For example, when a school teamed up with the local food bank for a personal-care product project, not only were they able to double the number of personal-care item donations, but the project also stimulated the donation of food products.

Community service education programs may be long term or short term. Short-term service projects can result in better student satisfaction because students can quickly see the impact they have had. Long-term service programs can result in a more sustained project, a deeper connection to the community, more involvement by students, and help students realize that volunteerism is a lifelong endeavor.

Applications

There is both direct and indirect relevance in effective community service education programs. Direct relevance includes helping students join together what they are learning in the classroom and its application in real-life situations. Community problems are addressed and improved, students are more aware of the community and the vital role everyone has in making the community a better place to live and students may become more connected to the community, take pride in where they live, and continue to hold on to that mindset and volunteer throughout their lives.

Indirect relevance can include creating a more caring generation of people who conserve resources, vote in greater numbers, and donate both their money and their time in greater numbers. According to a 2005 report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the number of college students volunteering is increasing. Over 30 percent of all college students between the ages of 16 to 24 (3.3 million) had donated their time, compared with 28 percent (2.7 million students) in 2002 (Farrell, 2006, ¶ 2). This can partially be attributed to the fact that these college students grew up when many K-12 schools had some kind of community service education program in place and they have continued with that spirit of volunteerism as they have grown older.

Program Examples

There are many different ways instructors can include community service education in their curriculum, and examples of programs that can be adapted for children of all ages are available through different organizations and internet sites. Programs can be free standing or can work around a particular theme and engage the entire school in the project. An example of working with a theme is using what happened on September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. Journalism students can explore the impact September 11 had on their community by consulting with former students who joined the armed services or who have already served in the military and are back in town. They would then write biographies on those they interviewed and publish them. This helps improve their research, interviewing, writing, and computer skills while preserving an important part of their community's history. Another group of students can work on a commemoration to honor those who lost their lives on September 11 or to honor those from the community who have served. Students design the memorial and work with the woodworking or metal shop instructor who oversees construction of the project. These students are using their artistic skills to design the monument and mathematic skills for the proportion of the monument. While that group of students works on the actual memorial/monument, another group of students can work with local government officials to find a suitable place for the monument to be displayed. This enables students to use their public speaking and diplomatic skills to persuade the officials to allow the monument to be displayed on city property. Art classes, mathematics classes, industrial arts classes, history classes, and social studies/civic education classes all now have practical application for students (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2002).

The possibilities are endless for projects that can be undertaken, and most ideas can be adapted to fit the appropriate student grade level. For example, students in grades 9-12 can work on designing a quilt to reflect their divergent cultures and histories. They may interview various family members, compose journals, assimilate the information, and transfer their newfound knowledge into artwork for a quilt panel. Subjects covered by a project like this include social studies/history, communications, mathematics, and art. Students in grades 3-8 can participate in "Books for Children," which is a program that provides books to children in Central America. Students learn some basic Spanish to write the books and include essays about themselves that can be sent along with the books to help engage the recipients and give the books more meaning. Subjects covered by a project like this include foreign language, communications, and art. Students in kindergarten through 6th grade can work on a community service education project for their local hospital by working to make the existing emergency room more child friendly and less intimidating to children. They can work with hospital administrators to help change the appearance of the emergency room and write “a book explaining emergency room procedures to children and their parents” (National Youth Leadership Council, ¶ 2). Subjects covered by this project include health and physical education, arts, and communications.

Students in grades 3-12 can work with a local Head Start or Even Start program to design books and games for the children participating in those programs. Subjects covered by a project like this include industrial arts, social studies, history, language, communications, mathematics, music, and arts. In an effort to help beautify a city, students in grades 3-8 can work on decorating bus shelters to help spread cultural appreciation. They would research their own cultures and come up with suitable designs reflecting their own culture and heritage, which also helps promote cultural diversity and understanding. Subjects covered by this project include foreign language, social studies, history, communications, and art (National Youth Leadership Council).

If there is a local graveyard that is in disrepair, students in grades 9-12 can do important preservation work with their local historical society by helping restore historic headstones that are decaying or have been vandalized. Younger students can assist too and help beautify and clean up the area. Subjects covered by this project include industrial arts, social studies, history, and communications. To help preserve a community's heritage, students in grades 6-12 can visit their local senior centers and nursing homes to document their lives by conducting interviews, recording and transcribing oral histories, and conducting additional research into the events that help shape each senior's life. Subjects covered by a project like this include social studies, history, and communications and also helps promote respect and caring for the elderly. Students in grades 9-12 can work on water pollution and how to prevent it or rectify it by testing their local lakes. If the water is polluted, they can come up with a plan to clean it up and work with the town's administration to implement their plan. Subjects covered include health and physical education, communications, science, mathematics, and environmental education. Students in grades 6-8 can team up with their local zoo to learn about and help preserve endangered species by developing partnerships with local businesses and raising awareness of endangered species and the importance of saving them. Subjects covered by a project like this include industrial arts, business, social studies, history, communications, mathematics, science, and environmental education (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2002; National Youth Leadership Council).

Internet Resources

There are many good internet resources available for educators who wish to learn more about service learning, enhance the programs they currently have in place, or gather new ideas for possible projects that can be done in their community. Many sites have areas where instructors can download lesson plans, conduct research, locate possible funding sources, find tools to determine the effectiveness of their community service education programs, discover opportunities to join listservs for those who want to share ideas, ask questions, and receive help with their service projects, find assistance for those just delving into community service education and more. Many sites have program ideas that are broken down by subjects covered by a project, grade level appropriateness, and types of projects or age/subject appropriate ideas for a project to make it easier for instructors to incorporate community service into their curricula. The National Service-Learning Partnership is a network committed to making service learning a prominent addition to every student’s education. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has a guidebook created by the USA Freedom Corps, U.S. Department of Education, and the Corporation for National and Community Service that is intended to help educators, community groups, and others develop and implement a community service program or project; and the Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that financially supports national service programs, including Learn & Serve America, AmeriCorps, and VISTA. These organizations, and many more, have a presence on the internet to assist anyone interested in community service education.

Terms & Concepts

Civic Responsibility: Civic responsibility is the commitment of a citizen to take accountability for the community as a whole and being fully engaged in its well-being.

Community Engagement: Schools work cooperatively with service agencies and organizations that aid in some way in improving the community and engage students in the benefits of helping others.

Community Service: Community service is a form of volunteering where students, residents, or individuals of a certain town or community area offer their time and help to improve the community.

Experiential Learning: Experiential learning unites direct, real-world experience with thoughts, reflections, and evaluations as a way for students to take initiative and accountability.

National and Community Service Act of 1990: The National and Community Service Act of 1990 was passed into law to renew focus on encouraging volunteering in America. It was amended in 1993, and the Corporation for National and Community Service was established.

Reflection: Reflection is a process of evaluating an experience or event and gaining meaning, analysis, and information that connects classroom learning to the experience.

Service Learning: Service learning combines classroom concepts with real-world community needs to aid students in identifying the importance of their studies while fostering concern for the community and its citizens.

Volunteerism: The free and unpaid performing of formal service and aid that is intended to benefit others or the community.

Bibliography

Billig, S. (n.d.). The impacts of service-learning on youth, schools and communities: Research on K-12 school-based service-learning, 1990-1999. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://www.learningindeed.org/research/slresearch/slrsrchsy.html

Cervantes, C.M., & Meaney, K.S. (2013). Examining service-learning literature in physical education teacher education: Recommendations for practice and research. Quest (00336297), 65, 332-353. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=89432269&site=ehost-live

Corporation for National and Community Service. (2002). Students in service to America (SISTA): A guidebook for engaging America's students in a lifelong habit of service. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org/

Davis, D.R. (2013). Cognitive and affective outcomes of short-term service-learning experiences: An exploratory study. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 7, 1-15. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=92710074&site=ehost-live

Farrell, E. (2006). More college students are volunteering. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 , p. A40. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=22984132&site=ehost-live

Kronick, R.F., & Cunningham, R.B. (2013). Service-learning: some academic and community recommendations. Journal of Higher Education Outreach & Engagement, 17, 139-152. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=90546125&site=ehost-live

National Youth Leadership Council. (n.d.). Resource center: Project examples. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://www.nylc.org/rc_projectexamples.cfm

“Service-learning and community service in K-12 public schools.” (2007, September). OSSE Ed Digest. 4. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs99/1999043.pdf

Simons, L. & Cleary, B. (2006). The influence of service learning on students' personal and social development. College Teaching, 54 , 307-319. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=23337667&site=ehost-live

Terry, A. & Bohnenberger, J. (2004). Blueprint for incorporating service learning: A basic, developmental, K-12 service learning typology. Journal of Experiential Education, 27 , 15-31. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from EBSCO online database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=14383382&site=ehost-live

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Service-learning and community service in K-12 public schools. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/1999043/index.asp

National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. (n.d.). Welcome to service-learning. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://servicelearning.org/welcome_to_service-learning/index.php

Suggested Reading

Berman, S. (2006). Service learning: A guide to planning, implementing, and assessing student projects. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Billig, S. & Eyler, J. (2003). Deconstructing service-learning: Research exploring context, participation, and impacts. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. Jr. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.

Fiske, E. B. (2001). Learning in deed. The power of service-learning for American schools. Battle Creek, MI: W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Kaye, C (2003). The complete guide to service learning: Proven, practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility, academic curriculum, & social action. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.