Summer and After-School Programs Are a Chance for Change

Over the last few months I have been thinking more and more about what exactly are the key factors that lead schools towards significant change and district-wide application of high-quality service-learning. Those thoughts, along with my recent attendance at the Summer Learning Conference this last November have further clarified my thoughts on the matter. 

It is clear that there are brilliant advocates for service-learning all across the world, our National Service-Learning Conference highlights that fact each year. I have, over the last 20+ years, met so many knowledgeable, hardworking and charismatic teachers who are passionate advocates for service-learning, yet I see little evidence that their practice expands into the classrooms of their peers. These teachers do not as a common practice, organize their school environment to be increasingly capable of institutionalizing high quality service-learning. This is, in one sense, surprising as service-learning practice organizes systems; by its nature it engages others in the shared work of building meaningful learning experiences for its students. 

Service-Learning is Systemic Thinking

It is just this system thinking that provides service-learning with advantages over so many other innovations or school change models. One of the really unique aspects of service-learning is that it is organizes what may seem as disparate aspects of the learning environment into more interrelated body of resources. These resources can help the teacher and students map out how to know what is worth learning and then how it can best be learned. Service-learning like any systems thinking effort recognizes that deep understanding and deep changes require an organizing of numerous interests to find a new sets of knowledge, a new way of organizing understanding. This might remind some teachers of thematic instruction.

I remember when my peers would experiment with thematic instruction – blending learning outcomes from more than one curricular area into a single theme. We created  a learning environment that was more than the sum of its parts. What that experience taught us was some of the most meaningful educational outcomes we could imagine were somewhere in the spaces between our perceived academic domains. Each year Bruce, the science teacher, and I would wait for summer school to come around – excited for the freedom this time provided us to rethink how to run a classroom, how to organize what was worth learning. I feel certain that my most innovative teaching practices were formed in summer programs. These times sustained as I revised and then reapplied these courses throughout the school year.  It was in summer school teaching when I first stumbled upon what I later learned was service-learning.  Summer teaching was great because there was more time, more ability to explore new ideas.

It is common for teachers to express one great hindrance to the quality of their professional life – a lack of time. When we state that we do not have enough time, it may be another way of saying we lack choice with our time. As the lists of what must be taught when and where is ever growing, there is precious few choices (time) for teachers to explore new practices, to add depth to student’s learning experiences, to individualize learning, or to engage community-based resources to enrich learning. It is not that these choices can’t align with core standards, current teaching obligations, or to be honest –the hours of grading, it is simply hard to imagine adding any “new” ideas to that world, even good ideas. 

This is where summer programming provides the opportunity that is lacking in other aspects of teacher’s lives.  Summer programs often are times where teachers try something new.  I have heard from many teachers, “Why do the same thing with students if it didn’t work the first time?”  Teachers find teaching in summer school programming to be freeing.  I am increasingly convinced that the richest opportunity for professional development in service-learning lies with helping districts apply innovative practices in summer and afterschool or alternative programs.  I believe, just as it was for me,  there continues to be flexibility of time for teachers in summer school or afterschool programs.