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Introduction
Introduction
For my service-learning project, I wanted to create a resource that could begin to address development of parent-child/family bond, as well as address social and emotional skills. These are important skills that I believe all families should work to develop. However, many of the resources parents and children may customarily use to develop these skills have become unavailable due to the 2020 pandemic. Through an official interview with a special education teacher, conversations with other educators, therapists, parents, and children, I identified three community needs I hoped to address.
One of these needs was for clear communication of expectations. Using the development of family rules to teach children ways not only to protect themselves but also protect and respect those around them helps them to understand why rules exist, and the purpose these expectations serve. Another need identified was the importance of permission to acknowledge, and learn from, mistakes. Children need to understand that all people make mistakes, and apologizing does not necessarily mean a mistake will never happen again, but that you are sorry and will use the mistake to learn. The final goal addressed in this project is healthy emotional expression. All children need to learn to properly identify emotions, and healthy ways of expressing those emotions. This is a vital skill, necessary for healthy interactions with family, friends, and other members of society.
Initially, I was somewhat confused by the concept of service-learning. While I believe there are always lessons to be learned in any work that is done, often especially through service work, it seemed strange to perform a service, even in part, for a grade. There was a part of me that felt it diminished the spirit of service work if I was receiving a pre-established benefit from completing it. I made sure to design a project I was extremely passionate about, to ensure the level of work I invested was purely fueled by my desire to serve the population.
However, as I have grown to better understand service-learning, I realize that it is a mutually beneficial relationship between learning and service, as the name suggests. This process began with me selecting an area in the community I desired to serve, researching to discover the greatest areas of need, then doing further research and learning how to best meet that need prior to taking action. This was different from many service projects I have been a part of in the past, where I show up, ask what needs done, someone hands you the equipment needed, and you get to work. For this service work, there was a great deal more ownership of what was being provided. I was the one who determined what needed done, developed the “equipment needed”, and also got to work.
Developing this project has been educational, informative, and highly rewarding. Unfortunately, at this time, I am unable to do the work in person, so this resource has been developed instead. My goal is this resource will enable children and parents will be able to take the “equipment” I have put together to work on these skills independently at home, as well as provide healthy activities to engage in while in quarantined conditions.
Outcomes About Myself
Outcomes About Myself
I surprised myself during the development of this project. For starters, I was surprised by the information I realized I already knew. I was also surprised by ability to take what I was learning and combine that with prior knowledge to develop activities. However, my greatest surprise was my ability to develop songs for the activities. In the past, I have not considered myself much of a songwriter. However, as I was developing these activities, most of the songs developed quickly. I first identified what goal I was addressing, and what I felt was most important that needed to be said to address the goal. Once this was established, everything else swiftly fell into place. While I know I have more to learn, I am excited by this new realm of creativity this project ignited in me.
Outcomes Regarding the Community Partner
Outcomes Regarding the Community Partner
I felt my interaction with my community partner was positive and highly informative. Without their guidance and informative insight, I would not have been able to develop this project with the clarity and focus I did. However, as I am reaching the conclusion of my project, I realize it would have been more effective for me to have sought more feedback from them regarding each activity, to allow for more ideas in finalizing each activity to ensure they were clear and met the need with the greatest efficiency possible. I also would have liked to reach out to more of the community partners I had originally considered consulting with. I think this would have created more insight into the variety of needs in the community, as well as provided even more valuable feedback in development of the activities.
Outcomes Regarding My Knowledge and Skills
Outcomes Regarding My Knowledge and Skills
As I began this project, I also began to identify several gaps and my knowledge that were pertinent for the development of my activities. One of these gaps was understanding and implementation of Universal Design for Learning. I also first learned about Social Emotional Learning this semester. Both were very exciting to learn about, as well as incorporate into my project design.
Universal Design for Learning opened my eyes to how narrow my designs tended to be, relying on many assumptions about those engaging in them to complete the activity. I did not realize I had been doing this in the past but was so glad to learn about variances which require adaptations to enable others to engage in an activity. Using this information, I worked hard to develop these activities in a way that will hopefully make them accessible to as many people as possible
The five concepts of Social Emotional Learning I personally found very powerful. I considered each concept as these activities were developed, hoping to incorporate as many elements as possible. To try to address each concept in one activity I thought would make the activity overly vague. However, the three activities are designed so that combined, they address all the five concepts, working to develop skills in each area.
Outcomes About My Values
Outcomes About My Values
As I mentioned before, I did not realize how my ignorance in some areas was creating barriers for some being able to engage in the activities I may develop. I am extremely grateful for the knowledge I have obtained this semester, and for the stronger understanding I now have in Universal Design. My personal values guide me to always approach and treat everyone, no matter who they are, with the utmost love, respect, kindness, and devotion toward their well-being. Part of that is doing everything within my power to make any resource I develop for others as relevant and accessible to as many people as possible.
I do not want to fail in this because of a simple matter of ignorance, which I learned I have been. However, that lesson has been learned. Moving forward, I will fail in this because of either laziness, or because I have given up on my values. I am not giving up on my values, therefore laziness is not possible. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I will not always hit every mark. Regardless, I am driven by the desire to make sure my skills and abilities, which I have been developing to help others, are as accessible to everyone they possibly can be, to the greatest of my ability. With that drive comes the responsibility to be intentional about continually asking, researching, learning, and growing, so that I can continue to help as many people as possible.
Outcomes About Action
Outcomes About Action
I have always been passionate about working with children, and this project highlighted for me how far the needs for healthy family development extend. My original thought for this project was to develop a parent-child music class to work on these goals. When conditions allow for large group meetings again, I may continue to pursue that goal.
Even during times of isolation, as has been the case for most of 2020, it is important for people to find ways to interact with others, be engaged in their community, and find ways to help each other. People are social creatures by nature, I think many of us have had that truth realized within ourselves in way this year we had never quite experienced before. It is important to remember that we need each other, and to protect each other. This is part of why I focused specifically on developing family bond for my project at this time.
For this reason, I am considering continuing to develop resources that I could provide online to continue to aid families in developing family bond and provide opportunities for positive interaction. If I continue to develop resources, I think I will reach out to more community partners, as I wish I had done with this project. I think this is important to provide the greatest potential for positive influence in our community.
Outcomes and Conclusion
Outcomes and Conclusion
The goals of this course aimed for me to not only learn about the concepts of Universal Design for Learning and Social Emotional Learning, but many others as well. The course was designed in a way that helped the students to develop awareness of variations in development, be it physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, or any combination of these. Develop of awareness regarding these variances help us to be able to practice inclusivity. This course not only provided information but also ideas and guidance in how to design activities in a way that were inclusive for everyone, regardless of where they were in their level of development.
There is not one person in this world that has had the exact same story as another. We may have similarities, but we all experience life in different ways. We all have our own challenges to face, and if everyone in society refuses to make adaptions to help those around them, none of us would ever accomplish any development. The concepts and strategies for inclusion and helping others in their journey to reaching their greatest potential are the product of many people doing exactly the opposite of that. These concepts and strategies have been developed by wonderful, caring people, who experienced or witnessed a need, and found a way to help meet those needs.
It is important to pass along ways that have been developed to help others, so we can continue to do so. Also, as people learn proved ways to helping others, they can continue to develop new ways to reach even more people. I am so grateful to have been provided the opportunity to be one of those included in this learning and growing process. I hope one day to be able to be a part of the second part of that process, contributing my knowledge to provide more ways to reach others. For now, it is my goal to apply the knowledge I have obtained in my music therapy practice, using what I have learned to design activities and interventions which can be adapted to help as many people as I am able.
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