Worldwide, students are waking up to the fact that the prospects for a sustainable world depend more on the quality of leadership and vision than on the availability of new technology. New Zealand is blessed with a fantastic environment and natural resources. However, many people in Aotearoa have become complacent, believing that the current model of progress, involving plundering these resources and selling to the highest bidder will last forever. Worldwide, it is young people like Greta Thunberg, the Swedish student, who are showing that sustainability isn't just about technology; it's about political protest and the power of the internet to transform people's lives. It's about a new generation of inspired youth leaders who have a focus on stewardship, justice, and personal responsibility.

One way Middle School students at Kristin are joining this global movement is through service-learning. As an International Baccalaureate World School, service-learning has long been embedded in our curriculum. The difference between service and service-learning is vital to sustainability and indeed, to academic engagement. For example, when we take students to the local beach to clean up, the beach is cleaner and students feel good about what they have achieved; this is service. Service-learning can clean up the same beach with the same benefit to the regional park and the warm fuzzy feeling for students, but service-learning goes beyond the act of service back to the classroom. To make this beach cleaning example service learning, we take the litter we have cleaned up and separate the rubbish from the recyclables and then study and graph the recyclables to offer a solution to the litter problem to the Department of Conservation. The connection to the classroom is the key!

Service always bring engagement, so we need to connect that engagement back to the classroom and learning. When students partake in service-learning we see increased student engagement and empowerment. Their heads are up, their motivation is sparked, and the engagement spills over into the classroom because we intentionally connect the service to learning. With service-learning learning, the learning becomes sustainable because it is engaging the rigorous standards-based work already taking place in the classroom. Teachers have demanding roles and for that reason, the authentic learning and creativity that makes teaching enjoyable cannot come as an addition to the work teachers already do. The beauty of service-learning is that the engagement comes as students see the real-world application of what they are learning as well as the empowerment of being able to give back.

Great service-learning experiences look to engage learning with invested community partners. At Kristin, all Year 10 students undertake a community project. The project is year-long and empowers students to develop mutually beneficial links within the community. We have found that when students link with their community, it validates the work they are doing in a way that goes beyond a simple grade. It also endorses their work in a different way from their teacher whom they see every day of the school year. Community projects like this are the vehicle to bring authentic and engaging service-learning into our school and classrooms. The best part of all this is that because service-learning brings engagement, we can draw students in and engage them in rigorous academic work, developing their all-round abilities in a real world context.

Dave Scott - Kirstin Middle School Principal

https://www.kristin.school.nz/