ACC-Tivate: Service Learning Projects in School
ACC-Tivate is a project-based learning programme by Flow India for schools that ignites Advocacy, Championship, and Citizenship skills in students through Service Learning.
Role: Lead Researcher, Learning Designer, Facilitator
Client: Welham Girls' School, Dehradun, India
Lead Organisation: Flow India
Learners: Students of classes 6, 7, and 8
Sector: K-12 Learning
Project Report: ACC-Tivate: Service Learning in School
The Brief
Our world is full of complex challenges, where the actions of one person can have ripple effects throughout communities and cultures. Cultural and creative empathy gives us the will and the tools to be effective change-makers.
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In 2016, the Welham Girls School in Dehradun, India, hired Flow India to design a series of service learning projects for students from classes 6 to 8. While the school had a robust service learning programme for senior students, they felt that by not introducing students to the need for and ethics of community work, they were not actively participating in service work in later years.
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Having specialised in designing community-driven learning projects, I led the design, implementation, and evaluation of this project with Flow India.
My Design Process
My first step in the design process was to interview and work with educators to define themes of service learning that we could design the projects around. We selected themes like waste management, crafts and weaving for livelihoods, environmental awareness and many more.
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I then reached out to and established relationships with local non profit organisations who would collaborate with us in helping students understand the work they do, and have critical discussions with students on the community issues they worked with. One of my most important consideration was to allow learners and community members to form relationships and hold an equitable dialogue. When designing these interactions, I ensured that the community got as much back in terms of new knowledge, resources, and a volunteer network, as the students were to get from them in terms of knowledge, inspiration, and school credit.
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Each project was designed as a 3-day engagement focusing on a Big Question about our society and environment. Knowing that learners of this age group engage better when they are able to apply their learning to their immediate environment and community, I designed each project to comprise Games and engaging activities that encouraged students to research and document about the big question, learn how local NGOs and community organisations are dealing with the big-picture challenges, and finally apply their learning to discover challenges in their school environment, brainstorm solutions, and co-create prototypes/posters for the rest of their school community to give feedback on.
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I also designed a self-reflection tool- the Learning Badges- that allowed students to reflect on the skills they were developing with each project and think of how they would further advocate their learning to their peers.
I also trained Flow India's team of facilitators to deliver the projects in schools, ensuring that each facilitation team comprised of a Subject Matter Expert to guide students effectively through the projects.
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I recorded my design process in this Project Report for Flow India.
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Upon completion of the first prototype of the ACC-Tivate programme with Welham Girls' School, I finalised the larger objectives and a cost model for the offering, and developed a learning product that could be offered to schools across India.
Outcome
ACC-Tivate™ (Advocacy, Championship, Citizenship) was implemented in the 2016-17 academic year as 9 three-day projects for students of classes 6, 7, and 8 at Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun, India. Using local cultural stimuli like museums, heritage sites, environmental spaces, living skill communities like traditional markets and craftspeople, and more, students build transferable skills like leadership, empathy, communication, problem-solving, and self-confidence- skills crucial for a lifelong learner.
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ACC-Tivate is now a core product offering by Flow India.
Impact
Teachers at Welham Girls' School observed that students became more reflective and critical of their role in the community in and outside school. Students’ willingness to collaborate rather than compete with one another increased with every successive project. Their confidence in solving challenges was stronger when they had the opportunity to go beyond the classroom, interact with peers from senior grades, and finally showcase their findings and solutions to the entire community.
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“The themes and ideas Flow India introduced the students to were interesting and the fact that they were communicated through games and activities made the project exciting. I think the message has gone home and provoked a lot of thoughts, which is the beginning for long term change for the children.” Mamta Govil, English Faculty, Welham Girls’ School.
Students of class 6 take inspiration from the professional crafts women and quilters at the Purkal Stree Shakti Samiti to craft their own school quilts to help younger and older students interact with each other.
Students of class 8 identify that younger students often feel lonely and find it hard to adjust to the boarding school life in their first two years. Here is a poster of the solution they want to implement.
At the end of the year-long project, all students were asked to make a badge for themselves highlighting the key skill they learnt through the year.
Students of Welham Girls' School and from the Blue Star Van Gujjar School for children of the nomadic Van Gujjar community interact and learn about each others' lives and their relationships with the environment around them.