Service-Learning Australia

Philanthropy can be described as: “The gift of talent, treasure and time for the common good” – TTT (Triple T).  TTT Day is a student-driven day on which young people celebrate the ways in which they have given their “talent, treasure and time for the common good”.  TTT builds on the service-learning model, in which students traditionally identify a community “problem” to be solved. However if students commence service-learning by seeing their community as a collection of problems, they might feel helpless, become demoralised and cynical.

For really effective service to occur, students need to first know themselves, recognize their strengths and assets and believe they can make a difference: they identify their “talents”.  They must also see their community as a positive place: they identify community “treasures” - this may be the school community or their local community.  For example: students at a school that is traditionally strong at sport might identify among their talents a high level of sporting ability and among their treasures good sporting facilities.  They might decide to use these talents and treasures to plan and conduct a “Paralympics Day” for students with special needs who attend a nearby school.  This day could be open to the public, with attendees paying an entrance fee which would be donated to a local centre for people with disabilities.  Teachers would use aspects of this project to achieve curriculum outcomes and to encourage intellectual enquiry and reflection: service-learning.

Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight, who have worked extensively in the field of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), state that: “every living person has some gift or capacity that is of value to others. A strong community is a place that recognises those gifts and ensures that they are given. A weak community is a place where many people cannot give their gifts or express their capacities.”