When Service Learning meets the Project Approach: Incorporating Service Learning in an early childhood program

Abstract

The researchers described in this case study how Service Learning was incorporated within the context of an early childhood program where the teachers used the Project Approach. The Service Learning project was embedded in an investigation about water and was designed to help tsunami victims in Asia. Participants included two teachers and 12 children age five to seven in a kindergarten/first grade classroom. Data were collected over one month through observations and interviews. This investigation revealed common features shared by Service Learning and the Project Approach. Findings illustrated how the Project Approach facilitated the implementation of Service Learning.

Keywords

early childhood program Project Approach Service Learning

Throughout history, the importance of applicable knowledge has been stressed (Dewey, 1938), but in today’s fast-changing society, useable knowledge is essential. There is a need for all citizens to know where and how to access facts applicable to a situation. Students need to learn meaningful and useful information in school in order to keep pace with society. Therefore, the focus of education has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it (Bransford et al., 1999). In this sense, Service Learning has promise. Service Learning promotes the development of knowledge and skills applicable to real life situations through service. This form of pedagogy makes learning genuine by linking service to the curriculum.

From time to time, the news features stories about children initiating fund raising to help others in need. Some children work at a soup kitchen to run a free lunch program for their friends. Others raised money for sick friends. These examples illustrate how young children have the potential to think and care about others. If schools offer Service Learning opportunities to young children in community-based projects that are thoughtfully planned, connected with their curriculum, and benefit the community, children will benefit in their learning and growth during their formative years. To offer well-designed Service Learning opportunities, it is important to understand the nature of a Service Learning experience. This article describes how Service Learning was incorporated within the context of an early childhood program where the teachers used the Project Approach.

The Project Approach (Katz and Chard, 2000) is widely recognized as an effective method for educating young children (Helm and Gronlund, 2000). The idea of learning through projects has a philosophical background dating back to Dewey and Kilpatrik (Glassman and Whaley, 2000; Katz and Chard, 2000). With the Project Approach, children learn from hands-on, thought-provoking experiences that motivate them to apply their skills and think reflectively, which, in turn, leads to the development of positive dispositions toward learning (Helm and Gronlund, 2000).

The Project Approach incorporates projects into the early childhood curriculum depending upon the preferences, commitments, and constraints of teachers and schools. In the Project Approach, the word project has a specific meaning.

A project is an in-depth investigation of a topic worth learning more about. The key feature of a project is that it is a research effort deliberately focused on finding answers to questions about a topic posed either by the children, the teacher, or the teacher working with the children. The goal of a project is to learn more about the topic rather than to seek right answers to questions posed by the teacher. (Katz, 1994: 1)

In the Project Approach, children learn through active participation in the process of discovery (Katz, 1994; Katz and Chard, 2000), focusing on familiar topics that children encounter in the world around them. While participating in projects, children draw, write, read, record observations, interview experts, and represent what they have learned in various forms and other constructions, and reports to peers and parents. Through the Project Approach, teachers can provide children with ‘contexts for applying the skills they learn and support children’s natural impulse to investigate things around them’ (Katz, 1994: 1).

Projects progress through three phases. In Phase 1, teachers and children select and refine a topic for investigation posed by teachers or children. Teachers then help children develop questions that they want to investigate. Children represent their prior knowledge or experiences with the topic through drawing, construction, or writing. Teachers brainstorm experiences, knowledge, and ideas, and represent them in a web to explore and determine the big ideas and essential understandings that the children should learn. In Phase 2, teachers facilitate investigation by arranging fieldwork, visits from experts, experiments, and resources. Children investigate the topic by ‘drawing from observation, constructing models, observing closely and recording findings, exploring, predicting, and discussing and dramatizing their new understandings’ (Katz, 1994: 1). They frequently revisit their questions, identify new questions, and repeat investigations and representations. In Phase 3, the participants prepare and present the results of their investigation. They plan a culminating event where they share their findings of the project with their friends and family who are invited to the event. Teachers help children reflect upon what they have learned through the project. The participants complete the culminating event, review the project, and assess achievement of goals (Helm and Katz, 2001).

The Project Approach shares several similarities with another form of experiential learning pedagogy, Service Learning. Both approaches a) teach children through the use of projects that are linked to the curriculum, b) enable students to learn about topics related to real life, c) view the role of the teacher as a facilitator of learning, d) are completed by individual children, small groups, or an entire class, and e) result in a culminating event or celebration of accomplishments. Perhaps the most defining difference between the two approaches is the nature of the project itself. In the Project Approach, projects are selected to investigate interesting questions about a topic posed by students or teachers. The focus of the project is on investigating what students want to learn. In contrast, Service Learning projects are selected to meet an authentic need in the community. Students complete projects that link to their curriculum of study and provide a service to others.

To be considered Service Learning, an activity needs to have a service component that meets authentic needs of the community and a learning component that makes the service educationally meaningful to students (Billig, 2000; Kraft, 1996; Skinner and Chapman, 1999). Service Learning has been defined by various sources, but common components of Service Learning pedagogy in the definitions include: a) authentic context, b) curriculum integration, c) structured preparation, d) active participation, e) reflection, and f) celebration.

Service Learning projects occur within an authentic context and meet an actual need in the community (Helm, 1998; Kesson and Oyler, 1999; Wade, 1997). Authentic context, however, does not mean that children need to complete their projects in the community or have direct contact with the recipients of service activities. Projects may also be conducted within the school classroom to minimize concerns about transportation and safety (Pritchards and Whitehead, 2004).

To be considered a Service Learning project, a strong connection must be made between the service project and the academic curriculum. Service Learning should not be an add-on to an existing curriculum. Rather it should be embedded into the curriculum from the start (Billig, 2000; Kinsley, 1997). By allowing students to discover connections between what they are learning and what happens in the real world, Service Learning offers a context for teaching work place skills (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997).

Structured preparation is essential to implementing Service Learning. To be effective, teachers and children, and ideally community members, should work collaboratively to plan Service Learning activities (Meyers, 1999). By involving community members in the planning process, greater reciprocity can develop between those completing the service project and those who will benefit. A variety of activities emerge from the planning process that should systematically build on each other to enhance student learning (Kinsley, 1997), and achieve the desired outcomes of the community members. This variety and structure allows children with diverse strengths and learning needs to participate in a meaningful manner.

Active participation is one of the key factors that promotes student learning in successful Service Learning projects (Billig, 2000; Brandell and Hinck, 1997). Adults and students need to work collaboratively (Meyers, 1999), and students need to have decision-making power (Hamilton and Hamilton, 1997). As Shumer (1996) points out, the more responsibility given to students to do things that have real consequences, the more likely they are to take the tasks seriously and learn effectively.

Reflection is a critical component of Service Learning, as it serves as a bridge to connect service experience and learning. It also helps students ‘own’ their experiences. Without reflection, the potential of Service Learning is limited (Ogden and Claus, 1997). To maximize the benefits of reflection, time must be set aside for this specific purpose. Reflection can occur before, during, and after the service activities, and may be completed either individually or by teams (Ogden and Claus, 1997).

According to Brandell and Hinck (1997), celebration is often overlooked, even though it is an integral component of Service Learning. All students, teachers, and community members involved with the project need to be recognized (Meyers, 1999). By sharing their accomplishments, participants celebrate not only the completion of the project but the contributions of each person (Keister et al., 1994). These culminating events serve as exhibitions of what the participants learned and experienced during the project.

In the United States, Service Learning has been predominantly employed in high schools (i.e. ages 14–18) although it is also frequently used at the middle school (i.e. ages 11–13) and elementary school (i.e. ages 5–10) levels (Skinner and Chapman, 1999). Only one study was found that investigated Service Learning in an early childhood education program. Larison (1998) examined the experiences of one kindergarten/first grade teacher (i.e. ages 5–7) her students, and a university researcher with a Service Learning project on homelessness using qualitative research methodology. The children learned about homelessness through children’s literature and exchanging letters and Easter eggs with children in a shelter. However, the fact that children’s experiences with the complexity of homelessness were limited (i.e. they did not meet or visit the homeless children) was noted as a key limitation of the study that constrained students’ active participation.

Some practitioners may believe that involving young children in Service Learning is risky because the children may not be developmentally ready to participate in activities that will expose them to the harsh realities of the world. Others may think that young children are self-centered and not ready for the concept of altruism (Swick, 1997). Insufficient research currently exists to assess whether young children can benefit from this form of pedagogy or how the components of Service Learning can be implemented successfully within an early childhood context. The present study sought to understand how a Service Learning project evolved within one early childhood classroom that embraced the Project Approach to learning.

Method

School

The study was conducted at a university-affiliated early childhood program in a midwestern city in the United States. The school has employed best practices that have been used in the fields of gifted and early childhood education. It serves as a fieldwork site for preservice teachers and is open to implementing research-based practices in early childhood education. At the time of this study, the school served children ages three to seven in one class for children ages three to five and one class for students ages six to seven. Each classroom was composed of 25 children, one head teacher, and two graduate teaching assistants. Student interns from the university also provided assistance.

Since the school serves the mission of research, children and teachers are familiar with reporting and archiving what is happening in the classroom. The school occasionally videotapes the classes and discusses the content of the tapes among teachers. This was an ideal setting for the researcher to observe with minimal worry about obtrusiveness due to the participants’ and site’s openness to research and videotaping.

Classroom

This study took place in the class for children ages five to seven during Project/Activity Time. This was a specified time period that occurred twice each day (at 9 a.m. for about an hour and at 2 p.m. for about 30 minutes). During these times, children chose from self-selected, teacher-directed, teacher-guided, or independent project work. Projects were a part of the curriculum and did not constitute the whole curriculum as advocates of the PROJECT APPROACH suggested: projects are best seen as ‘complementary to the more formal, systematic parts of the curriculum’ (Katz, 2004: 1).

Children were accustomed to deciding what to do during Project/Activity Time. The choice board in the classroom had small pockets with the titles of the activities, such as drawing, survey, and hollow blocks. Children were encouraged to sign up for projects of their choice and were allowed to change project groups at any time.

Participants

Teachers

The head teacher, David (pseudonym), was a veteran teacher with over 15 years of teaching experience. The teaching assistant, Sally (pseudonym), was a first year teacher with a teaching certificate in early childhood education. Neither teacher had experience teaching using Service Learning, but both had prior personal experience with Service Learning. David was exposed to Service Learning when his two sons completed a Service Learning project. Sally experienced Service Learning as a high-school student.

The teachers deliberately documented the process of learning, which is a valued component of the Project Approach. They took pictures and videos of children participating in activities and of the representations they had made. They recorded what children said about the activities, experiences, or artifacts. They frequently wrote children’s questions on a chart and hung it in a corner of the room so that the group could share and add more ideas on to it. Children’s drawings and writings were put together in project files for easy access to review. Teachers purposefully displayed children’s works on the walls so that children could go back and revisit their ideas.

Children

The classroom was composed of 12 boys and 13 girls. Fourteen were Caucasian, four were Asian, two were African American, one was Hispanic, and four were in the category of multi-racial and other. While the students were ethnically diverse, the educational and income levels of the parents were similar most likely due to the school’s affiliation with the university. Nineteen families earned more than $55,000 a year. Eighteen mothers and 12 fathers had masters’ degrees and above.

Of the 25 children in the class, 12 (seven girls and five boys) participated in the study. One girl and one boy were from India. One girl was from Korea and one boy was from China. The rest of the children were Caucasian. The number and composition of the group changed several times, because the children could opt in and out of each project. For example, one girl initially did not sign up for the project, but she participated in most of the activities.

This study received Internal Review Board approval for research with human subjects prior to initiation. Parents were informed about the service-learning project, video recording, and the purpose of the study in advance. Parents of participating children and teachers signed consent forms. As was typical of this class, children maintained their option to move freely between activities based on their interests. Due to the nature of the school, children were accustomed to being videotaped and children sometimes reviewed video segments to refresh their memories about previous activities. During transcription and analysis, pseudonyms were used for all participants.

Incorporation of service learning

Water was the topic of the project in the classroom. The topic emerged from the children’s interests in water due to their exposure to natural disasters through news reports about the Tsunami in Asia. While brainstorming about possible routes for the project, the teachers considered the possibility of implementing a Service Learning project. The first author presented information to the teachers at their weekly planning meeting about the definition and critical components of Service Learning, the process for developing Service Learning projects, and outcomes of Service Learning. She also provided them with guidelines regarding how to develop and implement Service Learning, and a list of resources containing web resources and books. During implementation of the Service Learning project, she met with the teachers shortly before or after the Service Learning sessions and at weekly teachers’ meetings. When needs arose regarding the teachers’ understanding of Service Learning, additional help was provided (i.e. browsing websites to get more information on possible activities and outlets, gathering stories about how other children participated in Service Learning, and helping teachers with actual activities such as baking cookies and brownies).

Data collection

A qualitative case study approach using participant observation provided a window through which to examine the experiences of teachers and young children who were presented with the abstract concept of helping others. The following data were collected: a) field notes and transcriptions of videotapes from observations and b) transcriptions of interviews with teachers.

Observation

The first author served as a volunteer three times a week for about two months before the Service Learning project was implemented so that the children and teachers could become acclimated to her presence in the classroom. Service Learning-related activities were conducted every day for one month. During Service Learning activities, the class was videotaped and field notes were recorded. The field notes included quotes from participants and descriptions of the setting and participants’ behavior. A total of 22 observations were completed, resulting in 22 sets of field notes and 18 video transcripts. Although all observations were videotaped, four of the video recordings were excluded from analysis due to low audio quality and defects on the tapes.

Interviews

Interviews were conducted twice with each teacher to gain a better understanding of their experience. The interviews were semi-structured and lasted about 30 minutes each, with planned initial questions followed by questions prompted by participants’ answers or actions during observations. Most interviews were audio-taped. Because of their schedules, Sally was interviewed during and after the Service Learning project and David was interviewed immediately after the project and again the following semester.

Data analysis

Data analysis occurred during and after data collection. Audio files and videotapes were transcribed verbatim. The videos, field notes, and interview transcripts were reviewed several times, allowing codes to emerge from each data set. These codes were developed while also considering the prior literature on Service Learning and the Project Approach. The first author looked for patterns in various data sources and connected them to emerging themes, rearranging codes to the themes (Padgett, 1998). The coded data were shared with three other researchers to verify the assertions based on the data. When disagreement arose, the group discussed the data to reach consensus on interpretation.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness was enhanced through persistent observation and triangulation (Padgett, 1998). According to Denzin (1978), one of the ways to triangulate data is by using a variety of data sources. This study used videotapes, field notes, and interviews to increase the credibility of the findings. When interesting events were observed, teachers were asked for their opinions about what was observed. In addition, teachers were asked to review summaries synthesizing their interview transcripts. This helped to ensure that the transcripts were accurate and provided teachers with an opportunity to clarify or elaborate prior comments.

Findings

This group of young children understood the concept of helping others and acquired a model of service through the participation as well as enhanced their content learning. Children’s participation level varied and some children transferred what they learned from the project to future activities. The development and implementation of the Service Learning projects and participants’ experiences are described within the framework of the three Project Approach phases.

Phase 1

In spring, the classroom investigated water. During the previous winter, the children had been exposed to a tsunami causing tremendous damages in Southeast Asia through news reports. There were also some Asian children who had relatives in the area affected by the tsunami. Children discussed stories they had heard from their parents and showed interest in water disasters and their effect on people. At the same time, the head teacher and the assistant teacher thought about the possible scenarios for projects and webbed their ideas to prepare for paths that children might take.

Children were divided into three study groups based on the questions they asked about water. Group 1 was interested in what happens to water when it is used. Their interests led them to study pipes and drains. Group 2 studied natural elements that exist in water. They were especially curious about animals living in water. Group 3 learned about weather-related aspects of water and was interested in how water can cause natural disasters. Eleven children signed up for the water disaster group. Some children chose to be involved in two to three project groups and others participated in only one.

The children in Group 3 wanted to know what happens during a disaster. They were interested in how to warn people about disasters and how to help people when a disaster happens. The children talked about their prior experiences with water and weather disasters and drew memory drawings of their own experiences with disasters, such as floods in the basement and what they saw on TV about the tsunami. Teachers referred to these pictures displayed on the wall to help children connect the activities to their prior knowledge or experience.

The teachers determined that conducting a Service Learning project in conjunction with Group 3’s investigation of disasters would offer the children an opportunity to learn the concept of helping others. Helping others is a concept that may appear to be abstract to children at this age. Also, the tsunami was a disaster that happened remotely from the children. These two issues were the main challenges the teachers faced in structuring the project. Teachers stressed several times during interviews the importance of making indirect and abstract experiences into concrete and tangible ones that the children could understand.

Phase 2

Phase 2 of the Project Approach involves investigation of the topic. The children began their exploration of disasters by conducting a plant experiment. They wanted to know what happened when salt water comes into contact with living things. Sally explained how the plant experiment started.

They said something about salt water and someone brought in a newspaper article about that the salt was getting on the crops and made them die. We wanted to let them be aware of what happened and try to think of a way to directly relate. One of the ideas was to bring in plants.

Children discussed how to do the plant experiment with the help of the teacher. They decided to prepare three plants and put them into three different conditions: regular water, salt water and too-much water. They also decided how much water and salt they needed to pour to expose the plants to these conditions. Children made predictions about what would happen to the plants in the three different conditions. They took turns watering the plants according to the schedule and drew observational drawings of the plant of their choice.

The plant watered with salt water quickly died. Children easily noticed the differences and learned that salt water can kill plants. Through teacher-guided discussions, they related plant experiments to the effects of the tsunami. Children talked about the trees and crops in the areas, and worried about the people who might not have enough food. Teachers followed up on their interest by inviting representatives from the local chapter of the American Red Cross to visit the class. The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization guided by the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that helps communities prepare for and respond to disasters. Prior to the visit, the children brainstormed questions to ask the American Red Cross experts. The children were interested in what had happened and how people lived following the tsunami.

The experts explained to the children what happened in the tsunami area and what the American Red Cross and other relief organizations do for the people affected by disasters. They talked about the recovery situation throughout the region, showed some of the efforts to rebuild communities, and explained what would be proper types of help to provide. As a result, the children were able to understand the concept of relief organizations such as the American Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and how they work. They also learned the meaning of a volunteer, the names of salt-tolerant plants, how to make disaster kits, and the kind of help the victims had received and still needed. The following is an example of a dialogue between an American Red Cross expert and the children about what constituted appropriate help for the victims.

American Red Cross:

We have a lot of people call the Red Cross office and they wanted to send clothes and things like that. And what clothes, what kind of clothes do you think those people need over there? How warm is it in India and in Indonesia?

Mindy (Indian child):

Oh, it’s hot.

American Red Cross:

It’s very hot. So do we need to send them a winter coat?

Kids:

No.

American Red Cross:

No. High heel shoes? Nobody needs that stuff and the problem of sending it is huge. So, that’s why the money is the best-appreciated support that they can get. Because, then, the government and whoever is determining what the people are going to get, can tell what they need and where to send and how to best get it. And they can send the appropriate clothes, not winter jackets and high heel shoes.

At first, the teachers thought about sending money to the American Red Cross, but the experts told them that the organization was not accepting any more monetary donations and recommended several other organizations. The teachers and children picked UNICEF because it specifically helps children. Teachers made extensive comments about children of their age to help children make personal connections.

After the expert visit, children worked together to write a thank-you letter to the American Red Cross. Teachers led the group to think about what they had learned and purposefully stressed the phonemes and grammar, as well as the format for letter writing. This helped the children to improve their literacy skills.

Phase 3

In Phase 3, all children planned and prepared for the culminating event. To brainstorm the activities for the culminating event, teachers allowed children time to recall what they had done during the semester. They listed the activities they completed, identified the ones they liked, and suggested activities to engage visitors at the culminating event. The children in the water disaster group discussed what they could do to help the people affected by the tsunami. While browsing the UNICEF website, teachers found a donation-can cover for tsunami victims and presented the idea of putting donation cans in the classroom. The children decided to put the can in the classroom and collect coins from their parents. They also thought about introducing donation cans to the classroom for children ages three to five. Some of the children wanted to go into the class and present the can and the reasons for having it. With the teacher, they discussed what to say and how to say it in front of the children ages three to five. They prepared to talk about the tsunami, the victims, UNICEF, and the need for donations. They practiced with the teacher beforehand, did a rehearsal in front of their own classmates, and then went into the classroom for children ages three to five. The children welcomed them and agreed to collect coins.

When the American Red Cross experts came and explained about donations, one child, Mark, talked about his experience with a bake sale. The American Red Cross experts agreed that it was one of the ways that people make money for donations. Afterwards, when Sally discussed with each child what he or she learned from the American Red Cross visit, Mark talked again about a bake sale idea. During water disaster group time, Sally posed the idea to the group.

Sally:

Mark had a great idea. What did you do at the former school?

Mark:

We had a bake sale. We had brought money.

Annie:

Hey, my brother did it too. He brought a dollar.

Sally:

For what?

Annie:

A bake sale,

Annie:

To get money

Sally:

For . . .

Mark:

Red Cross.

Sally:

So they could . . .

Mark:

Give it to Indonesia.

Sally:

Send it to Indonesia.

Mark:

I think I can hold a bake sale, too.

Sally:

Mark, do you think that’s a good idea for us to do it?

Annie:

Yeah.

Mark:

Hey, we can do that for the culminating event.

Then Mark explained what a bake sale is to children who were not familiar with the idea. All the children in the group were so excited. The group agreed on having a bake sale for the culminating event and started planning what to bake, how to pack the items to sell, how much to charge, and whom they should invite to the event. They decided to bake cookies and brownies. Parents came to help. Children mixed the ingredients to make dough, shaped cookies using cookie cutters, poured the brownie dough in a pan and baked them with the help of parents and teachers. Children wrote invitation letters to family and friends together as a group.

Children bagged two cookies per bag and counted the bags. Based upon how much they would charge per bag, they estimated how much they could earn when they sold those cookies. Children practiced selling cookies and receiving money before the event. During the culminating event, children took turns selling.

As one activity for the culminating event, they prepared a PowerPoint slide presentation of the water disaster group project. It was delivered by Sally, but was prepared with the children. When they made the slides, they reexamined the purposes of the project, recalled how their project had started, and thought about the process they had gone through to reach the point where they were. In the culminating event, the class had various activities for water investigation in which visitors could participate. All the children participated and each project group prepared different activities for the culminating event. Besides the bake sale and presentation of the project, they had a scavenger hunt to match the pictures of pipes and drains in the building with the actual pipes and drains. They also had representations of the weather instruments, riddles about sea animals, and a boat-chasing activity in gutters.

After the culminating event, the whole class gathered and talked about what they would tell their friends about the water project. Weather instrument representations and the plant experiment were mentioned. They also talked about what they could have done differently during the culminating event. Annie mentioned that the location of the bake sale shop was good, but that the sign for the shop should have been higher so that more people could see that the sale was for the tsunami victims.

The children combined the money they had earned through the bake sale and the donation cans. Children counted, estimated, and calculated the money, and made graphs according to the types of denominations: quarters, dimes, nickels and dollars. They learned concepts related to money, such as change, bills, and checks. Some children volunteered to go to a nearby bank to see how the bank makes a check for them to send to UNICEF. At the bank, they saw how the machine counts the coins in the bank and compared the amount they estimated with the amount the machine counted. Children put the check of $116.69 in an envelope, wrote down the address, and sent it to UNICEF. They drew an end of the year map to see that their knowledge and understanding had been expanded through the investigation. They talked about the hard work they had done to make the project work, reported the amount of money they raised, and celebrated the knowledge they had gained during the process.

Discussion

This study explored how one early childhood class that used the Project Approach incorporated Service Learning into its curriculum. Throughout the project, exposure to the Project Approach enabled the children and teachers to implement Service Learning with a certain level of ease. Teachers noted that the Project Approach contributed to relatively easy implementation of the Service Learning project: the teachers and children were already accustomed to some of the essential components of Service Learning such as active participation, voluntary involvement according to interest, and the presence of a variety of activities through the Project Approach.

In this section, the project will be reviewed from a Service Learning lens, and the common traits shared by the Project Approach and Service Learning will be discussed. The six components of Service Learning previously identified will be used to frame this discussion: a) authentic context, b) curriculum integration, c) structured preparation, d) active participation, e) reflection, and f) celebration.

Authentic context

In the project, the community had a need. The community was, however, geographically distant from the children. With the help of teachers and local organizations, the children completed the project and helped the Tsunami victims by donating money to UNICEF. Due to the indirect nature of the service, it was not possible for the children to have face-to-face interactions with service recipients. International Service Learning projects like this, however, can help students to expand their understanding of community and help them develop global citizenship (Crabtree, 2008). David, the head teacher, also talked about how important the project was for the children at this age in helping them to become less egocentric. The project provided a chance for the children to expand their concept of community and start to think of themselves as global citizens.

Curriculum integration

Curriculum integration was found in the close adherence to the Project Approach and state standards. The activities for the Service Learning project covered all five areas the school focuses on: arts and aesthetics, language and literacy, investigative skills and science, numeration and problem-solving, and social, emotional growth and disposition. For example, children worked on literacy when writing thank you notes to visitors and numeration and problem solving when estimating proceeds from the bake sale.

Structured preparation

One factor that contributes to a successful Service Learning project is the presence of a variety of activities that vary from easy to complex levels. Activities should be structured to build on each other and scaffold learning (Kinsley, 1997). During the project, teachers tried to make sure that various activities were aligned with the children’s interests. Children were also involved from the conceptualization of the project. They brainstormed ideas, planned activities, and prepared materials and resources. As a result of thorough planning, transitions across activities were smooth and activities built upon one another. For example, the plant experiment made the children more curious and worried about the Tsunami victims, so the American Red Cross experts were invited to the classroom. While they were talking about the victims, children generated the idea of helping them through a bake sale.

Active participation

Children were active and demonstrated leadership. The project was initiated based on the children’s interests and sustained with helpful facilitation from teachers. The teachers explained that understanding and fostering children’s interests is one of the core ideas of the Project Approach. In the Project Approach, children’s interests are the major criteria for topic selection and children are involved in determining the appropriate activities and methods for answering their questions (Katz and Chard, 2000). The children had been exposed to the Project Approach for more than a semester and were accustomed to expressing their interests and leading a work project related to their interests. Prior experience with the Project Approach appeared to facilitate students’ active participation.

Reflection

Reflection was ongoing during the project. As advocated in the Service Learning literature, reflection occurred before, during, and after the service activities (Kinsley, 1997; Ogden and Claus, 1997). Reflection was not a one-shot, end-of-the-project event. After each field trip or expert visit, children were encouraged to write a thank-you letter to the contributors, either as a group or as individuals. Occasionally, teachers pulled out children individually from a group activity and invited them to think about what they had learned from a certain activity. Reflection also occurred when students prepared for the culminating event (e.g. recalling activities completed, re-examining the purpose of the project, developing the PowerPoint slide presentation, planning activities to share their learning). After the event, the group gathered and talked about what they and their families liked about the culminating event, what could have been done differently, and what they would tell their friends about the water project. The reflection activities in the project applied two types of reflection recommended by Kinsley: individual and team reflection.

Celebration

The culminating event was set aside for completing the project, which is the celebration component of Service Learning. During the culminating event, children showed their parents what they had accomplished during the semester and guided their parents through different activities and presentations. With this project, celebrations continued beyond the culminating event. For example, the teachers and children celebrated their achievement of learning together as a group when they debriefed after the culminating event and when they drew the end of the year map. Teachers frequently made comments such as ‘You did a great job’, and ‘We learned a lot’ during the project.

Project Approach and Service Learning

The findings from this study suggest that it is possible and valuable to include Service Learning in a Project Approach setting where activities cut across the curriculum and are interdisciplinary. In fact, the teachers’ and children’s experience with Project Approach appeared to make the implementation of Service Learning relatively effortless. Both forms of pedagogy employ very similar components: the incorporation of projects, a variety of activities aligned with children’s interests, integration of the curriculum, children’s active participation, teachers as facilitators, purposeful planning, ongoing reflection, and a culminating celebration.

What Service Learning added to the Project Approach was that students not only investigated what they wanted to learn, but they also took action to meet an authentic need in the community. Through this multi-faceted project, students learned the content as well as provided a service by raising money to help the tsunami victims. This aspect of helping others is unique to Service Learning and added value to the Project Approach. Learning about and experiencing helping others or caring is important not only because it makes children feel good, but because it actually helps children to form connections with the community to which they belong (Swick, 1997). In this particular project, Service Learning was the catalyst for positioning children as members of the broader community. It also provided opportunities for their learning to be useful and meaningful in real world.

Limitations

There are several limitations to this study. First, the teachers did not have previous experience implementing Service Learning. The findings may have been quite different if the teachers were more experienced with the pedagogy. Second, the director of the school and co-author, supported the Service Learning project and participated in the development of the research study. Her enthusiasm for the project may have inadvertently biased the teachers’ responses.

Implications of the study

This study found that Service Learning can be easily incorporated into the Project Approach and that the Project Approach experience can ease the implementation of Service Learning. If the children were not as familiar with active participation and voluntary involvement according to their interests, would Service Learning be implemented as smoothly? It is quite possible that Service Learning may not fit as easily within the structure of other early childhood programs, if the Project Approach is not embraced. In order for Service Learning to be employed within an early childhood program, teachers must be skilled in facilitating children’s active participation, developing curricula based on children’s interests, promoting reflection, and helping children assume shared responsibility for decisions made about classroom activities. Teachers who are not accustomed to using these practices may find that it takes additional time and effort to redesign the classroom in a way that incorporates the components of Service Learning.

Future research should focus more on the use of Service Learning with young children. This research should seek to understand how teachers in early childhood programs incorporate Service Learning pedagogy into their existing curriculum, particularly with approaches that differ from the Project Approach. Investigations should also explore the use of Service Learning with young children who represent different populations of learners and settings to determine factors that facilitate the implementation of Service Learning. Knowledge of student outcomes that arise from participation in Service Learning projects will be essential to determining the effectiveness of this form of pedagogy.

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