SERVICE LEARNING REFLECTION

• The effectiveness of the project, considering each component and reflecting on my learning experience as well as the impact on the school or community.

The project may be deemed effective as there was only positive feedback from not only the learners, but also the staff, and everybody else involved. I learnt a lot of things about my community. Even though I was aware of the Drug issue in my community, I was amazed at how prevalent it is among so many people and its negative effects on the learners. Hopefully, this project in some way helps create awareness, putting the drug issue under the microscope in order to help learn about the enemy so that we can overcome it together as a united community.

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• How has service learning changed my personally?

It made me understand better the realities of the major drug issue that my community is dealing with, and it hit close to home because I am part of that community and so are my future learners. I have learned that it is not only my duty to teach subject matter, but to take on community issues personally, and to ultimately mature and look to teaching as a platform to do good for my community, and make a difference, If I don’t try, then how can I expect others too?

 

• How has service learning developed me professionally and what new knowledge, skills and/or attitudes have I gained?

It has no doubt helped me improve on so many aspects such as my social skills, my confidence, and my passion for what I am doing. I have learned that I as an educator I need to set an example for learners to follow and so the fact that they are so young and impressionable means that I have a huge responsibility to lead in the correct way. I am first starting with the man in the mirror, asking him to change his ways before even expecting it from others. That is the new attitude that I hope to take out of service learning.

This initiative was of great benefit to the community, both inside and outside of Park Primary School, as it has helped unite the community in a way that they have never managed, created awareness of the serious drug issue that we as a people are facing, displayed first-hand consequences to learners as to how drugs could potentially destroy lives and most importantly, equipped learners with the tools they so desperately need to equip themselves with in order to defeat this enemy.

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• The benefit of this initiative to the school and comment on its sustainability.

Contact information of myself, rehabilitation centres, and toll-free numbers of experts were all made readily available to learners. Attractive posters, as many as 30, with vital information were also left in the school as a long-term reminder of the important issues discussed. This allows for mid-term sustainability soon. I have also spoken with Kaylen and those from the Rehabilitation centre to make this a more frequent visit not just to Park Primary School but to all schools in the community so that we cannot simply sustain this positive impact but use it as a springboard for bigger things!