"Smaller everyday actions can provide ongoing reflection and develop deeply-embedded patterns of thought and action." (Simon Davidson, "Actions Speak Louder Than Words", Taking the PYP Forward) For the past few years, our school has been working on establishing a service learning programme in the Elementary School which is meaningful and developmentally-appropriate. The steps we have taken reflect our interpretation of 'Action as Service', as described in Making the PYP Happen (p.26). |
- gratitude
- empathy
- compassion
- respect
- appreciation
- Modifying the behaviour-tracking chart: In the playground, we have a behaviour chart to document incidents. We adapted this to include opportunities to document positive behaviours and interactions observed as well.
- A 'Notes of Gratitude' board: A large display board was added to a very visible hallway in our school for teachers, students and parents to write short notes of thanks to fellow members of the community for their acts of service.
To summarize, the key aims and ideas are:
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- Davidson, Simon. 'Actions Speak Louder Than Words'. In Taking the PYP Forward: The Future of the IB Primary Years Programme, 2010,
- Elias, Maurice. 'Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude'. On Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/heart-habits-gratitude-students-reflect-act-on-maurice-elias.
- Robinson, Sir Ken. 'Educating the Heart and Mind'. Dalai Lama's Educating the Heart Series: http://dalailamacenter.org/learn/sir-ken-robinson-educating-heart-and-mind.
- The Gratitude Graffiti Project