if service-learning is so great, why doesn’t everyone use it? lake superior service-learning...
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If Service-Learning is So Great,If Service-Learning is So Great,Why Doesn’t Everyone Use it?Why Doesn’t Everyone Use it?
If Service-Learning is So Great,If Service-Learning is So Great,Why Doesn’t Everyone Use it?Why Doesn’t Everyone Use it?
Lake Superior Service-Learning Regional ConferenceUniversity of Wisconsin Superior • April 15, 2010
The Providers' NetworkFostering Excellence in Service-Learning Professional Development
The Providers' NetworkFostering Excellence in Service-Learning Professional Development
James Toole, Ph.D.Compass InstituteUniversity of Minnesota
Ball Toss and PLCsBall Toss and PLCs
Tennis Ball Toss Typical School Decision
The goal is well defined. People often don’t agree on what the goal should be.
Everyone is given a clear role and responsibility.
Roles and responsibilities are not clear.
The task is relatively value free. The task is value-laden and therefore people may passionately disagree.
Everyone participates. Participation is highly uneven.
The outcome doesn’t matter. The outcomes matter significantly/ high stakes.
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Large Share of Schools(Percentage of schools using service learning)
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Student Service-Learning andCommunity Service Survey, 1999.
ServiceLearning
48.7%
High SchoolsMiddle Schools
ServiceLearning 38.6%
Small Share of Teachers(Percentage of teachers using service learning)
Don’t Use Service Learning
Users6.6% Very few teachers
are doers. At three quarters of the schools with service learning, 80% or more of the teachers don’t engage in the practice.
The portion of all middle and high schools in which most of the teachers use service learning: 5%.Source: U.S. Department of Education, National
Student Service-Learning and Community Service Survey, 1999.
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Support in Place With Without
Policies to encourage service learning
15.4% 3.6%
Financial support or additional time 13.7% 2.8%
Training 14.4% 2.1%
Service learning coordinator 14.9% 4.1%
Service learning requirement 16.2% 3.5%
All of the above 24.0% 5.2%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Student Service-Learning and Community Service Survey, 1999.
Share of schools with or without the support where most of the students receive service learning
Strong Support Doesn’t Ensure Implementation
What Else is Needed?What Else is Needed?
The Big QuestionsThe Big Questions
Individual Level
Why do some teachers/ youth workers use service-learning and some not?
What are the implications for how we reach out to people?
Organizational Level
Why are some schools more successful implementing service-learning than others?
How do we support whole-school adoption?
Big Question #1Big Question #1
Individual Level
Why do some teachers/ youth workers use service-learning and some not?
How Are They Different??How Are They Different??
How Are They Different??How Are They Different??
Age
Teaching Experience
Teaching Commitment
Gender
Beliefs about Teaching and Learning
Staff Development Involvement
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Are There More Differences?Are There More Differences?
Classroom Practices
Work in cooperative groups
Use the internet
Work on a project that required data collection
Go into the community to learn
Students make assessment of their own work
Are the classrooms of those that do service-learning different from non-users even when they aren’t using service-learning?
Yes! There are Significant DifferencesYes! There are Significant Differences
Classroom Practices (1999) tWork in cooperative groups 2.53**
Use the internet 3.73***
Work on a project that required data collection 4.45***
Go into the community to learn 4.89***
Students make assessment of their own work 1.94*
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“What is most important to teach people is not behaviors or activities but cognitive.”
“What drives what we do and say is our assumptions and beliefs about something.”
Bob Garmston
“What is most important to teach people is not behaviors or activities but cognitive.”
“What drives what we do and say is our assumptions and beliefs about something.”
Bob Garmston
The Importance of AssumptionsThe Importance of Assumptions
“Regardless of what new method or latest technique is attempted, the mind/brain will always choose to reduce such practices to fit entrenched assumptions and beliefs.”
Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine
Pioneers Versus SettlersPioneers Versus Settlers
What are the Implications?What are the Implications?
If service-learning adoption is dependent on people’s deep pedagogical beliefs, what does this mean for professional development?
Behaviors Can be the EasiestBehaviors Can be the Easiest
Hospital Example
Using a Procedure Checklist Did we give the patient her
antibiotics? Did we introduce ourselves
to one another?
Benefits Can reduce infections and
deaths by one-third Greater efficiency and
teamwork
How do you reach people at deeper levels?
Levels of InterventionLevels of Intervention
BehaviorsBehaviorsWhat?What?
CapabilitiesCapabilitiesHow?How?
BeliefsBeliefsWhy?Why?
ValuesValuesMeaning?Meaning?
IdentityIdentityWho?Who?
Behavior Change & CommunicationBehavior Change & Communication
Liver
Heart
Kidney
Sweetbreads
Service-Learning QuestionsService-Learning Questions
Behavior: What are the most important elements of teaching a service-learning lesson?
Capabilities: What strategies did you employ to foster youth voice?
Beliefs: Why do you think service-learning is an effective teaching strategy?
Values: Why is service important for youth?
Identity: How does service-learning relate to your personal sense of mission as a teacher?
Big Question #2Big Question #2
Organizational Level
Why are some schools more successful implementing service-learning than others?
How do we support whole-school adoption?
The Role of Organizational CultureThe Role of Organizational Culture
Question Answer Willow Oak
Teachers respect other teachers who take the lead in staff
improvement efforts.
Strongly Agree or Agree
100% 61%
Teachers in this school trust each other.
Strongly Agree or Agree
93% 52%
How many teachers in this school feel responsible to help each other do their best?
Most or Nearly All
75% 35%
How many teachers in this school help maintain discipline in the entire school, not just their classrooms?
Most or Nearly All
82% 33%
ReflectionReflection
Differences: How might it be different to work in these two schools?
Learning Impact: How different might it be to implement service-learning at the two sites?
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Cultures Impact ImplementationCultures Impact Implementation
Question Answer Willow Oak
The implementation of service-learning has created divisions
and conflict among our staff.
Disagree or strongly disagree
100% 72%
A small group of people at this school control service-learning and use it for their own purposes.
Disagree or strongly disagree
90% 56%
Those who provide leadership around service-learning are motivated primarily by the good of children.
Agree or Strongly Agree
100% 67%
I have a sense of personal ownership for the school-wide success of service-learning
Agree or Strongly Agree
83% 57%
What is the Most Difficult Part?What is the Most Difficult Part?
The Plumbing(The “Hard” Part)
Structures Systems Procedures Rules Controls Plans
The Poetry(The “Soft” Part)
People Attitudes Energy Buy-in Attitude towards change Fears Trust
“Individuals are almost indestructible, but organizations are very fragile.”
– Farson,1996
“When I opened my first shop, I was looking for employees, but people showed up instead.”
Anita Roddick,
Founder of the Body Shop
Four Types of CulturesFour Types of Cultures
Isolation
Balkanization
Contrived Collegiality
Community
What Do These Movies Have in Common?What Do These Movies Have in Common?
High V. Low Performance TeamsHigh V. Low Performance Teams
Why Do We Care? Why Do We Care?
The Teamwork Dividend
WHEN: 1993 for Nine Months
WHO: 23 New England heart surgeons
WHAT: Observe each other regularly in the operating room and share their knowledge, insights, and approaches.
RESULT: What happened to the mortality rate? Sources: New York Times
National Staff Development Council
A Relationship-Rich PedagogyA Relationship-Rich Pedagogy
Teacher-Student Student-Student Student-Community Teacher-Community Cross-Age Work Intergenerational
The Power of Social TrustThe Power of Social Trust
Faculty-Faculty Trust
Faculty-Principal Trust
Teacher Service-Learning Use
r = .16* r = .07
Service-Learning Institutionalization r = .45*** r = 21**
•p<.05 **p<.01 *** p<.001
•N=216
Healthy And Innovative WorkplacesHealthy And Innovative Workplaces
A place where I can pursue my passions.
A place where I am respected and valued.
A place where I get better at what I do.
A place where I can have an impact.
A place where I am part of a larger, healthy
organization.
SS
Service-Learning inMiddle Schools
Civics-BasedService-Learning
Service as a Strategy for Drop-Out Prevention
Service-LearningAnd Resilience
Service as a StrategyTo Close the Achievement Gap
Service-LearningIn Small Schools
