Bringing service learning to life for young people in east London
As politicians prepare for the general election, one debate they are all keen to get involved in is around service learning. Seen by some as ‘silver bullet’ to ‘broken Britain’ the debate is wide and varied as to what it should involve. Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc), London’s largest sixth form college, has been finding out more at its latest lecture, from Demos’ Sonia Sodha.
Sonia Sodha led the research for Demos that is outlined in their report, Service Nation. Together with co-author Dan Leighton, Sonia investigated what young people think about service learning and looked at the existing evidence. Their recommendations argue that a service scheme would need to be based on nine principals: quality, a lifecycle approach, sensitive to the UK’s cultural context, ensuring equitable access, universality, building on existing initiatives, a partnership approach, promoting diversity and using evidence-based practice.
Service learning has many different approaches when viewed internationally. From compulsory community service as an alternative to military service in Germany and Finland to AmeriCorps in the USA where adults of all ages take part in a full-time service scheme with an allowance, living expenses and training. In the UK, Demos suggest a lifecycle approach, similar to that in the States.
Research has found that involvement in service learning can lead to better academic performance; a fact with which NewVIc staff are already familiar. Many students at the college already volunteer in the community and this will soon be recognised formally at the college through the NewVIc Bacc.