4 in 5 teenagers say that helping others in need will be extremely or very important to them as adults.
Source: Pew Research Center
Providing opportunities for students to contribute to the community can transform the way young people participate—inside and outside the classroom. Positive community experiences, in turn, improve academic engagement and performance. And adults benefit by seeing that young people are capable of achieving a lot more than they may have imagined. Around the country, students are truly leading the way in forging solutions to global and local problems—from racial inequity and climate change to gun violence and food insecurity.
Service learning involves integrating classroom studies with meaningful community service. This goes beyond cleaning up local parks and handing out fliers. Meaningful involvement means spotting problems, designing solutions, managing projects, and leading teams. Through projects like these, adolescents can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others. And their involvement is more important today than ever, as our society and economy recover from a global pandemic.
Research suggests that students’ sense of agency in the world correlates with higher academic performance. Surveys of 6th to 12th graders by the Quaglia Institute for School Voice and Aspirations have found that students who feel a strong sense of purpose are far more likely than others to say they are highly motivated academically. Seeing that their ideas, opinions, and attitudes can make a difference in the world, beginning with their own school and locality, can be a powerful driving force in young people’s learning experience.
“For the first time in my life, I am able to see the youth leading the way.”
Nyliah Morrison, a student at Brooklyn Laboratory High School, on taking part in March for Our Lives, March 2018
Find out how students at Iowa BIG took on a project to prevent childhood drowning by designing, testing, and marketing a cutting-edge pool alarm.
WatchListen to an inspiring edition of The Young and the Woke, featuring an Oakland student who became a food justice advocate.
ListenWhat is “citizen science” and how can it help students improve their communities? Here’s a story from one Philadelphia high school.
WatchPSI = Problem-Solving Incubator. Discover how PSI High helps students learn by tackling real, local problems.
ReadStudents develop agency when they’re able to make real contributions and develop a strong sense of purpose.
Step 1 – Research
Explore what it would mean to build rigorous, meaningful, problem-solving projects into your school. For inspiration, take a look at how PSI High and Iowa BIG invite community partners to propose student projects. Could their practices be adapted for your community and your school?
Step 2 – Reflect
Share findings with your team and discuss these questions: