Service Program

Re-orient this idea to include student direction and student learning
As Clean Up Australia Day approaches, students consult with the local community to assess needs and concerns. From a list of identified needs, they vote to clean up part of the banks of the stream. First they plan the project. Then they observe, take inventory and clean up the bank of the stream. They analyse what they found and hypothesise about its possible sources. They look at the impact of the pollutants on the local flora and fauna. Then they share the results with the local council and residents, and offer suggestions for reducing pollution – perhaps by developing a web site and producing a brochure that the local council agrees to distribute with its Rates Notice.

Enrich the process with reflection and intellectual inquiry.
During the activity, students investigate a wide range of concepts including, for example: “community” and “responsibility”. For example, students may protest that it is not their responsibility to clean up the banks of the stream, since they did not personally pollute it. A student who states this is assuming that people are only responsible for events they directly cause. Students might be encouraged to think about their assumptions and draw distinctions between different kinds of responsibility – the difference between being causally or legally responsible for the pollution, as opposed to recognising that they may have some social or moral responsibility to improve the situation. Students would be encouraged to examine their assumptions about moral responsibility by being asked, for example: What is the extent of our moral responsibility? How do we judge this? What is it to be a good citizen? Making such distinctions develops and sharpens thinking skills. Throughout the process, students would monitor their progress towards reaching both their service goals and their learning goals, would be involved in a number of reflective exercises and would keep a reflective journal.

Achieve curriculum objectives
The Clean Up Australia Day service-learning project described could achieve many curriculum objectives, including in these Key Learning Areas: 

• Maths: Analysing community survey results.
• English: Writing an information brochure for the local community and letters to the local council; speaking at assembly and on the local radio station etc.
• Science: Analysing the water quality of the stream and the materials collected from the banks of the stream.
• Geography: Comparing water quality in the stream to that of waterways in other parts of Australia and in other countries.
• History: Investigating the history of the stream perhaps with members of the local Aboriginal Land Council; considering the impact of past instances of pollution and community responses to it.
• Art: Designing brochures for the community and posters for school.
• Civics & Citzenship: Adopting democratic decision-making processes while implementing the project.
• Information Technology: Designing a web page about the stream for the school web site.