Christian education has many laudable and diverse goals. These include teaching academic content, maximizing student learning, encouraging spiritual growth, developing Christ-likeness, and equipping students for career and college success. Our research and practical experience have shown us that service-learning can be an important tool for Christian schools to achieve all of the above.
Service-learning is a powerful approach that engages students cognitively, affectively, behaviorally, and spiritually; by immersing the “whole” student in the process of learning and serving, it provides intensive opportunities for growth in all of these dimensions.
As importantly, service-learning can help students develop a Biblical understanding of the world around them, coupled with the practical skills they need to make a difference in their communities. By partnering knowledge with action, service-learning equips students and brings Ephesians 2:10 to life: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Bring it to Life: Christian Education and the Transformative Power of Service-Learning (published by ACSI, 2018) is intended for practitioners at Christian schools who are looking to begin service-learning in their settings or to expand their current practices. Whether you are just getting starting thinking about service-learning, or have teachers and students already “on the ground” in service-learning programs or experiences, you will find this guidebook useful in several ways.
First, it provides a Biblical framework for service-learning, which is critical to aligning educational practice with the distinctive mission of Christian schools. We also present guidelines for effective service-learning experiences, drawing on national standards and best practices.
We share practical, valuable tools – such as program planning worksheets, assessment ideas, and tips for institutional success – that have been tested and proven effective in Christian school settings.
Finally, we share examples of successful service-learning projects that have been developed in Christian schools. Our goal throughout is to provide a sound basis for service-learning in Christian education, along with an easy-to-use roadmap for effectively implementing service-learning on the K-12 level.
When done effectively, service-learning can be one of the most powerful ways to shape our students into the next generation of Christian leaders.
If you work at a Christian school and that sounds like a worthy goal, our prayer is this guidebook helps you in achieving it.
– Lynn Swaner and Roger Erdvig
Lynn Swaner, Ed.D. is the Director of Thought Leadership at the Association of Christian Schools. Before joining ACSI, she served as an administrator in a Christian school and also as an education faculty member in higher education, where she conducted research and published on engaged learning pedagogies, including service-learning.
Roger C.S. Erdvig, Ed.D. serves as the Headmaster at Wilmington Christian School, and previously as a consultant and author in the field of leadership coaching. His primary research interest is in worldview development.