Using service learning to achieve middle school comprehensive guidance program goals.

Service-learning classes taught by professional middle school counselors and teachers can help middle school students meet comprehensive guidance program goals related to academic/learning development, life/career development, personal/social development, and multicultural/global citizenship. An example is provided of a service-learning class where middle school students received comprehensive guidance curriculum instruction and then taught a similar curriculum to elementary school students. Results from a phenomenological evaluation describe yielded five major themes pertinent to middle school student development and demonstrate comprehensive guidance program goal achievement: personal awareness, social skills, learning skills, career interests and character education. The themes were personal awareness, social skills, learning skills, career interests, and character education.

Middle school students struggle with significant issues unique to early adolescence involving physical, psychological, and social changes. They have been characterized by their need to (a) explore a variety of interests; (b) connect learning to practical life and work; (c) release energy through activity coupled with frequent fatigue due to rapid growth; (d) develop personal identity found through peers' affirmation; (c) separate self from parents; and (f) rely on friends to provide comfort, understanding, and approval (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], n.d.). With comprehensive guidance programs striving to reach all students (ASCA, 2003), middle school counselors find themselves employing various methods to meet the unique developmental needs of these students (ASCA, 2004).

One pedagogical method that middle school counselors can use is service learning. Service learning gives middle school students an opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom by performing acts of service that benefit the community. The students develop critical thinking skills by reflecting on what they have learned, seen, and experienced (Halstead, 1997; Seitsinger & Felner, 2000). Similar to the ASCA National Model[R] (2003), service learning focuses on academic, career, and personal/social development. In addition, a primary goal of service learning is civic development.

Traditionally, service learning was used in postsecondary education to encourage college students academically, civically, and socially. Recently, it has expanded to all grade levels (Pritchard & Whitehead, 2004) and is a method used by regular classroom teachers. Many characteristics of service learning are seen in middle school counseling programs such as peer helper, peer tutoring, or community service projects. Whereas these programs incorporate aspects of service learning, they fail to fully integrate service-learning standards, concepts, and research.

Research on the beneficial effects of service learning is increasing. In a summary of more than 20 research articles, Billig (2002) confirmed the impact of service learning. Students who participated in service-learning activities demonstrated measurable increases in personal/social development, civic responsibility, academic learning, and career development. In addition, the community and school environments also benefit from service learning. Scales, Blyth, Berkas, and Kielsmeier (2000), in a study of 1,153 middle school students from racially and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds in three different states, found that social responsibility--described as students' concern for others' welfare, responsibility felt to help others, and perceived ability to be effective helping others--increased among students who were enrolled in a service-learning program compared to control groups. Because learning has been found to be a social process as well as a cognitive process, increases in social responsibility create a social awareness that facilitates academic learning. Scales et al. also found greater parental involvement with students who participated in service-learning programs.

In this article, we discuss a service-learning class offered to middle school students and intended to help students achieve comprehensive guidance program goals. In addition, we present the results of a phenomenological evaluation to assess student learning and goal achievement.

ACCEPT: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE SERVICE-LEARNING CLASS

The Alliance for Children: Collaborative Exceptional Peer Tutors (ACCEPT) class was designed by a middle school counselor and an elementary school teacher working together to meet students' needs. Individual planning meetings, parental requests, and school needs assessments indicated the value of providing more career exploration opportunities and a "safe" place for students. It combined the goals of comprehensive guidance with middle school philosophy and service-learning concepts.

Each semester, 12 to 16 middle school students received classroom instruction on academic, personal, social, and career content from the middle school counselor or teacher. (The first year ACCEPT was taught at the middle school by the school counselor. After the success of the first year, the principal assigned a regular education teacher to co-teach with the counselor.) The curriculum centered on the themes of (a) accepting yourself; (b) accepting others, and (c) accepting responsibility. After learning the concepts, the students employed experiential learning to teach a similar curriculum to the younger children at the elementary school located within walking distance. The elementary teacher made arrangements for the middle school students to visit kindergarten and third-grade classes on a weekly basis. School-wide projects including assemblies and a "Kindness Week" were arranged through the administration. The ACCEPT class utilized various instructional methods including puppets, magic, drama, origami, art, filmmaking, cooperative games, puzzles, and outdoor activities. Each lesson had a reading component. At the end of each week, the middle school students reflected on what they had learned in the class through discussion, assignments, and journal writing. Grants were written to gain funding for materials.

The first year of the class, the counselor selected middle school students to participate based on their interest in a helping profession or at-risk behavior. After the first year, the class was open to all middle school students. Parents, counselors, teachers, and administrators referred students to take the class. In addition, students who were interested completed an application that included teacher recommendations and parental permission. The second year of the program more than 100 students applied for 12 spots. Since the class was created, more than 180 middle school students have participated, and they worked with more than 650 elementary school students.

QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF ACCEPT

In order to assess the impact of a service-learning class on student achievement of comprehensive guidance goals and to learn what students had gleaned from the class, the school counselor used phenomenological qualitative methods (Patton, 2002) to collect and evaluate data. Former students, parents, and teachers of ACCEPT classes from 1998 to 2004 were asked to participate in the evaluation. All former ACCEPT students (n = 142) were mailed two copies of a letter of explanation with the request that one copy be returned. The letter included an informed consent to be signed by the student, and his or her parents if the student was under 18, and a question regarding whether the parent was willing to be interviewed. From the returned letters (n = 78), five students and one alternate from each year were randomly selected and these participants were contacted to arrange interviews. A total of 30 former students, 10 males and 20 females, were interviewed. The ages of the students interviewed ranged from 13 to 19 years old. Six parents, one from each year, also were chosen randomly and interviewed. All middle school teachers of the class were interviewed.

The data were collected in a series of individual semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interviews were conducted according to an interview guide but were neither rigidly structured nor open conversations (Kvale, 1996). Although interviewing adolescents presents unique challenges (Eder & Fingerson, 2002) such as developmental issues relating to communication and insight, it is important that student participants voice their own interpretations, rather than relying solely on adults. Interviewing parents and teachers added additional perspectives to student data.

Many thoughts, feelings, and opinions were repeatedly expressed by the participants. With the use of qualitative interviewing (Kvale, 1996) and triangulated analysis (Guion, 2002), five major themes emerged related to student achievement of comprehensive guidance program goals and middle school student development. The themes were personal awareness, social skills development, learning skills, career interests, and character education.

Theme 1: Personal Awareness

Because middle school students experience many developmental changes, one determining factor in creating the ACCEPT class was to provide middle school students a place where they could Ram about themselves. According to the students, parents, and teachers interviewed, many students found that ACCEPT provided this place. One mother commented that she had heard students say that ACCEPT was "the class that you could go and be who you really are." Throughout the interview process, students, parents, and teachers referred to a greater personal awareness that students developed in ACCEPT. One student stated, "The lessons that we talked to the children about--accepting others, yourself; and responsibility--kind of carried over to yourself."

Theme 2: Social Skills

As middle school students developed a greater personal awareness, they were able to gain a greater understanding of how they interact with their peers and society. One teacher reflected, "ACCEPT teaches social skills like no other class does. The students are not confined to their seats, subject to the lecture of the teacher. The students are the teachers. It is up to them to share the lesson, help their students who are struggling, and ... resolve conflicts." As the students described developing friendships in the ACCEPT class, several explained that there was an increase in cooperation, which helped them to better achieve the class goals.

One student commented, "I think it was really cool because we had all that time to walk together and we then would joke about the funny things that kids said and it just made us a lot closer than just in a normal class." The students also described learning from each other and developing a greater awareness of each other's talents and abilities. Teachers noted that this awareness led to a better acceptance for others that is not often seen in middle school students.

Theme 3: Learning Skills

Throughout the interviews, students and parents referred to specific skills that were learned that assisted in improving academics. These skills included planning/goal setting, communication, adaptation, and leadership. One student noted that ACCEPT "changed my CPA from a 'D' to an 'A.' I was finally good at something and if I can do good here, I can be good other places." Another student reflected that "in ACCEPT, you learned things that you could use every day and throughout your life--like working in groups. We always had to write these papers about goals and responsibility, so we learned a lot about it."

Theme 4: Career Interests

Another determining factor in designing ACCEPT was to provide students an opportunity to learn more about occupations on a middle school level. Students interviewed took the learning skills they gained in school and transferred them to life and careers. Many times, student have the opportunity for internships, job shadowing, and practical work in high school, but rarely do they have an opportunity at a younger level to learn more about occupations in which they have interest. Throughout the interviews, students mentioned that ACCEPT provided for this career exploration. One student reflected, "I took ACCEPT because I've always wanted to be a dolphin trainer and you have to have child psychology and be involved with kids mad stuff for that."

Theme 5: Character Education

In addition to being academically successful, students reported they learned character education skills and how to be better citizens. One student commented that ACCEPT "taught me a lot about teaching people and what you need to do for little kids. Not just teach them how to do math and English but teach them how to live a good life." During the interviews, many students mentioned skills that they had gained--skills of responsibility, altruism, respect, humility, empathy, and gratitude. One student remarked, "We were really responsible for someone else's learning. I mean, we have to be responsible for our own learning from the teachers. But we were the teachers! And it's just so different." One student found that she was able to apply ACCEPT principles outside of class by helping others. Other students were able to relate what they learned to other classes. One student stated, "You respect teachers a little more. I listened to nay teacher more 'cause I know what it would be like if [my student] didn't want to listen to me. I was like, 'Might as well help teachers do their job.'"

IMPLICATIONS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE SERVICE LEARNING AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL

Using service-learning concepts as part of comprehensive guidance endorses the middle school philosophy in multiple ways. The National Middle School Association (2003) offers six elements that need to be present for successful middle schools: (a) a curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory; (b) multiple learning and teaching approaches that respond to diversity; (c) assessment and evaluation programs that promote quality learning; (d) organizational structures that support meaningful relationships and learning; (e) school-wide efforts and policies that foster health, wellness, and safety; and (0 multifaceted guidance and support services. Service learning can fulfill each of these elements (Halstead, 1997). In addition, service learning supports teaming, creates smaller communities of learning, encourages student responsibility for learning, provides students with leadership opportunities, and develops greater partnerships with parents and communities (Halstead; Schukar, 1997).

A service-learning class, taught or co-taught by a professional school counselor, is especially relevant to middle schools where 35 percent of the counselor's time is recommended for guidance curricula--significantly more than the 25 percent typical at the high school level (Utah State Office of Education, 2004). A service-learning class also connects the middle school to the elementary school, easing the transition between schools for students (McElroy, 2000).

References

American School Counselor Association. (2003). The ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association. (2004). The role of the professional school counselor. Retrieved February 28, 2005, from http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=240

American School Counselor Association. (n.d.). Why middle school counselors. Retrieved February 5, 2005, from http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=231

Billig, S. H. (2002). Support for K-12 service-learning practice: A brief review of the research. Educational Horizons, 80, 184-190.

Eder, D., & Fingerson, L. (2002). Interviewing children and adolescents. In J. F. Gubrium (Ed.), Handbook of interview research: Content and method (pp. 181-201). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guion, L. A. (2002). Triangulation: Establishing the validity of qualitative studies (EDIS Publication No. FCS6014). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, Cooperative Extension Service. Retrieved October 10, 2004, from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FY/FY39400

Halstead, A. L. (1997, Spring). A bridge to adulthood: Service learning at the middle level. Midpoints, 7, 3-17.

Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

McElroy, C. (2000). Middle school programs that work. Phi Delta Kappan, 82, 277-281.

National Middle School Association. (2003). This we believe: Successful schools for young adolescents. Westerville, OH: Author.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pritchard, F. F., & Whitehead, G. I. (2004). Serve and learn: Implementing and evaluating service-learning in middle and high schools. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Scales, P. C., Blyth, D. A., Berkas, T. H., & Kielsmeier, J. (2000). The effects of service-learning on middle school students' social responsibility and academic success. Journal of Early Adolescence, 20, 332-358.

Schukar, R. (1997). Enhancing the middle school curriculum through service learning. Theory Into Practice, 36, 176-184.

Seitsinger, A. M., & Felner, R. D. (2000, April). By whom and how is service-learning implemented in middle level schools: A student of opportunity-to-learn conditions and practices. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Utah State Office of Education. (2004). Utah comprehensive guidance program student outcomes: Standards and competencies. Salt Lake City, UT: Author.

Kathryn A. Stott is a school counselor with Alpine School District, American Fork, UT. E-mail: [e-mail]

Aaron P. Jackson is an associate professor with Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. E-mail: [e-mail]