Saturday June 27: Final Day of Conference

From Andy Furco's Presentation
Critical reality of service-learning
a. Marginalized practice
b. Poorly understood among teachers and educators
c. Confusion with community service and volunteerism

Community Service/Volunteerism focuses on service and the intended
beneficiary is the recipient of service.

Service-Learning: The primary intended recipient of the service is the
provider of service. It is a win/win reciprocal opportunity When classroom
learning with community based learning = soft service learning

d. Service learning is only indirectly connected to teacher certification.
It has to be direct!

e. Teachers do not use s-l once they are in the field of their content work.

f. Improvements on academic achievement are mixed at best. It does create
the conditions for higher academic achievement. The goal is not to talk
service-learning but how service-learning is the vehicle to academic
achievement. There is a need for greater service-learning leadership in
secondary and elementary grades because there is a global dissatisfaction
with education. Students are bored with schools because classes are
irrelevant to real life. Do not do service learning, help people see service
learning as the vehicle for the "big issues: building an engaged university,
student involvement and participation in community, how service learning is
a vehicle to achieve those goals how it is tied to the bigger issues, the
bigger agenda

Developing leaders for School and Community: The presentation was for their
own reality in developing a leadership component through service learning,
but the practical application of it is how this presentation could change
the structure of YAC. Yac members could assume a role of faculty liaison,
look for community partnerships, resources, be reflectors, logistics and
transportation. Each YAC member for an area of the school they enjoy the
most.


The Villanoba experience with Understanding Diversity is one I would recommend Zainab to explore in combination with a Video contest. Here YAC projects need to develop partnerships with university students to explore a "big issue together." The example was a sucess story with great presentations from the students from Villanoba. Resource: University of PA, Netter Center, conference in June had a model from an Oklahoma University noreen.cameron@villanova.edu

Get Enganged: Bruger Kaye Presenter

Talk does not cook rice!!! When spiders webbs are tied together, they can trap a lion!!!

Words----Idea-----Action Teachin is political---Create models of change!

In 5-10 words described your service-learning program goal! Empower youth to lead for peace. Then move to another table and circle one word in the person's statement and create a new perspective that helps the first statement. Enable students to ACT in ways that make a difference. Make a difference by helping your neighbor. Was an example


5 minute think tank: Turns all kids into question askers!!!

s (heart) + L(crown) == Peace (world)

Assessment of needs
Use the 4 ways to research

1. Read (any library or internet source)
2. Observe-visit the place, experience the partner
3. Interview: Experts in the community, the need, the goal
4. Survey

Tools:
Share your quote with a friend
b. One minute think tank
c. Build a theory
d. Define this with a bumper sticker

Friday, June 26

Opening Plenary: Anne Sliwaka was unable to attend. Jake and I heard a panel of speakers that covered IB requirements and the training of the teacher of the future. The messages were to interrogate what we do, how we do it and why we do it. One question was the underlining resut of the panel presentations: How can we produce teachers as agents of change.

Regarding research the questions were: How can the gap between academia and schooling could be bridged? Teachers must read their own work site, instead of having interpretations done entirely by researchers. Schools (teachers, students, parents) should be involved in the research. Schools should not be treated as laboratories. We need to learn from the journey, build resilliance. It is hard work and we must have the disposition to stick to it because it is good for the kids. We must not be afraid of failure. Failure is a learning experience too, the real failure is not having a learning experience.

Casady Presentation Children's Land: The kids did a fantastic job reflecting and presenting their experience. As a consequence of the presentation and networking during the conference, we have connected to a reflection researcher in Galway who recommended to read Reflections on the Courage to Teach.

Mac had to change clothing and we missed lunch with the conference. We went to the Spud Town and had lunch there. Then we returned to the conference.

Does Service-Learning Aid retention? Look at the experiential learning process. It is important to have structure: 3 people building reciprocal relationships. Questions: What is going to be the potential problem? How can it be overcome with collaboration, ownership and a minimum of three people who will be working on the project. What is the need that has to be filled in the community, the students, and the other collaborating parters.

Affinity group: Research: Learned about the research that is being done in service-learning

Conference Dinner at the Radisson Hotel: lovely!