Service Learning Seminar at UM

On Thursday October 23rd at 7 P.M. the Future Educators of America society at the University of Miami hosted a seminarcalled “Conversations about Service Learning.” It was advertised as “an event that will change the way you look at the power of education,” and it truly was! 

Service learning is a method of teaching and learning that combines the academic classroom with the outside world. It integrates meaningful community service with classroom instruction and academics to enrich the students learning experience. It is a widely accepted fact that one learns more by doing then by lecture, which is why getting the students out of the classroom and into the local community is imperative. 

 One example discussed at the seminar was about students from a local Miami-Dade community public school who were taken to a center for the blind. They worked with the blind on painting and art projects. The students learned what it was like to not be able to read, neither not for lack of education nor laziness but rather for lack of sight. They learned what it was like to be reliant upon your friends, seeing eye dog, or a white cane to get around. 

      

There is a 50% drop out rate in Miami Dade county public high schools, and a great way to lower this statistic would be to increase the amount of service learning; if you engage the students in this way, they will be less likely to drop out and roam the streets. The participants that were discussed had been put into special classrooms because they had brought weapons to school or had abused alcohol. Rather than just giving up on students in these situations, service learning allows them the opportunity to learn outside the classroom, which is exactly what they need! The students learn authentic skills and how to solve REAL problems — the definition of “hands on learning.” 

     

According to Angela Pape, a sophomore studying elementary education and psychology, “What affected me most from the lecture was witnessing how Service Learning genuinely impacted the lives of those students who have participated.” Though there was not a huge turn out for this seminar, the students who did come, seemed to be extremely motivated to include service learning in their classrooms. 

    

One student who was involved in student learning was quoted saying “I thought I had it bad, but now I see I am needed to help people who have it worse then i do.” There are countless benefits to service learning including: connecting young people with their home town, delivering curriculum in a more efficient and authentic way, and motivating students to work by allowing them to feel like they belong and are needed. 

For more information about service learning: www.learnandserve.gov