Community Service Learning - Grade 7 Life Skills Education Lesson Notes

What you get:

•  Defination of community
• Community service
  • Why we do community services
• Community service learning
  • Steps involved in carrying out CSL project

COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING

Community

A community refers to people living in the same area or people who have common interest

The following are some of the characteristics of people in a community

1. They live in the same geographical area
2. They share  common goals, challenges and aspirations
3. They have similar interest or social network

Community service

Community service is work performed by a group for the benefit or betterment of their community without expecting any form of compensation

Examples of place where people can offer community services include

1. Community library
2. Hospitals
3. Market place
4. Children’s home
5. Homes for the elderly

We do community services because

• It keeps one in regular contact with others and help them develop a solid support system which turns protect them against stress and depression.
• It challenges one to do difficult tasks and learn positive qualities such as patience, empathy and accountability
• It helps one learn new skills such s first aid skills, landscaping skills, leadership skills and problem solving skills among others in the community
• It offers one an opportunity to help those in need hence gain self fulfilment

Community service learning

Community service learning |(CSL) refers to a combination of classroom learning and community learning service.

• It give learners an opportunity to work with the community members to solve local problems
• It also offers learners an opportunity to connect classroom learning with real life experiences in their school community and the neighbourhood.
• This is done through curricular and co-curricular programmes and projects
• The focus of CSL is not only learning but also service to the community an the beneficiary is not only the learner but also the community served
• The major goal of CSL is to educate learners about their roles as engaged citizens and leaders in the community

Examples of CSL activities include

Steps involved in carrying out CSL project

A project is a series of tasks that need to be completed to reach a specific outcome

A community services learning project can therefore be defined as a series of learning and services tasks are aimed to meet an identified need or solve an identified problem in the community

To plan and carry out a CSL activity, one must follow these steps

1. Identification of the problem in the community
   • This done through discussions with different people conducting surveys and reading or watching news on community needs.
   • Doing all these will help you identify a need or a gap that needs to be solved.
   • A gap or problem is the difference between where we are and where we want to be.
   • Learners intending to do a CSL activity brainstorm and discuss to come up with one problem for the project of activity
2. Designing solutions to the problems
   • During this stage, listen to as many suggestions on the solutions as possible.
   • Narrow down to the most cost effective but efficient solution to the problem
3. Plan to implement the solution(when, what, who, how)
   • In this stage think about the possible steps, resources, the learning skills required, shared responsibilities and the time it will take to complete the project
     When planning one should ask themselves questions like
     1. What will we accomplish?
     2. How long will the project take?
     3. Who will we work with?
     4. How can we engage people of different talents, abilities and perspectives?
     5. What training sensitivity is required for us or our patrons to accomplish the goals?
     6. What needs to be accomplish our goals?
     7. Who will do want?
     8. What resources do we need to be successful and how will we get them?
4. Implementation of the solution
   • This is the stage where you set out offer a solution to the problem or implement your plan
   • Action is taken by volunteering, serving or being an advocate for something.
   • As you take the action it is important to document the actions through pictures , videos, reports, journals or any other form
5. Reporting and reflecting
   • This is an ongoing process and it happens before writing and after the action stage.
   • The different means of reflection include writing journals, discussions, songs, skirts, diagrams, reports, taking pictures or videos and so on
   • Reflecting helps one to examine what they learnt and analyse whether the projects made a difference.
   • One also gets to examine how they feel about volunteering.