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Learning objectives

Supporting a flexible process with the learning outcomes

Start with the learning outcomes. Some of the learning outcomes are more prominent than others and get visited far more in service learning - this is fine. Just make sure that students visit a learning outcome at least once in the whole course. This doesn't usually present a problem when schools connect the dots with other elements of the CP course. You do not have to shoe horn the learning outcomes in to every service learning experience - they really are there to be accessed explicitly when relevant so students carry out service and learn effectively at the same time.

Using the Learning Outcomes for the first time

Make the learning outcomes accessible for everyone 

When introducing the students to the learning outcomes for service learning  it is important to make them easily understandable, supported with an example and take time to explore the questions they have that emerge from each stage. It's important not to be diverted by the word 'outcome' as just a summative assessment characteristic; outcomes are very much to be built and reflected upon through the whole two year course. After all, students may well have a variety of service learning experiences throughout their course and not just one long project.

LO 1 'Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth'
Key question: Who am I?

Students appreciate that they have existing strengths and skills that make them unique as well as areas that are less developed. Explicit understanding of this builds self awareness and an appreciation that we are not finished products but constant works in progress as lifelong learners.


Tips for developing understanding

If your school has separate roles for the core elements, do discuss with the PPS coordinator how students explore this question in their PPS work Also, do use the learner profile to support this learning outcome throughout the whole process as an explicit and useful reference point. Make timely and relevant connections. 

Transferable skills? Is this being taught elsewhere? Check out PPS theme ...

Personal Development

The personal development of the student is clearly paramount in the CP. This page introduces the theme for students to find their motivation, vision and 'buy-in' they need for their CP course and life...

LO 2 'Demonstrate participation with service learning experiences'
Key phrase: Get involved
There are many ways that students can demonstrate their participation with service learning experiences, especially when they are explicitly utilising the five key stages. By using the investigation, preparation, planning, reflection, demonstration process students will demonstrate participation from conception or intiation of involvement in a project to execution and collaborating with others in the process. And remember that this is a process where you can build from one experience to the next and show commitment to action.

Tips for developing understanding

At the start it is important not to put off students who may be feeling hesitant and nervous about the participation element of the service learning elements. Reflecting on experiences they have already been part of in a positive way can also reassure that this is not as big a mountain to climb as they might have expected. Also, when discussing examples, do look at a wide variety so the students do not get the impression that service learning has to look like one thing in particular. Most of all, take your time building skills that enable students to be able to participate confidently.

Transferable skills? Is this being taught elsewhere? Check out ATL and reflective project skill ...

Planning and process management

The student's planning skills, throughout the reflective project experience, must not to be overlooked. This ensures that the process does not just become about the final piece but is seen as an opportunity...

LO3 'Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively'
Key phrase: Work together
Working collaboratively as a team can be an experience of highs and lows with both elements being a crucial part of the 'learning' in 'service learning. At the heart of the IB educational philosophy is the belief that we build knowledge and understanding through collaboration and the key here is to be able to reflect honestly about what went well and not so well.

Tips for developing understanding

Be prepared to discuss the pitfalls of working as a group and what makes for frustrating and unrewarding learning experiences. Using examples from outside of the classroom and school community of where teamwork worked and did not work can generate good discussion as students can find it easier to talk objectively about experiences outside of the school context.

Transferable skills? Is this being taught elsewhere? Check out the Personal development area of the PPS resources ...

Exercises in Empathy

Understanding empathy can be tricky - least of all differentiating it from sympathy. Through the work of neuro psychologists and academics, we explore its definition and real world application. Students...

LO 4 'Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance'
Key question: How does the local link to the global?
In IB educational philosophy, learning takes place in local and global contexts. In service learning students use problem-solving skills to respond actively and sensitively to issues on a local, national and international level. True engagement is when students can see the link between local and global issues and why what they are doing in their school community really matters.

Tips for developing understanding

Students will be exploring global issues throughout their CP course whether it is in their DP subjects, career-related studies and other core elements. This is a good opportunity to explore the global issues they have been exploring in their career-related studies in particular and how these are apparent or not apparent in the local community. Also considering the UN Sustainable Development Goals and considering the local link can help develop an understanding about the impact of linking the local and the global together. Do link up with the PPS course and how students are developing debating skills as they explore ethical dilemmas from around the world. This links very much to the last learning outcome too!

Transferable skills? Is this being taught elsewhere? Check out PPS theme of Intercultural Understanding ...

Intercultural Understanding

Students explore the significance of cultural identity and diversity as the ability to understand and appreciate multiple cultural perspectives leads to highly effective and empathetic people within personal...

LO 5 'Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions'
Key question: Am I doing the right thing?With responsible action comes a need for an ethical compass. When participating in service learning, the appropriateness of choices and actions will need to be considered through every step of the process.

Tips for developing understanding

Again this is a key opportunity to make links with PPS in the earlier stages of the CP course as often schools will explore ethics as an early module. This is to help students to start preparations for their reflective project where they will consider an ethical dilemma connected to their career-related subject.  Students do respond to frameworks to help them consider ethical choices as the topic of ethics can be overwhelming in its entirety. Bring it back to questions about people, actions and consequences to make it accessible.

Transferable skills? Is this being taught elsewhere? Check out the reflective project and PPS resources based upon the central themes of Applied Ethics, ethical issues and ethical dilemmas 

Applied Ethics

The IB learner profile characteristic of 'principled' requires students to develop responsibility not only for their actions but the consequences as well. Applied Ethics is most immediately associated...

Ethical dimensions, issues and dilemmas.

Finding a suitable ethical issue and dilemma to analyse critically is at the centre of the reflective project process. However a student also needs to be able to understand the ethical ramifications of...

Ethical Thinking

At the heart of ethical thinking is the ability to consider the dynamics of people, actions and consequences in a balanced way. Developing ethical thinking is a complex process that takes time not just...

Starting discussions and debates

A key way to develop confidence in personal and professional skills and foster curiosity is through continuous debate and discussion about the world around us. A PPS teacher's main hurdle is keeping resources...

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