Service learning provides opportunities for students to understand their capacity to make a meaningful contribution to their community and society. Through service learning, students develop and apply academic knowledge, personal skills, and social skills in real-life situations involving decision-making, problem-solving, initiative, responsibility, and accountability for their actions. The purpose is for students to contribute to society by improving the lives of people or assisting the environment or animals.
Service learning fosters development of abilities, attitudes, and values in accordance with the IB mission statement and the IB Learner Profile. Through reflection, students are able to make these connections to to build a deep and rich experience in service learning.
The aims of service learning are for students to:
- develop and apply knowledge and skills towards meeting an authentic community need
- develop as leaders who take initiative, solve problems and work collaboratively with others
- enjoy the experiences of both learning and service
- develop a sense of caring about, and a responsibility for, others
- gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their community and society through meaningful reflection
- enhance and strengthen their experience with the existing school curriculum.
Students are expected to show evidence of meeting the following five learning outcomes during their 50 HOURS (minimum) of service experiences:
