6 Questions for Using Books as a Catalyst for Social Action

ref: Complete Guide to Service Learning by Cathryn Berger Kaye, chapter 3

In the Complete Guide to Service Learning, the author recommends creating a Service Learning Bookshelf with books and stories that can teach and motivate young people to read and become inspired to action. Books can lead students to consider many questions:

1. What do I have in common with these characters?
   
2. How are the characters’ actions changing how the characters think about themselves?
   
3. What actions are making a difference in the lives of others?
   
4. Are any of the problems or conflicts in the story occurring in my life or the lives of people I know or see?
   
5. What questions do I have after reading this book?
   
6. What can we do to address problems in our community that are similar to the ones described in the book?

These questions can deepen a reader’s relationship with the text as well as to stimulate the reader’s thinking and concern for community needs and issues. Included in your bookshelf might be nonfiction, picture book, and fiction titles that:

• describe the service experiences of others
• introduce important social themes
• tell stories from history
• increase student interest in reading
• promote critical thinking and discussion
• prepare students to interact with diverse populations
• enhance the experiences students have in the community
• inspire students to serve

Learn more proven and practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility, learning, and social action in The Complete Guide to Service Learning by Cathryn Berger Kaye. You’ll find some wonderful ideas and a great reading list of books.

Learn more about Service Learning at reachandteach.com

7 Key Elements for Combining Education and Volunteer Service

(ref: SLOOPY: Service-Learning Opportunity-Options Program for Youth CD-ROM Resource Kit by Youth Community Service)

Service-learning combines service to the community (civic engagement) with student learning in a way that improves both the student and the community. Focus is placed equally on the learning experience, the skills developed, and the service performed. Here’s a seven-point evaluation system to distinguish high quality service-learning programs.

1. Integrated Learning

• The service-learning project has clearly articulated knowledge, skill or value goals that arise from ultimate learning goals including social skills, citizenship, personal growth, cognitive development and career exploration.
• The service informs the learning content, and the learning content informs the service.

2. Collaboration

• The service-learning project is a collaboration among as many of these partners as is feasible: students, parents, community-based organization staff, school administrators, teachers, and recipients of service.
• All partners benefit from the project and contribute to its planning.

3. Reflection

• Reflection establishes connections between students’ service experiences and the academic curriculum.
• Reflection occurs before, during, and after the service-learning project.

4. High Quality Service

• The service is a response to an actual community need that is recognized by the community.
• The service is age-appropriate and well-organized.
• The service is designed to achieve significant benefits for students and community.

5. Student Voice – Students participate actively in …

• choosing and planning the service project;
• planning and implementing the reflection sessions, evaluation, and celebration;
• taking on roles and tasks that are appropriate to their age.

6. Evaluation

• All the partners, especially students, are involved in evaluating the service learning project.
• The evaluation seeks to measure progress toward the learning and service goals of the project.

7. Civic Responsibility

• The service-learning project promotes students’ responsibility to care for others and to contribute to the community.
• By participating in the service-learning project, students understand how they can impact their community.

Learn about other Service Learning resources

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Youth Community Service is a Palo Alto, California based 501c3 non-profit. By developing service and leadership opportunities for young people and service learning support for teachers, YCS promotes the ethic of service, fosters youth leadership, builds community, and enhances education in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Check out the SLOOPY CD-ROM at Reach and Teach.

35 Colleges with a Strong Concern for Social Justice and Service-Learning

(Ref: Making a Difference Colleges by Miriam Weinstein)

1. Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio)
2. Beloit College (Beloit, Wisconsin)
3. Berea College (Berea, Kentucky)
4. Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island)
5. Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania)
6. California University of Pennsylvania (California, Pennsylvania)
7. Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota)
8. Center for Global Education (a program of Augsburg College, MI)
9. Clark University (Worcester, MA)
10. College of Environmental Science & Forestry State University of NY (Syracuse, NY)
11. Connecticut College (New London, Connecticut)
12. Cornell University School of Labor & Industrial Relations (Ithaca, NY)
13. Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana)
14. Eastern Mennonite U (Harrisonburg, Virginia)
15. Eugene Lang College – New School University (NY, NY)
16. Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA)
17. Friends World Program (Southampton, NY)
18. Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana)
19. Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa)
20. Hampshire College (Amherst, MA)
21. Hendrix College (Conway, Arkansas)
22. Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon)
23. Manchester College (Manchester, Indiana)
24. Menno Simons College (Winnepeg, Canada)
25. Naropa University (Boulder, Colorado)
26. Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)
27. Olivet College (Olivet, Michigan)
28. Pitzer College (Claremont, California)
29. St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota)
30. Seattle University (Seattle, Washington)
31. Stanford University (Stanford, California)
32. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA)
33. Tufts University (Medford, MA)
34. Woodbury College (Montpelier, VT)
35. Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)

(You ask, “What is Social Justice?” Check out Reach and Teach’s Defining “Social Justice”)