Curriculum/Service Learning

Curriculum/Service Learning >> Embedding Service Learning in the Curriculum - Authentic Learning Through Doing By Florence Ho, hof@ics.edu.hk International Christian School, Hong Kong

Service to the Community has always been part of the mission and core values here at International Christian School, Hong Kong. Last year during our pre-service professional development, teachers were challenged to take Service Learning one step further by incorporating it into our curriculum. As a grade 5 team, we were already planning to revamp one of our Social Science units on World Lakes and Sustainability anyway. It became an obvious unit to inject a service learning element. Through our ‘professional learning community’ discussions, we realized that we could leverage our Science unit on Earth’s Spheres and Interactions to equip students with the necessary science background before they started investigating the effects of human interaction with nature. The team was getting excited about this opportunity for integration. Furthermore, students were learning research skills and presentation skills in English Language Arts (ELA), and therefore ELA could easily be integrated into the unit as well. This new service learning unit became a perfect opportunity to integrate multiple disciplines.

A brand new integrated unit “Sustainability and Service Learning” was created. We started by frontloading necessary scientific knowledge, and then drawing students’ awareness to relevant human activities in today’s society. Afterwards, students followed a combination of Kath Murdoch’s inquiry model and Cathryn Berger-Kaye’s service learning inquiry model for their service learning projects.

and impact to the community. Reflect - Students reflect on their learning, enduring understandings, and knowledge that can be transferred to different contexts, throughout the unit.

From a teacher’s perspective, supporting my students through this cycle of research, planning and implementation was most rewarding. Students were highly motivated. They searched for solutions when they encountered problems. They stepped out of their comfort zone to communicate with diverse audience. A number of my students decided to interview high school teachers and other administrators to gather information. Those who designed surveys learned the concept of pilot testing their surveys and adjusting them based on the feedback they received. One group studied water pollution and decided to survey beach visitors. When they thought about their target audience, they realized the survey had to be in Chinese too. They quickly sought help from their Chinese teachers to translate some special environmental terms.

One brave group wrote a letter to the Head of Schools about reducing food waste. They were pleasantly surprised when they received an invitation to present their project in the boardroom. As a result of that meeting, this group launched an extension project to pilot worm composting. They had to go back to the drawing board to research about worm composting, design their experiments, collect results, fine tune their setups, and draw conclusions about favorable conditions for worm composting.

The whole process took students much further than what teachers had originally hoped for. Initially students wondered how they could impact the adult world. But through this, they realized that they too have a voice. Reading their reflections was something that brought me much joy and satisfaction.

28 EARCOS Triannual Journal Tune In - Students explore their areas of concern and decide on their topics. Find Out - Students research to expand their understanding on their chosen topics. Sort Out - Students organize their research to help them propose a purposeful service project. Take Action - Students create project plans and act on them. Make Conclusions - Students present evidence of their service