COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION
The Groton/Dunstable School district’s Community Service Learning and Development (CSLD) initiative has been evolving over the past years through the initial efforts of Ms. Donna Kwajewski, director of Curriculum and Staff Development and Mr. Joseph Dillon, Principal, Groton/Dunstable Regional High School. It was at the high school that the first CSLD efforts began. Now, the high school projects have expanded, along with new initiatives at the district’s middle and elementary schools.

In this updated Program Description, we present summaries of the CSLD efforts in the various schools (sections three-six). We first provide a brief presentation of the Educational Foundation for the various CSLD efforts and our definition of CSLD which reflects this Educational Foundation (Sections One and Two). In the last section, our approach to School/Community Partnership is reviewed.

Section One
OUR EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
Our educational foundation is based on the philosophical and psychological educational assumptions as delineated by such theorists, researchers, and practitioners as Dewey (1965, 1966); Piaget (1948, 1963), and Kohlberg (1969). This approach, called the philosophical-develomental approach, maintains that the central aim of education is the process of universal development or growth which involves 1) a person’s present thinking, behaviors, and attitudes, interacting with: 2)optimally different thinking, behaviors, and attitudes of others; 3) concerning relevant social problems, conflicts, or inequalities. This process is called developmental experience or an equilibration process. The by-product of this process is a new equilibration structure defined as a more inclusive moral, cognitive, or ego stage of development.

Piaget describes this development experience or equilibration process as having two fundamental properties, organization and adaption. Organization refers to a person’s present state, including their ideas, feelings, behaviors, belief and so forth. Adaption is the dynamic side of the development experience, referring to how the person’s organization acts on the world and is simultaneously acted upon by the world. Adaption involves two processes, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation implies that the outside stimulation is similar enough to a person’s present organization to allow its understanding and absorption. Accommodation refers to the adjustments a person’s organization must make to new (slightly different, more inclusive) realities presented by the environment. Through the slow process of assimilation to maintain integrity and continuity and of accommodation to adjust to newly discovered realities, the person’s existing organization is reconstructed to more closely mirror reality.

A few implications for practice based on this educational approach include:

• The environment must contain active “dialogue” between a person’s present thinking structures and those of others (exposure to role-taking opportunities).
• The thinking and behavior structures of others must be at levels slightly (optimally) more inclusive than the person’s present stage.
• The content acted upon must be problems or inequalities socially relevant to the involved individuals and society.
• There must exist mutual democratic decision-making, implementation, and follow-through concerning issues of social relevance.
• Teachers must understand the student’s present level of cognitive, moral and ego development in order to facilitate an environment for each student’s present level of development to be active and thus develop to a new, more realistic equilibration.
• The fundamental goals and means of education become one and the same thing – this developmental experience of adaption, existing for all school personnel.
• The fundamental curriculum becomes the developmental experience itself, i.e., the active process of transforming the existent situation. Academic content, instead of being a final goal, becomes a resource or tool for the developmental experience. Values such as honesty, responsibility, self-confidence, instead of being fixed values or ends to be taught, become characteristics of change evolving from the developmental experience of adaption.
• The development and consistent implementation of a justifiable educational foundation and practice must be first and foremost the ongoing priority of the administration.

Section Two
DEFINING COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
The following definitions reflect the above philosophical-developmental approach to education:

COMMUNITY: Community implies experiences of joining where the educational foundation, process, and content of educational experience is continually developed, discussed, agreed upon and implemented by the affected participants. These are democratic experiences that connect people as they identify and work on social problems and inequalities in and out of the school. These experiences result in team work, high morale, and a community of caring among school staff, students, parents, business people, politicians, local citizens, and human service program staff and clients. “Community” implies developmental experiences for all participants.

SERVICE: Service usually suggests helping others who are already suffering and in need. However, our definition first emphasizes developmental experiences, i.e., experiences and services to address solutions and causes of social injustices, discrimination, and developmental stagnation. These are experiences where community members work on eliminating existing social problems and work on preventing social problems and suffering from happening in the first place.

LEARNING: By learning we refer to the acquisition of skills and information (traditional academic content) that is not necessarily required for permanent developmental change. In recognizing the importance of such “learning”, we attempt to provide experiences where participants, through a democratic, problem-solving process, acquire and assimilate academic skills and subject matter. We view the academic content as a resource for an individual’s, school’s or broader community’s developmental experiences.

DEVELOPMENT: This refers to experiences where a person can act on the environment with his present organization of behaviors, thinking, and beliefs and at the same time be acted upon by the environment in slightly more inclusive ways so that there is a new, more adequate organization or equilibration created. Such developmental experiences are not just for school participants to encounter outside the school, but should be occurring inside the school as well, dealing with school issues of unfairness.

Section Three
THE ACTION TEAM
This group, called the Action Team (AT), is responsible for evolving all aspects of the CSLD program. This document, all the specific CSLD programs, are the result of participatory involvement of AT members to develop, maintain, and improve CSLD components. The AT also has as a primary role to facilitate the joining together of the school community, and the joining together of the school community with the broader community.

AT members represent school administrators, faculty, and students, plus community business representatives and parents. Most Action Team members are the leaders and supporters of the specific CSLD initiatives. Meetings are approximately once a month at different schools, chaired by the CSLD coordinator and another AT member. Agenda items are determined by all AT members. Decisions are made by consensus.

Section Four
HIGH SCHOOL PROJECTS
With the support of the principal, Mr. Joseph Dillon, the high school has evolved several programs over the past few years, a CSLD Course, an Action Response Team, Senior and Independent study Projects, and a “Between School districts” Project.

A. THE CSLD COURSE
The course is facilitated by the instructor, Mr. Robert Westwater, and is divided into three nin-week terms, with approximately 25 students (grades 9-12 each term. The classroom has an atmosphere of openness, as students help develop the rules and are treated as equals. They choose their own project topics, develop their project plans, and are encouraged to think critically and express their thinking in and outside the classroom.

With the assistance of a sponsor and the course instructor, students develop a project. Students may decide to do an individual project or work as a team. The project topics focus on important social issues such as poverty, homelessness, prisons, hunger, gun control and so on. School concerns of fairness may also be project topics. Weekly, students analyze and refine their projects.

Students do research on their topics with a focus on understanding the root causes of problems. They look at existing solutions and develop their own ideas on prevention. As much as possible, students are involved with on- and off-campus people and places where spending time with site staff and clients is stressed. Efforts are made for students to become familiar and involved with different situations, communities, and politics, which address their social concerns.

B. THE ACTION RESPONSE TEAM (ART)
Members of ART respond to calls for help that come to the school. Examples of requests for assistance might be an elderly person needing help to move furniture, or a staff member in an after-school program with limited funds needing students to help for a few hours. This project is coordinated by the assistant librarian, Ms. Linda Chase.

Like all other programs, if confidentiality is not violated, we have the students and staff get to know the agency people they are helping. More often than not, we find people are eagerly supportive of our goals beyond helping, and are open to spending time with project participants.

C. SENIOR PROJECTS AND INDEPENDENT STUDIES
Seniors are able to select a year-long CSLD project, and both juniors and seniors are able to select a CSLD topic for a nine-week independent study. For example, last year a senior project involved two students working all year with the Action Team to maintain and improve the overall CSLD program.

D. THE “BETWEEN DISTRICT SCHOOLS” PROJECT
Groton/Dunstable High School students are working with Lunenburg High School students in creating a CSLD initiative. This project brings groups of students together from different schools to define CSLD, to identify an agreeable human service topic, and to develop and implement projects. The participants include one staff member and five students from each school. This year the two groups have met several times and rotate their meetings between the schools. Meetings are approximately every two weeks.

The participants have agreed on a definition of community service and have selected “poverty” as their broad area of concern. The selected project involves working with the human service representatives of one family in order to understand the “poverty” issue, and what kind of solutions really work. The group is determining ways to assist in permanently moving the family out of their “poverty” condition.

Section Five
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECTS
With the support of the principal, Mr. Brian Donahue and the assistant principal, Ms. Beth Raucci, the middle school initiative is moving forward on three fronts. First, individual administrators and teachers are creating numerous CSLD student initiatives. Beth Raucci and Amy Snyder are facilitating A CSLD program with the school’s peer leaders. Mr. Mark Henneley and Gina Doherty are leading a CSLD initiative with the 7th and 8th grade student council members. Two other teachers, Zoro Slapak and Jon Conlon, are directing individual classroom initiatives. The second focus involves expanding the experiential and participatory means of the CSLD educational foundation into various school-wide situations (such as assemblies) in order to evolve a more democratic, realistic, student-initiated, and caring school climate. And the third effort is establishing a CSLD decision-making body, consisting of participants from the various CSLD initiatives.

Section Six
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECTS
With the direct involvement of the principals, CSLD projects are being initiated in our three elementary schools. Further, ways to expand the CSLD’s experiential approach in the elementary schools are being explored at the Action Team meetings and through individual discussions between school staff and the CSLD coordinator. With all the elementary projects, efforts are made to have participants involved in significant, quality interactions with environments, issues, and individuals who are significantly different from the student’s experiences, and to have opportunities for relevant problem-solving, critical thinking, and mutual decision-making.

A. PRESCOTT SCHOOL
Here, high school students are working with the principal, Ms Betty Lavin and the guidance counselor, Ms. Karin Reed to develop a CSLD Club with 4th- and 5th- graders. The high school students serve as facilitators with the elementary students. Club members develop a definition of CSLD and determine a club project based on student interests.

B. SWALLOW UNION SCHOOL
Through numerous discussions about the CSLD approach, the principal, Ms. Bonnie Dinsmore, and CSLD coordinator decided to begin the CSLD initiative with an after-school enrichment class with 4th- and 5th- graders. Students experience a process of fun, discussion, helping one another and exposure to ideas different from their own. They learn group process skills and how to plan and implement CSLD projects. They evolve a definition of community service learning and develop an understanding and caring about others.

C. FLORENCE ROCHE SCHOOL
This initiative is being developed with a first-grade teacher. Ms. Lisa erickson. The specific shape of the CSLD project is still in the planning stage.

Section Seven
SCHOOL/COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Our focus here is to have participants from the broader community be involved in defining CSLD, identifying problems to address, and participate in project development and implementation. This may be in addition to their providing “a helping hand” or some material assistance.

Presently, the most advanced community/school partnerships involve numerous school staff and students working with specific community human service agency staff and clients where a reciprocal relationship has evolved. Our CSLD personnel help address agency needs, such as sorting food, making deliveries, or doing mailings, construction projects, and in turn the agency’s personnel help us facilitate development experiences, for example, by having students in dialogue and problem-solving with their program administrators, staff and clients.

(Groton/Dunstable Regional School District, Massachusetts)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
January 26, 2000

By Bill Jennings, CSLD Coordinator
and The Action Team

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
SECTION ONE
OUR EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
SECTION TWO
DEFINING COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
SECTION THREE
THE ACTION TEAM
SECTION FOUR
HIGH SCHOOL PROJECTS
A. The CSLD Course
B. The Action Response Team
C. Senior Projects and Independent Studies
D. The “Between School Districts” Project
SECTION FIVE
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECTS
SECTION SIX
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECTS
A. The CSLD Club
B. The CSLD Enrichment Class
SECTION SEVEN
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
References

REFERENCES
Dewey, J. (1963) Experience and Education. New York: Collier Books (First published in 1938).
Dewey, J (1966) Democracy and Education. New York: the Free Press. (First published in 1916).
Kohlberg, L. (1969) “Stage and Sequence: The Cognitive Developmental Approach to
Socialization.” In D. Goslin (Ed.) Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research. New York: Rand McNally.
Piaget, J. (1948) The Moral Judgement of the Child. Glencoe, Ill.” Free Press.
Piaget, J. (1963) The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc. (Originally published in 1952)