50 years Ago the united States coined the term service learning—service-learning—, a word very little seductive to describe a phenomenon that comes to Spain with decades of delay, but with force to stay. The school articulates a project, very tutored by the teachers, involving the students with the problems of their environment —environmental, social, health— to improve it. At least 300,000 students from Primary school to Vocational Training learn already in Spain with this methodology. There is not a census, but are becoming more and more projects. Only a handful of examples. 20,000 children of Granada participate in Vega Educa, which spreads awareness about climate change; the blood bank Catalan involves 29,000 school donation drives and there are programs to restore abandoned villages, to stop the truancy or the sedentary lifestyle of the elderly with the help of doctors.
In southeast asia and China, there are networks that are very strong schools of service-learning; Germany, Uk or Ireland have a long tradition in Europe, as in Latin America. And, in Spain, the project of educational law to the Government in functions makes a hole to the teaching of solidarity, which according to experts consulted should be the subject cross. “On the set of the first three grades of secondary school, students may take any optional subject (…) Can be configured as a monograph, a collaborative project with a community service…,” read the text. Since the ministry did not provide further details because “the law can be subjected to many modifications,” says a spokesman, especially after the entry of United we Can in the Government.
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The examples for the whole of Spain are numerous and part of them have competed last December in the awards, Learning and Service, convened by the Spanish network in cooperation with the publishing house Edebé and the Foundation Educo: up to 36 centres in mallorca have been awarded for their joint projects to mark routes, recover settlements or cleaning Sierra de Tramuntana; the small child’s college Holy Angel, Palencia, spain, they have recorded a spot advertising to defend the fair-play in sport; or, the institutes Antonio José Cananilles and Virgen of the Remedy, Alicante, travel the province telling the story of The gitanita paper to curb school absenteeism by gender. The network counts 51 municipalities involved, 19 of them in Catalonia.
Roser Batlle, founder of the Spanish Network of Service-Learning, believes in a first time, this learning may not be mandatory: “it makes No sense if the project is not mature and the teachers trained and convinced”. But then yes you must become indispensable. As in Catalonia, where from this course must do the practice on 3rd or 4th of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO). “You have done well, in six years, preparing educators, exchanging experiences…”, is happy.
Juan de Vicente Abad, counselor of the instituto Miguel Catalan Coslada (Madrid), tells how she started them on this methodology in 2010: “Traditionally, the High-school kids working on issues of prevention of harassment in tutoring, but in high school there isn’t, so we gave them long when they told us that they wanted to do something. We decided to talk with the city Council to be volunteer by the hospital with the portable library but, at three months, we discovered that a California teacher was explaining the environment and contained with their students on a dune with a fence. We opened the eyes: we could link the citizen participation with the learning of the subjects”. They began to apply the methodology in high school and later went to High school. Today, they have countless projects: form to students as guides by the National Archaeological Museum of people with Alzheimer’s disease; have a vegetable garden that you care for them with greater of the neighborhood; they did an audit of the services of the city Council… “Is very motivating because it connects you with life and develop skills —work in a team, communicate…— to see you to ask for in the job market,” says Vincent.
The gitanita paper, project institutes Antonio José Cavanilles and Virgin of the Remedy of Alicante.
learning is cross-sectional. With the Language teacher learn the short story to make wedges advertising on radio or in Math work statistics with the data provided by the center of blood transfusion” of the marathon that is organized, continued the counsellor, winner of the contest, the teacher is the most innovative of Spain to 2016 of the platform Projects.
The service of Catalan spread Coslada and today the seven institutes have this learning. “In the area of Youth there is a volunteer office and that allowed us to understand the associative fabric and to put in contact to schools and social entities of Coslada. It has been a cocktail perfect”, he welcomed the technical Sea Cross. Four components of the research group on moral education from the University of Barcelona (Josep Maria Puig, Mònica Gijón, Xus Martín, Laura Rubio) concluded in a service-Learning and Citizenship Education (2011) that this practice “improves performance on standardized tests, the middle notes or the assistance and motivation in the school”. And this is only possible because it develops a greater ability to synthesize complex information, to understand concepts or to be made aware of social issues. In addition, they are exposed to other lawsuits and improves self-esteem and leadership capacity, according to the study.
“it Motivates the students. Has lowering the absenteeism of those hours; it gives renown to the centers, because it looks at a few young people engaged with society; it has helped to pedagogical innovation, because it is not the same to prepare a master-class than a meeting with a social entity, and the centers are more open to the society,” lists Lluís Esteve, teacher and advisor of Education of the City of l’hospitalet de Llobregat. “And, what we have seen lately, is that some of these young people focus their studies on the basis of this experience and part are incorporated in the associations in which they were”.
“the greater the students involvement grows, they are more concerned,” says Carme Frau, advisor of training in the Balearic islands. “That is why it is so important to service-learning in the University, where it is spreading a lot.” Frau coordinates 36 colleges and institutes in the program Saw Range which is the mountain of mallorca as a hub. The projects are not only environmental (signaling zone, guides through the roads little busy), but linguistic (recovery of legends), archaeological (excavations) or social (accompaniment major).
The examples of service-learning are innumerable and are going to be more. Since 2004, the Foundation Zerbikas promotes this practice in the Basque Country; Catalonia, what makes the Centre Promotor d Aprenentatge Servei; in Madrid the Foundation Thyme… And Asturias, Aragón, Andalucía, Canarias, Comunidad Valenciana, Castilla y León, the Balearic islands and Navarra favor this methodology in its regulations, but it is not compulsory, as happens in Catalonia.
center-to-avoid, to reference
The service-learning came to’hospitalet, the second city of Catalonia with 261,000 in inhabitants (18% of immigrants), 13 years ago as a pilot project promoted by the Jaume Bofill Foundation, the Generalitat and the University of Barcelona. “The first thing we did was to train teachers, monitors of free time and social entities,” says Lluís Esteve, deputy mayor of Education when he implemented the program. “And what we promote by the Internet through a network of participation that brings together the educational centers and of leisure time, and social entities. Now we have about 110 projects per year, involving 35 educational centers”, lists the today Education consultant.
The University of Barcelona studied a particular case, the Eduard Fontserè , who went from being a center to avoid a reference in the area. Organize various activities, the school climate has improved, they have increased the enrollments in bachelor’s degree (20 to 30 students) and the graduation rate (from 45% to 80% in a decade) and absenteeism, which was 16%, now stands at 2%.
