Nov 19 National Family Service Learning Week :: The National Center for Families Learning Applauds Congressional Resolution

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The National Center for Families Learning Applauds Congressional Resolution

Families Learning Blog: 11.20.2018

This week, members of Congress introduced a resolution celebrating the broad benefits of Family Service Learning. The Resolution designates the week of November 19, 2018, as “National Family Service Learning Week,” and was led by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Rob Portman (R-OH), and Representatives John Yarmuth (D-KY), Phil Roe (R-TN), Sam Johnson (R-TX), and Dina Titus (D-NV).

Family Service Learning is a model developed by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL), extending service-learning benefits to families through a multi-generational approach. The six-step model provides education and empowerment to families that allow them to effect change in their communities. Working together with other families, the process allows for investigation of a problem in need of a solution and provides the steps to find that solution. Many times, this includes tapping into other community leadership or resources. The results have shown a greater sense of community pride, in addition to the development of potential workforce skills such as critical thinking and group problem solving. Among its many benefits, Family Service Learning improves workforce and literacy skills while enabling parents to become stronger teachers and role models for their children.

Results from an independent evaluation of Family Service Learning show that Family Service Learning can:

➧Expand voice, social capital, and networks of participating adults;

➧Expand self-efficacy and self-confidence;

➧Increase formal learning, including content knowledge, research, and academic skills;

➧Increase technology skills;

➧Increase opportunities to develop work-based skills;

➧Improve employment status—46% of participating adults secured a job or improved their existing work status.

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NCFL Family Service Learning: Six-Step Process

1. Investigation: Parents and children investigate community problems that they might potentially address. Investigation involves research and a community mapping activity.

2. Planning and preparation: Parents, children, community members, and teachers learn about and plan the service activities. This step includes acquiring content knowledge and addressing the administrative issues needed for a successful project.

3. Action (implementing the service activity): Parents, children, community members, and teachers carry out and complete the Family Service Learning project.

4. Reflection: Parents and children debrief and reflect on the service-learning experience. Activities include thinking about the project implementation, the meaning and connection between parents’ work and the community, and what children have learned in school.

5. Demonstration of results and celebration: Families, program staff, community participants, and others publicly share what they have achieved and learned.

6. Sustainability: Parents and program staff plan how to make their project or Family Service Learning an ongoing endeavor. This may include strengthening or cementing partnerships, generating and leveraging resources, and identifying and securing funding sources that are available over time. Through this process, Family Service Learning can become integrated into the culture and goals of the family literacy program.