This example shows how a simple service program for Clean Up Australia Day can be changed into an educationally-rich service-learning program. The example – cleaning up the banks of a local stream – is re-oriented to include student direction and student learning and enriched to include reflection and intellectual enquiry.

We have designed a template - "Towards Service-Learning" - to assist you to enrich the programs you already have in your school and move them towards service-learning, as described in this Clean Up Australia Day example.

We have also included a template - "Design Good Quality Service-Learning" - for more experienced service-learning practitioners to assist you in improving the quality of your programs.

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.

Service-Learning and TTT are initiatives that have been proven to significantly contribute to students’ learning, improve long term education outcomes and benefit the community as a whole.   Good quality service-learning includes benefits for students, teachers, schools and communities.