MAKE IT LAST FOREVER: THE ... - National Service Resource Center

(5) Public Support: any segment of the population, from community groups and the media to business leaders
and elected officials, can demonstrate support for service-learning; and
(6) Recognition: positive reinforcement of service as a community value, through meaningful expressions of
appreciation, can spur students, teachers, administrators, schools, and states to further embrace servicelearning.
COLLABORATION is supported by the following categories of strategies:
(1) Funding: while money is not always needed, the many sources of public and private support for servicelearning
at the local, state, and federal levels makes it possible for many projects to succeed;
(2) Partnerships: numerous educational, community, business, and government partnerships, particularly those
which share resources within the educational system, facilitate collaborative projects;
(3) Resources: many practitioners produce and disseminate written and audio-visual materials, and offer
speakers and web sites, to promote and replicate innovative service-learning techniques and projects;
(4) Evidence of Impact: research, conducted internally or by outside experts, can demonstrate the positive
impact of activities on students, faculty, schools, and communities, which facilitates its expansion as a
teaching method;
(5) In-Kind Services: nearly all service-learning projects involve and depend on volunteers, particularly parents
and non-profit personnel, and donations from all segments of the community; and
(6) Faculty Camaraderie: when the entire faculty is supportive of this instructional strategy, they are likely to
work together on interdisciplinary and inter-grade projects that involve all students.
Descriptions of Strategies
FUNCTION #1: POWER
STRATEGY DESCRIPTION WHEN IT’S THERE: WHEN IT’S NOT THERE:
Links to Educational
Standards:
Projects are formally connected
to one or more state content
and performance standards for
the appropriate level and
subject. This may also include
specific standards for the
practice of service-learning.
Resources, such as curriculum
guides, are produced to
articulate the linkages.
Educators and parents rest
assured that service-learning is
a part of the educational
experience, and teachers
specifically realize that they are
fulfilling their job requirements
by teaching required content in
a different (and improved) way.
Resources that facilitate this
understanding make it easier
for teachers to see service as an
academic experience.
Educators may doubt its
educational relevance, and may
feel constrained by time and
state requirements to fit in
something extra like servicelearning
activities. Viewed in
this way, service-learning
remains in the hands of a select
few dedicated professionals.
Curricular Integration: By definition, service-learning Projects are tied intimately to Service is encouraged as the
26