A Practical Guide to Service Learning

Ensuring that all students achieve their full academic potential is no small feat. Service learning an experiential approach to education that involves students in meaningful, real-world activities can advance social, emotional, and academic curricula goals while simultaneously benefiting the students and their communities. This book describes how service learning, which is an intervention that can be remedial or preventive and individual or systemic, can enable school psychologists, counseling and educational professionals to expand their roles from working with special populations to serving students within the academic mainstream. Numerous case studies highlight change processes in schools and communities. The book also includes sample practice materials and forms for organizing and assessing service learning activities. A Practical Guide to Service Learning will be useful to school psychologists, counselors, allied educational and mental health practitioners, and anyone who works with children in schools.

School psychologists and other school-based mental health professionals are constantly seeking interventions that can positively affect social/emotional and academic outcomes. Most interventions deal with either social/emotional concerns or academics, but are unable to affect both simultaneously. Service learning is one of a very few interventions that can address both of theses areas at the same time. However, at present, service learning is not widely known in this market. This book will: Constitute a groundbreaking introduction of service learning to the field of school psychology and related school-based mental health professionals Teach readers how service learning can forge a critical link that enjoins their work with the academic mission of schools as such, it offers school-based mental health professionals an opportunity to broaden their role to encompass both regular and special education. Therefore, the proposed book is a unique offering of guidelines and resources for school-based mental health professionals in implementing service learning Use case studies of school-based mental health professionals implementing service learning to highlight change processes in schools and communities and offer strategies to overcome obstacles to implementation and sustainability of service learning programs Provide practical materials and forms to guide mental health practitioners in organizing and assessing service learning activities

Autorentext

Felicia L. Wilczenski, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor on the faculty of the School Psychology Program and Director of the School Counseling Program in the Department of Counseling and School Psychology in the Graduate College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is author of numerous articles addressing social and emotional interventions in K-12 settings. Dr. Wilczenski is interested in service learning applications in school-based mental health programs and incorporates service learning in her graduate courses. She has conducted research and published articles concerning service learning processes and outcomes.

Susan M. Coomey, M.Ed., is currently employed as a school psychologist in the Shrewsbury MA Public Schools and is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research interests focus on service learning to promote social, emotional, and academic learning in K-12 settings. She has presented research at national and international service learning conferences.

Klappentext

The ultimate goal for school psychologists, teachers, and other allied mental health and educational professionals is to ensure that all children are able to achieve academic success in the classroom. Still, a significant number of schoolchildren feel caught in an academic, social-emotional vortex that can be demoralizing, isolating, and disorienting. Some may be cognitively impaired. Others may simply be bored. Many are well-adjusted but overwhelmed with academic and extracurricular demands.

Ensuring that all students achieve their full academic potential is no small feat. Service learning an experiential approach to education that involves students in meaningful, real-world activities can advance social, emotional, and academic curricula goals while simultaneously benefiting the students and their communities. It supports character development by providing situations in the community in which caring, helping, and collaboration as well as sensitivity to culture and social justice issues become integral parts of the educative process.

A Practical Guide to Service Learning: Strategies for Positive Development in Schools is a valuable resource that:

• Describes how service learning an intervention that can be both remedial or preventive and individual or systemic can enable school psychologists and other educational and counseling professionals to expand their roles beyond working with special populations to serving students within the academic mainstream.

• Highlights the connections between the positive psychology movement, the nurturing of purpose in youth, and the benefits of service learning.

• Introduces case studies of school-based mental health professionals who have implemented service learning.

• Provides practical materials and forms to guidemental health practitioners in organizing and assessing service learning activities.

  School psychologists, counselors, allied educational and mental health practitioners and anyone who works with children in schools will find this volume a must-have reference.

  Inhalt
  Service Learning for School Psychologists and School Counselors.- Basics of Service Learning.- Positive and Best Practices in Service Learning.- Implementation Opportunities and Challenges.- Administrative Issues.- Changing Roles and the Process of Changing.- Service Learning in Professional Education and Development.- Service Learning as Intervention and Prevention.- Special Education Applications.- Reducing Risk-Taking Behaviors.- Preventing School Failure.- Fostering a Positive School Climate.- Service-Learning Blueprints to Build Developmental Assets.- Service-Learning Blueprints to Build Developmental Assets.- Service-Learning Print and Internet Resources.- Service-Learning Print and Internet Resources.