Service-Learning Australia

Students are usually very keen to promote service-learning.  However as it is pedagogy, more direct student action can often be taken through philanthropy, which can be described as: “The gift of talent, treasure and time for the common good” – TTT (Triple T).

The concept of TTT was developed in the Hunter Region of New South Wales in 2009 by Service-Learning Australia.  The process of implementation was as follows:

Planning Forums.
Maitland and Newcastle Councils hosted planning forums, attended by a teacher and two students from interested schools (year 5/6 and year 9).  These forums were led by students and focused on empowering them.   During the forums, students were introduced to the process of planning TTT projects using the TTT templates.

Integration into Curriculum.
Once back at school, teachers were encouraged to use the students’ TTT project ideas as the starting point from which to build service-learning – integrating the project into the curriculum and developing reflective processes.

TTT Day.
The Department of Education and Training and the Catholic Schools Office in the Region nominated the second-last Friday of Term 3 as TTT Day.  On this day, students celebrate with their communities the ways in which they are giving their “talent, treasures and time for the common good” (naturally, not all TTT projects are completed by this date).

TTT Exhibition.
In late November, public Exhibitions are held for TTT schools and students to demonstrate the results of their projects to schools interested in participating in TTT in the future, and to celebrate with their communities.

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