Restoration Projects

One of my favorite education quotes comes from Nicholas Wolterstorff (@DrWolterstorff), educational philosopher formerly at Calvin College and Yale University ...

"It is nothing but a pious wish and a grossly unwarranted hope that students 

trained to be passive and non-creative in school will suddenly, upon graduation, 

actively contribute to the formation of ... culture."

There is so much to ponder in this quote, but it is a favorite of mine because it challenges us, as educators, to be intentional about what happens in school. Rather than just assuming that students will become graduates who live out the school's mission statement, every program must have student learning objectives aligned with the school's mission statement (in the Wolterstorff's example ... to create culture). 

Every school has (or should have) a mission statement that guides every curricular and co-curricular program. For those of us with school mission statements with lofty "change the world" language, how we encourage students in this should be of primary consideration.

We often think that students will fulfill the school's mission after they graduate; however, we rarely give them opportunities to practice living the mission (i.e."changing the world") or even provide instruction in how to actually do this.

One pedagogical strategy that helps students learn how to "change the world" is service-learning. Different than required service hours, service clubs, or school community service projects (which are all great and can help fulfill the school's mission statement), service-learning is pedagogy and, thus, connected to classroom teaching and learning.

S-L Defined

"Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities." (Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning in Higher Education, 2007)

While it is relatively easy to establish a service club, set aside a day for the students to do community service, or have a food drive at Thanksgiving, connecting service to classroom learning is more difficult.

Restoration Projects
One way to help service become an integral part of classroom learning is to have "restoration projects" in each unit. These assignments consider how to use classroom learning to address a real need in the community and then take action to serve. Each academic discipline has its own set of service-learning examples, and I encourage you to search for examples in your subject area/grade level.

I taught high school English and tried to connect service and learning through restoration projects; here are a few examples.

Creative Writing -- Children's Story Unit
After studying children's stories, writing (and illustrating) our own, students read their stories to an elementary classroom. This developed into regular reading times with the elementary students throughout the semester.

American Literature -- Puritan Writing
After reading Anne Bradstreet's Upon the Burning of Our House and researching modern stories of loss, the students (working with the American Red Cross) collected money for a local family who lost their home in a fire.

British Literature -- Lord of the Flies
While reading the novel by William Golding, we discussed what is needed to survive on an island, in the local wilderness, and in our society. The discussion led to the students creating and delivering "survival packs" for the homeless in our community, which included water, blankets, socks, and food.

Although I wasn't able to have a restoration project for each unit, these projects became a powerful lesson on how we can use what we learn to make a difference in the world. Obviously, each project should be age appropriate, connected to classroom learning, and tied to the local community, so each project will be unique to the school, classroom, community.

Thankfully, we don't have to re-invent the wheel ... there are so many great resources on service-learning.  Here are a few to check out.

Faculty Toolkit for Service-Learning

Youth.Gov on Service-Learning

Character.org on Service-Learning

Service-Learning Projects for the Environment

Service Learning Primer