P-16+ Service Learning

Service Learning in Illinois

Need for Service Learning

Educators throughout the country are struggling with the lack of student engagement, graduates who are prepared neither for higher education nor for the world of work, and violence in schools. Often students are so removed from education that they sleep through class, which may be welcome to the teacher because teaching can take place rather than dealing with disruptive behaviors. The big question is, How can we engage these students?

"Traditional modes of teaching still dominate most academic classrooms. These classrooms in both schools and universities are dominated by a passive learning process. Teachers and professors stand before a class and tell the students what they should know or they assign reading to convey it. Then to demonstrate their learning, the students are asked to parrot back what they have been told or what they have read. Many classrooms neglect in-depth discussion, student responsibility for the learning of others, and efforts to relate what is studied to their own lives and the world they live in," Harold Howe, Rockefeller Foundation.

Three Key Challenges in Education

1. Academic Accomplishment

Academic achievement is a challenge throughout the educational system. Whether it is the youngster getting ready for school, the elementary student preparing basic skills, the high school student meeting educational standards, or the university honing skills for a job; each level of education builds for the next and on the next. It is in higher education's best interests to help younger students so that youngsters don't arrive on campus needing remedial assistance. The Education Trust estimates that 30% of freshman students need remediation. If you follow the trail backwards, one discovers that these changes happened in varying degrees from the earliest days of education. For example, in 10th grade, just 2 years before college, 30 percent of the students did not meet the standards for reading, and in the primary grades, third-grade students scored 39 percent scored below the standards.

2. Workforce Skills

"Students need to understand the relevance of what is being taught in the classroom to their own lives and their future careers. These connections are often unclear," notes Jeff Mays, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. Several years ago, the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS ) reported, "That more than half our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation to find and hold a good job." Clearly students need more exposure to the real world.

3. Citizenship and Responsibility

"There are strong signs of disengagement of youth from society, increasing alienation and disengagement from their schools, parents, and society. The flourishing of civilizations has brought about unlimited wealth and comfort, and at the same time, impoverishment of the soul" (Jim Kielsmeier, National Youth Leadership Council). A Nation of Spectators, describes the status of our society. "During the past generation, our families have come under intense pressure, and many have crumbled. Neighborhood and community ties have frayed. Many of our streets and public spaces have become unsafe. Our public schools are mediocre for most students, and catastrophic for many. Our character-forming institutions are enfeebled. Much of our popular culture is vulgar, violent, and mindless. Much of our pubic square is coarse and uncivil. Public participation is at depressed levels last seen in the 1920's and the index for civic health has dropped" (National Commission on Civic Renewal).