Making the Margins Real: The Contribution of a Service-Learning Program to Building a More Inclusive Culture within the Secondary School

Abstract

With a focus on core concepts such as coming as guest, being present, story, innate dignity and the value of difference, students in a Boys High School spent 6 months volunteering on a hospitality van with the homeless. Over that period the students engaged in varying levels of meaning making linked to their reflection of the experience. While some students remained at a surface level of meaning making, the majority progressed to deeper meaning making and some to the level of existential change. Analysis of the associated case studies would indicate that deepening levels of meaning making are linked to direct engagement with the clients of the service, the active presence of mentors, a longer service engagement, reflection upon experience, critical analysis and the deliberate engagement with the core concepts. This process, along with the development of a supportive inclusive school culture, will provide a platform for the Service-Learning program to enhance inclusivity as a lived and owned value within the participants’ lives.

Citation

Price, D. (2017), "Making the Margins Real: The Contribution of a Service-Learning Program to Building a More Inclusive Culture within the Secondary School", Service-Learning (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 12), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 139-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620170000012010