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

part of teaching and learning,
and service impacts all
elements of academic and
extracurricular life at these
schools.
Philosophy/Mission: Service-learning can be
explicitly written into school,
district, and state level
documents of educational
philosophy and mission,
thereby giving credibility and
official endorsement to the
pedagogy and diffusing the
anti-authority sentiment many
teachers feel towards school
administrations around the
country.
Youth Leadership: Students take on many
responsibilities in support of
service-learning, including
project development,
evaluation, and promotion,
advocacy, training, fund
development and distribution,
and infrastructure development.
Students may also receive
special leadership training to
facilitate teamwork and assess
community issues before
undertaking projects.
Public Support: As the schools ultimately
reflect the values of the
communities in which they
exist, it is important that the
public communicate the
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There is complete agreement at
all levels of the system that
service learning has educational
value, which helps teachers and
students to understand its
relevance. This clarity of
purpose makes it easier to
leverage parental and
community support, and
contributes to a positive school
culture that is based on caring
for people and the environment.
Students who have more
control over their learning and
how it is structured will be
empowered to not only
participate in service-learning
activities but to develop
leadership skills that will
forever be valuable. Students
who demonstrate leadership
take many of the
responsibilities away from
teachers, thereby reducing their
load. These projects are often
the most successful, because
the students fully own the
process and the project.
Public support creates the
impression among adults that
young people are valuable
community resources rather
than “at-risk” problems. This
potential of service-learning to
achieve its full impact on
students, schools, and
communities.
Ambiguity about the
educational significance of
service-learning may exist. The
school, district, or state
educational administration’s
lack of official endorsement
sends the signal that servicelearning
isn’t all that important,
and so the few teachers who
practice it feel and sometimes
are marginalized.
Service-learning is just another
requirement forced upon them
by teachers. Students may still
find the experiences
meaningful, but miss out on the
opportunity to build their own
skills in significant ways.
The pattern of school isolation
may persist, despite the
excellent contributions of
students. Students may assume
that no one cares about what