EMPOWERING STUDENT VOICE AND CHOICE THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
Authentic: The service learning projects at SF Friends address real needs in the community and in our curriculum, allowing students to see the tangible results of their work. Students are learning about and attending to real-world problems, with real-world connections. Organizations benefit through meaningful impact by students in real time.
Reciprocal: At the heart of our service learning is the concept of mutual benefit. Both sides benefit from and contribute to the relationships forging a true“ win-win” outcome. Community partners act as co-educators, offering their expertise and wisdom, which not only deepens our students’ understanding of the community but also provides them with authentic learning experiences.
Enduring: The impact of our service learning projects extends beyond a single event, but rather happens in an ongoing way throughout the year, and year after year, ensuring that the relationships only strengthen and deepen over time. These projects have now become part of the identity of the grade, and a hallmark of the student’ s experience.
Supporting Relationships with Clear Structures
Just as relationships with community partners strengthen our projects, the structure we provide students empowers them to navigate their roles with confidence and responsibility. This balance between autonomy and guidance is the foundation of our service learning philosophy. Tim Fish, former Chief Innovation Office at NAIS and founder and president of Two Chairs Studio, makes the
“... students are given the opportunity to exercise their voice and make decisions, but within a structure that ensures their efforts are both guided and impactful.”
case for structured agency for students, emphasizing the importance of balancing student autonomy with a supportive framework to create meaningful learning experiences. At SF Friends School, we apply this principle through our Service Learning program, where students are given the opportunity to exercise their voice and make decisions, but within a structure that ensures their efforts are both guided and impactful.
Structured agency, as Fish describes, is not about allowing students to act without boundaries or guidance; rather, it is about providing them with the right balance of choice, responsibility, and support. This structure ensures that students have the freedom to explore their interests and contribute in ways that feel authentic to them, while still aligning their efforts with the goals of the project and the needs of the community.
In practice, the Service Learning projects at SF Friends School are built on this framework. Students are empowered to take ownership of their learning through projects allowing them to engage with real-world issues, but
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CSEE Connections Summer 2025 Page 23