Kate McPherson is the director of Project Service Leadership in Vancouver, Washington, a nonprofit agency that provides consulting and technical assistance to Northwest schools that are developing service-learning programs

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The University of Nebraska, Omaha

LEARNING THROUGH COMMUNITY SERVICE: An Interview with Kate McPherson Kate McPherson is the director of Project Service Leadership in Vancouver, Washing~ ton, a nonprofit agency that provides consult~ ing and technical assistance to Northwest schools that are developing service~leaming programs. Q: How can school-to-work and service-learning initiatives play a role in enhanc-ing math and science instruction? McPherson: Today there are abundant recommendations to teachers to enhance science and math instruction with more problem~based or project-based learning-emphasizing that the ability to retain, and to be motivated to learn and to develop application skills and problem~solving skills, is enhanced by one's direct engage-ment in hands-on projects. These strate-gies suggest, for example, methods to im-prove the teaching of math and science for girls and women, specifically activities that are hands-on, cooperative, and rele-vant to world problems. Service learning incorporates these characteristics by involving students in ac-tion-based learning in their communities, and therefore can be seen as a major strat-egy to improve the climate for female stu-dents in math and science education. Service learning fosters relationships among people and connects the core con-tent and math and science concepts to real-life situations. Both school to work and service learning can help provide a context in which science and math in-struction can be applied to the world of work or to issues that communities face. Q: In what ways are school to work and service learning similar, and what distin-guishes them from each other? McPherson: School to work and service learning are based on the premise that contextual learning is a much more sound pedagogy for instruction. Both make an ef-fort to bridge the classroom to the commu-nity. The primary location for school to work is in business or corporate settings, while service learning activities occur in nonprofit or human service settings. The boundaries between the two areas often merge and blend. Service learning is one of the best ways to prepare youth with knowledge of the job while providing methods to use those skills in ways that serve the larger community and prepare students for roles as citizens who contrib-Kate McPherson ute. School to work emphasizes the ways that business can provide students with skills and experiences that prepare them for the world of work. In school to work, students are more frequently the recipi-ents who act as employees or workers. In service learning, participants are more often viewed as resources and citizens. Both school to work and service learning are needed, and neither one is better than the other in approach. Students' learning that is taught in the school is enhanced because it extends learning beyond the classroom, helping to foster the development of a sense of car-ing for others. Q: Traditionally, schools have been rather removed from the community. How can service learning help dissolve barriers to form collaborative partners? McPherson: Service learning may take place either in a community-focused class-room project or through actual immersion in the community. Service learning in-volves students in private sector, non-profit, and public service agencies to iden-tify social needs in the community and to discover ways they can play a contribut-ing role. As teachers become informed of the needs and structure of the nonprofit and private sector organizations, new bridges can be built. Teachers begin to increase their awareness of the many ways that young people can serve, such as writing newslet-ters for nonprofit agencies, conducting research for local business to help them make wiser fiscal decisions, applying math skills to determine the aspects of building 4 a public park structure, or using scientific strategies to help restore salmon habitats in streams that have been impacted by hu-man encroachment. The linkages occur when both students and educators begin to gain a broader base of understanding, and the community begins to perceive that youth are not simply recipients of as-sistance, but, instead, valuable providers of much-needed services. As students be-come directly involved in service learn-ing, they identify possible careers in envi-Eti ronmental technologies, science, and ~ math, while encountering the numerous ~ ways they can help their community. 5 ~-< Q: How can service learning strengthen students' math and science skills in preparation for community involvement and service? McPherson: The most effective services are done by students who have enough knowledge to make better decisions and who understand the scope of the work they've undertaken. Students in Seneca, Oregon, learn about principles of physics, chemistry, and biology when they test stream water flow, the changes in depth, and the impact of grazing on the chemical balance and pH levels. By doing so, they gain deeper understanding of math as they tabulate and graph results and pre-pare reports for local agencies and policy-makers. Teachers who are interested in strengthening science instruction can pro-vide students with the time to discuss im-portant community issues prior, during, and after projects. Students can then ex~ plore resources and exchanges with local naturalists and scientists to outline their basic environmental project, and to better understand how to directly apply science concepts. Q: How do you make sure that teachers don't neglect important math and sci-ence skills and concepts as they focus on projects that take students out of the classroom for extended amounts of time? McPherson: Teachers do need to link the service-learning project to the learning objectives of their curriculum. This may mean that the science concepts are less separated from math, biology, and chemis-try. If project-based learning becomes the focus or at least plays a strong role in the math and science curriculum, it may CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Combining Math and Science Learning with Community Service lassroom teacher Bill Knudsen's Troutdale Elementary School stu-dents are engaged in a two-pronged ser-vice-learning program: (1) to increase young students' awareness of environ-mental issues, and (2) to foster their rela-tionships with people in their community who have special needs. The weekly com-munity service component takes place during a recess and some class time, while the environmental projects take place af-ter school and during weekends. A strictly voluntary program, all school students are invited to participate in Troutdale, Ore-gon, community projects, some that con-tinue throughout the summer. Once a week, K-5 students visit pro-foundly retarded residents of an Easter Seal community-based group home as part of the human service component of the program. The environmental part of the program has included planting native trees and shrubs by a creek bed, naturaliz-ing a detention basin, marking storm drains, raising and releasing over 1,000 fish into local streams, and hauling over six tons of rocks to a riverbed. These ac-tivities involve students in diverse mathe-Interview CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 matics calculations and scientific investi-gations to strategize methods and activi-ties to achieve outcomes. "I would like to see this kind of activity incorporated as a natural part of the curriculum, as natural as math," Knudsen commented. "I'm a lit-tle impatient with how slowly things change, but the new Oregon restructuring process will almost demand that teachers look outside the classroom for curriculum materials, which leads naturally to service learning." This year students observed that build-ers in their community were not following city codes that protect the natural envi-ronment, and wrote a letter to the city council expressing their concerns. When retainers were placed around storm drains during construction, they realized that their letter had had an effect. "That was a little lesson in civics that the kids taught the teachers. I'm not sure that we would have thought to write that letter," Knud-sen noted. Later, when students noticed that the streambed where they conduct re-search and provide· environmental sup-port was silted in by runoff created again by developers, four second-graders testi-formation. It requires that math and sci-ence work together and be less isolated than they have been traditionally. Many mean that there's a more integrated cross- schools find that service learning can be content instruction for math and science done right in the classroom, such as stu-skills. Environmental studies force a dents assis~in_g.\he_comm~.l~ by conduct-blending of the content areas, and reattMflonlf frif~rCen~~at have that all science areas be taught in coA~~t~f a~SWiel'lleBfn\ng As teachers look at the key concepts of or ~ Room R290 problem solving, the capacity to collecd954 gfpt;i:\s'fti-MW teacher and analyze data, and scientific method St. B~~ach to learning? and research, they can be effectively 1-8 -80 woven into a real-life project. McPherson: In service learning, the Service learning does not replace teacher becomes a facilitator of learning, other teaching approaches, it is simply a and brings in community agencies and or-mechanism that enriches and adds an im- ganizations for training. Often the train-portant dimension that allows students to ing teachers received in college in prepa-apply classroom knowledge as they con- ration for becoming a science teacher nect to their community. does not adequately prepare them for ac-Q: How do schools find time to imple-ment this service learning? McPherson: Many schools that are ap-proaching project-based and service learn-ing realize that 55-minute blocks at the secondary schools do not accommodate and support this kind of learning, and are instead creating at least 100-minute time blocks. This gives students an opportunity to engage in a project, prepare, return to examine, and to have less fragmented in-tive involvement in community projects. Instead, teachers must depend upon out-side professionals who have community-based professional experience to assist them in their preparation and synthesis of service-learning projects. At the same time, teachers as well as community lead-ership must see students as resources with the skills and vision to be helpful. For further service-learning information, contact Kate McPherson by phone at (206) 576-5070 or by fax at (206) 576-5068. 5 fied at the Troutdale City Council on behalf of a stricter erosion control ordi-nance. The ordinance passed because, ac-cording to the city's consultant, "The kids said it all." While Knudsen and his colleagues ob-serve obvious benefits to all students in-volved in applying their math, science, and language arts skills to community pro-jects, they note that what is not always so obvious is that there are numerous issues just waiting to be addressed in every com-munity. Knudsen says, "We are really missing out if we do not vigorously look for ways of getting kids out there in the community, so that the community can see that there are some pretty nice kids who care and who can make a differ-ence." By applying emerging science and math skills to environmental and human issues, students foster lifelong learning ex-periences and relationships both with the members of their community and with their environment. Contact BiU Knudsen at Troutdale Elemen-tary School, 648 S.E. Harlow Street, Trout-dale, Oregon 97060, (503) 661-4182. Americorps: National Service Up and Running Across the country, over 20,000 Americotps. volunteers are helping improve communities by tutoring children, rehabilitating streams and salmon runs, building housing for the homeless, and ephancing safety initiatives, among many other use-ful comml.lnirysetviceprojects. Citi-zens 17 years and older from all walks of life are enC()uraged to par-ticipate~ ln the tradition. of Civil Conservation Corps, Americorps participants are directing their tal-ents to help others; In return for their year of service, they receive a living stipendof$4,700, a postservice educationaward that may be applied to further education and tra'ning. For inf~on,contact: )im Sinnet inAfaskaat (907} 269~61l,]udy Ouderkirk in Idaho at ( 208} 334~ 2270, Mary Blake in Montana at (406) 444~5547, Tedd]on.esinOre, gon at (503) 725~5903, or Bill Basl in Washington at ( 206) 586-8380. 

Learning Through Community Service: An Interview With Kate McPherson

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Learning Through Community Service: An Interview With Kate McPherson

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