The news is filled with the reports: young people taking their own lives or the lives of others; seemingly callous adolescents opening fire on classmates or on teachers. And we wonder, with each horrific occurrence, what could have prevented it. We wonder why a beautiful girl of 14 would leave a note to take care of her cat and then hang herself. We wonder why our youth feel so alienated that they commit random acts of violence.
We can blame our economy or changes in the family structure. We can point to the media or to Hollywood for romanticizing violence. Whatever the contributing factors, however, the root cause is that today's youth lack positive connections with their communities and positive feelings about themselves.
Because teachers have so much contact with our youngsters, they have the unique opportunity to encourage and to nurture students. This means that teachers need to interact with students beyond the classroom walls, providing worthwhile experiences in which students learn firsthand how to effect positive changes in their communities and within themselves. From service learning programs, young people develop a sense of hope; they realize that they have a place—and a future—in their world. In short, service nurtures the soul.
Making Meaningful Connections
Service learning is a method by which young people learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized experiences led by qualified adults. It brings young people into their communities to make positive changes. It also helps youngsters connect school learning to the world outside the school building. Most important is the development of self-esteem—the cornerstone for ego development—which translates into good mental health and a productive life.
We know that young people learn by observing adults, from whom they develop guiding beliefs. Bandura and McDonald (1963) tested the effect of adult modeling on moral behavior. They found that models alone were as effective in altering children's moral judgments as the experimental conditions combining modeling with social reinforcement. Teachers, therefore, do have a profound influence on their students, but this influence needs to go beyond such traditional teacher roles as standing in the front of the classroom solving for x; interactions must occur in a more collaborative and social environment. This is what service learning provides. Teachers and students work together on a community service project; share ideas; and analyze situations, other people, and their own reactions and feelings. Through this work, young people develop a spiritual core.
Service learning also honors the needs of adolescents. Adolescents feel intensely; life can become bearable or unbearable just by the glance of a cherished person. Young people find themselves in between worlds—too old to be treated as children but not yet ready to face the world as adults (Halsted, 1997). Adolescents need to be spoken to and guided with respect—not in patronizing tones. Adolescents need to be actively engaged to channel their high-level energy—not asked always to sit in rows working quietly at their desks. Adolescents have creative ideas and need to be listened to—not told what to do. Most important, adolescents need to be connected to positive role models as they explore their new roles.
Creating Good Samaritans
To nurture the spirit, young people have to participate in activities that help them make meaningful connections between themselves and the vast world they inhabit. They need to be guided in real-life situations to develop a moral code and a sense of civic pride.
We delude ourselves by thinking that citizenship and ethics are developed by discussing inauthentic exercises on reproducible sheets. A "Good Samaritan" study, which Darley and Batson (1973) conducted with 47 Princeton Theological Seminary students, proves otherwise. After studying and discussing the Good Samaritan parable, all the students received a questionnaire and were told that they had to go to another building where they would give speeches on the topic. As they raced across the campus, a hired actor stationed along the students' route coughed and groaned—but 60 percent of the students passed him with no offer of assistance. The researchers had thought that learning about the parable would have produced more helpful responses in students. It did not. What does this tell us about developing ethical behaviors from mere class discussions, instead of actually performing such behaviors in real-life situations, such as in service learning projects?
Enhancing Self-Esteem
When preparing middle school students for their first visit with tutees at a nearby grammar school, I asked them to recall their kindergarten years. "What are some memories you have of yourself when you were 5?" I asked. Joe, a robust young man, blurted out, "I was fragile." What an honest and open response. And in the reflection seminar, no one laughed or felt uncomfortable. Instead, they became thoughtful as I led them to consider how they were going to treat their young charges.
When I visited the school again at the end of their service learning, I took out the flip chart on which we had initially developed some ideas, and I asked the students if they could add new thoughts. Under the column What I Got came a deluge of responses. "I got respect," said one student. "I got a good feeling that I was able to teach the children some reading strategies," called out another. "I felt important," chimed yet another. "My teacher saw a part of me she never saw before." Student after student described his or her feelings of self-esteem, pride from work accomplished, desire to become a teacher, and even appreciation of past teachers.
Whatever the individual expression, every response reflected an uplifting experience, one that nurtured their spirit, which, in turn, brought about dramatic changes—from self-doubt to self-efficacy, from feeling alienated to feeling connected. For once, they had been the providers of a service, a much more empowering experience than being the recipients. From their acts of giving, they received great spiritual fulfillment.
Transforming Experiences
Service learning is a transforming experience. Practitioners in the field witness these dramatic changes in students every day. Surly youngsters who are turned off by school and refuse to participate in school life suddenly look forward to their day of service learning. Young boys and girls who have been lost to the street are lured back to academics because of service learning. Youngsters who would never care to convert millimeters into centimeters readily do so as they plot the garden that they're planting in a nearby vacant lot. Others who have had little respect for their elders develop loving relationships with adopted grandmothers as they interview elderly people at nursing homes. They also learn social studies firsthand as Mrs. Smith describes her struggle to get the vote for women or Mr. Rutterman tells what it was like on his family farm before television and other modern technologies. Conrad and Hedin (1991) support the many anecdotes:
Researchers consistently report a heightened sense of personal and social responsibility, more positive attitudes towards adults...enhanced self-esteem, growth in moral and ego development and more complex patterns of thought are directly related to the experiences of the participants [in service learning programs]. (p. 747)
When I accompanied 14-year-old Justin Martin and a group of his fellow students to a nearby public school where they tutored 5th graders in reading, I witnessed the spiritual effects of service learning. Justin, a special education youngster, gawky and uncomfortable with his body, was involved in a Learning Helper Model, in which older youth read to young children. He and his peers had prepared diligently for the week's tutoring lesson because, as his teacher explained, "They don't want the 5th graders to know a word that they don't." With their guided reading books and exercises in hand, Justin and the noisy group of adolescents entered the cafeteria of the public school and metamorphosed into young adults. Suddenly, they became thoughtful and caring, smiling gently as the 5th graders ran into the cafeteria.
Little Colin jumped into Justin's arms, exclaiming, "I couldn't wait to see you!" Another tutor, Shawanna, was having a different experience. "Lucinda isn't here, and this is the only reason I came to school today," she announced, hands on hips, upset that her young tutee was not among the 5th graders. Quickly, with little direction from the program leader, the students paired off, sat down, and began the task at hand. Justin involved Colin in echo reading. Another tutor asked his tutee to react to a picture, while a third guided her tutee to make a prediction.
Where did these adolescents acquire such teaching skills? What transformed these young people from unruly adolescents to serious, caring,thoughtful young adults? They were needed, they were involved in a meaningful activity, and they were discovering talents that they never knew they possessed. One feels magic in the air, sees chests puffed with pride, and hears soft murmurs of children helping children. Service learning is a spiritual affair in which the lines between giver and receiver are often blurred.
Developing Compassion
Because she speaks Greek, 13-year-old Alexandra Popoudopolous is the only person who can converse with an elderly Greek woman at the nursing home where she and her art class perform service. Each week, they visit the nursing home, bringing art projects to work on with their adopted grandparents. The young people are warmly welcomed not only by the residents but also by the care workers because they bring such exuberance and pleasure to the elderly, many of whom have no visitors at all. In return, the young people receive praise. Mrs. Locari tells me, "José is a real good artist," and strokes his cheek, something this young man wouldn't allow most older people to do. But Mrs. Locari is "like a grandmother to me," he explains. "I worry about her a lot."
The students do not have to learn about caring, compassion, and respect in contrived ways. Their teachers do not have to supply hypothetical situations in a classroom to discuss moral dilemmas. Nor do they have to search for novels with themes that foster caring and compassion. As a result of these real-life experiences that they reflect upon in the classroom, students develop compassion and respect both for themselves and for others. The programs in which they are involved connect them with their communities so they feel needed, contribute something to the adult world, and earn respect.
For Teachers, Too
The youngsters are not alone; teachers' spirits are also revitalized as they facilitate service learning programs in their schools. Traditionally, teachers can feel isolated; each one closes the classroom door and delivers a lesson to 30 or more reluctant learners who would rather be outside playing ball or talking to friends. Many teachers' frustrations have to do with discipline. "So much time is taken up with discipline that the content of my lesson suffers," I hear many teachers moan. "Well, of course," I respond. "We ask them to sit quietly and listen and then raise their hands if they know the answer."
However, service learning removes many of the obstacles to learning. Suddenly, students are interested in what they're learning in class because they will apply their new knowledge at the service site. Students labeled discipline problems become cooperative and eager learners. Often teachers tell me that they see their students in a new light, and some who are not academic stars in the classroom become shining rays at the service site.
The teachers, too, learn about the community and forge new collaborations. As leaders of service learning programs, teachers cannot be isolated. They must interact with the administrators of their school, with other teachers in workshops and seminars, and with personnel at the various sites. In addition, properly implemented programs require staff development and ongoing technical assistance from experts in the field. Teachers who attend workshops and work with outside professionals to acquire new skills are professionally renewed. They, in turn, work with other teachers—writing reflection seminars and curriculums that integrate the service experience, for example—which energizes these teachers as well. In their new roles as facilitators, teachers are no longer simply the purveyors of knowledge who have to cajole students to work and to respond. Teaching becomes less physically draining, and at the end of the day, teachers can participate in other activities with vigor.
The most dramatic way teachers' spirits are nurtured is in their change of attitude—toward many of their students and toward teaching itself. Too many teachers refer tothese kids—how difficult it is to motivate these kids, to keep them on task, to get them to respond. Service learning program leaders see their students' assets and encourage their students' success. They are not counting the days until summer vacation, but are planning in June for their service learning project in September.
The Spirit of Service
Service learning should be at the core of every school's curriculum because it gives young people purpose and nurtures their spirit as few experiences can. How is the spirit nurtured? From the feeling of accomplishment; from knowing they have achieved goals; from the rewards of giving and realizing how much they have received; from knowing they have made a difference in someone's life or in the community; from discovering their special talents; from having fun and learning at the same time; from the tears shed at the end of the service experience; from knowing they are part of their community and will perform service in some form for the rest of their lives.
