For instance, some high schools have instituted a requisite that all students must perform a certain number of hours of community service. Other schools have implemented service learning as a part of their ongoing curriculum. This may include class, team, or individual exercises and assignments. For example, a project might revolve around cleaning up trash in a park, categorizing the waste, and determining its impact on the environment. And some schools even employ programs in which individual students serve the community organizations that relate to their career interests.
Schools use service learning to provide meaning and context to the information taught.
However, students that merely volunteer for community service hours may have little impact on what happens in the classroom. Teachers may also have to relinquish their perception as being the only source of information. The goals of instruction often change from amassing knowledge to using and applying knowledge in a real-world context. Teacher's assessment can be either shared or replaced by assessors in the community who can provide more accurate feedback. The content on this page was written by On Purpose Associates.