Service Learning COP

This SL-COP google group acts as a forum for discussion & collaboration for the COP. You can post messages, ask questions, organise meet-ups and seek collaboration with one another there.

This is the facebook page for the COP

Purpose

• Sharing and mutual support for service learning offices from different Institutes of Higher Learning
• Peer exchange, learning and collaboration among partners
• Collectively understanding information and resources useful for service learning practitioners 

Background and Rationale

Felt that service learning was inward looking within own institutions and realised there is opportunity for collaboration

Specific Objectives and Goals

1. Create a clearinghouse of service learning resources
2. Articulate and develop principles / code / guide for good practice

Other objectives previously raised, for discussion:

• capacity building for service learning practitioners
• project on history and landscape of service learning in Singapore?
• explore student collaborations across institutions
• Role that government can play in service learning (e.g. a national agenda) and the kinds of resources that can be brought in if there is. Currently, MOE, MCCY and MSF are the three key Ministries most relevant to the field of service learning. (suggested from TP)

How Will Meetings be Run

• Participants will submit agenda items, and rotating Facilitators will host as well as help structure each meeting based on the agenda.
• Issues selected for discussion will be spread out over 4 main meetings (one per quarter?).
  

  Ngee Ann Poly Office of Service Learning

Meeting Agenda

6th CoP Meeting

Date: Friday, 27 April 2021

Time: 3.0 pm - 5.00 pm

Host and Venue: Zoom?

5th CoP Meeting

Date: Friday, 01 March 2019

Time: 2.30 pm - 5.00 pm

Host and Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic Office of Service Learning @ Blk 1 (Admin Block), 01-01, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 535 Clementi Road, Singapore 599489

Attendees of the 5th Service Learning CoP Meeting at Ngee Ann Polytechnic on 1 Mar.

Programme

No.	Time	Item	Presenter
1	2.30pm - 3.00pm	(optional) Tour at Dialogue in the Dark	NP
2	3.00pm - 3.30pm	Institutionalisation of S-L in NP	NP
3	3.30pm - 4.15pm	Agenda Items for Discussion (as at 20 Feb 2019) SUSS Singapore IHL participation in the 7th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning (APRCSL) from 19-21 June 2019 Possible workshop by Brown University on contextualising the Carnegie Classification on Community Engagement for IHLs to the Singapore context Potential cross-institutional capacity-building collaboration among Singapore IHLs: National Service Learning Clearinghouse Singapore Student Symposium on Service-Learning and/or Community Engagement (2020?) Develop and conduct inter-institutional community engaged teaching and learning SMU Sharing on Community Service enhancement at SMU	SUSS, SMU
4	4.15pm - 4.45pm	Facilitated Dialogue to identify key issues and knowledge gaps required for creating clearinghouse and shared resources Wiki site created for this purpose: Community Service and Service Learning Offices Co-organising a Community Forum as a group	IPS
5	4.45pm - 5.00pm	Q&A / Networking	All

Materials and Presentations

Google drive here.

No.	Item By	Summary of Item
1	NP	Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Approach to Service Learning. Service Learning (S-L) has been NP’s signature pedagogy since March 2016. Every student experiences S-L (the dash between ‘S’ and ‘L’ is intentional to emphasise the bridge between service and learning) in at least one academic module, in line with NP’s graduate outcomes: Passionate Learner, Big-Hearted Person and Global Smart Professional. As a pedagogical approach, S-L emphasises working with the community, and ensuring that service learning projects benefit beneficiaries, rather than be done solely to fulfil academic requirements. Students work with the community and grapple with social issues and needs, in such a way that module/classroom content is strengthened simultaneously. Hence, students learn and develop a sense of personal values and civic responsibility as well. The Office of Service Learning (OSL) was set up in October 2016, following which psychologist Robert Bringle and engineer William Oakes were engaged as consultants between 2017 and 2018. Professor Oakes will be coming to Singapore in May 2019 (more details TBC) OSL focuses on (i) capacity building, with staff working with every school to engage S-L as a pedagogical approach, (ii) curriculum design, to ensure that what students do in the community reinforces learning in the classroom, (iii) collaborations across different partners, (iv) communications both internally and externally to profile NP as a service learning-centred institution and (v) develop S-L champions who can carry projects on beyond the classroom. OSL also administers Dialogue in the Dark, Youth Expedition Programme and international service learning projects. Training programmes that OSL conducts include: Implementing Academic Service-Learning Effectively – 2-days training on what S-L is, how to communicate and engage the community effectively, and how to facilitate reflections for students Designing Academic Service-Learning Effectively – 1-day training on designing modules using the S-L pedagogy A Day With the Community – 1 day spent with community partner to co-create a S-L initiative (e.g., Dignity Kitchen – co-create something beneficial to Dignity and trainees) Community Partnerships – 1-day training on asset-based community mindset and partnerships From then till now, as of May 2019, 86.7% of graduates from the AY2016 cohort would have experienced one S-L module. The next phase of S-L development in NP will explore how students can do S-L with their own interests and initiatives in mind.
2	SUSS	a) The 7th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning will be held between 19-21 June 2019. Singapore IHLs are encouraged to present (and collaborate) to put up a strong showcase of the Singapore perspective on service learning to the APAC community of SL practitioners. Formats include paper presentation, flip classroom, resource sharing workshops and poster presentation. Community partners are welcome to present together as a group. It includes one learning journey. Members of the SL COP are invited to put up a booth on 19 Jun (2-5.30pm, dedicated time, no breakout sessions) for outreach and education Deadline for abstracts: 15 Mar. Expected participants: 100-150, including the Service Learning Asia Network (SLAN) of participants (about 40 universities), which include members from Indonesia, Phillipines, China, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. SUSS is the current Secretariat of SLAN. There will be a SLAN meeting on 18 Jun - COP members invited to sign up as observers first and decide later whether to join. b) There will be a half day workshop by Dr Matthew Johnson, ED of The Swearer Center for Public Service, Brown University on self-assessment and documentation framework originating from the US for standards on community engagement in higher education. c) National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. SUSS is working with NYC (National Youth Fund funded) to create a digital repository on service-learning research, policies, pedagogies, videos/paraphernalia, and programmes in Singapore (e.g., how MOE adopted SL for Values in Action programme). Also, information to connect with other SL stakeholders in Singapore Aims to information-share, and foster a resource-sharing community for SL practitioners on Singapore-related practice SUSS invites all institutions' participation for the platform to serve the community - can share information, activities, programmes, papers. However, because of IP issues, important to share what is publicly available only. Privacy and data protection protocols will be followed (e.g, to secure information with strong access and permission control). The website is being built now, but SUSS will send emails to institutions for them to share information to publish on clearinghouse Future potential: Different institutions may serve on rotation as secretariat to the Clearinghouse. This initiative has to be supported by different stakeholders, IHLs in Singapore. Soft launch at 7th APAC SL Conference - 19 Jun Suggestions from SL COP to SUSS: To ask for specific inputs from institutions, e.g. programme, special events, initiatives, research publications Useful to have institutions participate in designing the taxonomy of the Clearinghouse To send out a template, type of categories that institutions can contribute towards d) Possible Singapore Student Symposium on SL and/or Community Engagement (June 2020?) SUSS suggested the idea of a student-run symposium on SL/community engagement, by students for students. Where each institution could nominate 2-3 students to form an organising committee to design the event, including locating sources of funding (e.g., from YCS). e) SUSS is interested in developing and conducting inter-institutional community engaged teaching & learning courses, which will be open to the public, faculty members and students This could mean the COP coming together to develop a course?
3	SMU	Housed under the Centre for Social Responsibility, SMU takes a co-curricular approach to service learning, where community service as a graduation requirement for SMU students. Each project must span a minimum of 80 hours - and preferably it would be one long project that involves regular, long-term engagement of the community. It can be done individually or in groups. Pre, mid and post-project reports are expected. Only the post-project report is graded, however. Students are advised to complete this project in the first two years of candidature. From the next academic year on, community service will be credit-bearing (1 credit, pass/fail). It will have more academic rigour, involving proper needs assessment, asset mapping, and online modules to equip undergraduates with a basic understanding of these concepts. Community partners participate in appraising students on how well they have met outcomes and objectives.
4	IPS	Attendees present were invited to write down: 1) what they feel the goals/objectives of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse should be, and 2) categories of information they feel would be useful in the Clearinghouse - this information was passed to SUSS. To deconflict the objectives of the Clearinghouse and the wiki pages for Service Learning Offices and the SL COP: The wiki pages can be used to surface information particular/private to the COP, as information on the Clearinghouse has to be public. The wiki pages should be used primarily for discussions, while the Clearinghouse would function more as a resource repository IPS will support the updates for the wiki pages in the meantime, until the COP assesses the usefulness of the pages and decides whether or not they wish to take the pages on by themselves. The ideal would be to consolidate knowledge through crowdsourcing (e.g., people/hosts of the respective COP meetings)
5	AOB	SUSS, IPS, SIT and NP has hosted the COP for the first five meetings. The host for the 6th COP meeting (Q2 2019) will be SUSS, at the SLAN meeting (see item 2) on 18 June 2019. SMU will be the host for the meeting in Q3 2019 (Sep/Oct) RP will be the host for Q1 2020 in March To consider perhaps having a roster to rotate COP venue hosts.

4th CoP Meeting

4th SL-COP Meeting kindly hosted by SIT

Date: 28 Sept 2018

Time:

Venue:

Agenda:

Materials and Presentations:

•How do we move on from here?

•Stew over some issues, and allow them to role over to the next session.

•Go back to IPS:

•Use the Wiki-Site as a platform.

•Concern: Cynthia – modelling the right attitude –assets based, not deficit based. The COP was created to encourage communication, and find areas of collaboration. Moving towards a place where we can start to collaborate.

•Joyce: having a sense of continuity, different kinds of scaffolding, different cohorts come in and build in previous cohorts, different ways of strengthening. Worried about pollution.

•Updating consolidated information – challenge. There must be a motivating factor – for the greater, public good.

•Platform for knowledge management – incentive for VMs and schools – all use the same management system, to churn out student reports, data, records. Must have incentive for both sides. Who will update?? (Eg: Gift Pulse.com/service learning in the US)

•NP may need to build their own system to impact measurement.

•Agreement to formalize COP? Would formalizing it sustain this COP? Institution vs Individual Commitment, and to move into a collaborative space.

•Pilot a collaborative project – good initiating point. 

Attendees:

1. Cynthia SUSS Office of Service-Learning & Community Engagement
2. Yeo Lay - SUSS Office of Service-Learning & Community Engagement
3. Joyce NP Office of Service-Learning
4. Wan Chin NP Office of Service-Learning
5. Andrew, NUS/IPS – SocialCollab.sg
6. Justin, IPS – Serve.SG

Members

1. Members List & Contact Info

Ngee Ann Polytechnic - Office of Service Learning

https://www.np.edu.sg/Pages/servicelearning.aspx

Position	Name	Email	Tel
Head	Joyce Tang-Wong	Joyce_TANG-WONG@np.edu.sg	6460 6783
Deputy Head	Hon Maode	Maode_HON@np.edu.sg	6460 7545
Deputy Head	Wan Chin	tan_wan_chin@np.edu.sg	6460 7002
Lead Catalyst	Faith Ong	Faith_ONG@np.edu.sg
Lead Catalyst	V Prema	prema_v@np.edu.sg	6460 6524

Republic Polytechnic -

https://www.rp.edu.sg/shl/beyond-the-classroom/service-learning

Temasek Polytechnic - Centre for Character and Leadership Education

https://www.tp.edu.sg/centres/centre-for-character-and-leadership-education

Office started in April 2018

NTU - Local Community Engagement Office

http://www.ntu.edu.sg/lceo/Pages/default.aspx

Position	Name	Email	Tel
Executive Director	Dr Toh Kian Lam	kltoh@ntu.edu.sg	+65 6592 2517
Deputy Director	Alvin Lee	alvinlee@ntu.edu.sg	+65 6904 1118
Senior Assistant Manager	Shi Jin Chen, Iona	iona.shi@ntu.edu.sg	+65 6904 1108

NUS Office of Student Affairs

http://www.nus.edu.sg/osa/

NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre

https://ctpclc.nus.edu.sg/

SIT - Student Life

https://www.singaporetech.edu.sg/studentlife/

SUSS Office of Service-Learning and Community Engagement 

http://www.suss.edu.sg/CET/Pages/Service-Learning.aspx

Position	Name	Email	Tel
	Cynthia Christabelle Chang
	Meirlin Gunawan
	Yeo Lay
	Chia Ming Huei
	Chloe Lee Zi Qi

SMU Centre for Social Responsibility

https://c4sr.smu.edu.sg/

2. Observers and Associates

NYC Youth Corp

https://www.youthcorps.sg/en

Institute of Policy Studies / socialcollab.sg

https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/ips

Position	Name	Email	Tel
Senior Research Fellow	Justin Lee	justin.lee@nus.edu.sg	66011419
Business Development Manager of socialcollab.sg	Andrew Lim	andrew.lim@nus.edu.sg

•IPS: To support groups, where service learning is a valuable assets, intermediaries, how to work together, to learn from one another.

•How to support this COP, to do as much as we can.

•SocialCollab.SG – crowd-sourcing social needs.

•Helping to populate the service learning projects.

•Making sense of information.

•How to structure a page that will serve this COP.

•To encourage deeper conversations. Consolidating information.

•With permission, study as a case study – policy.

•Connecting gaps and services/skills available – VWOs with students.

•Disability – convene, process the info, put it up on a Wiki-page. What are the needs and gaps we can work together on. At the end of the year, the COP will come up with a report and send to MSF.

•Would there be a parallel process in this COP?