Background: In recent years, more and more secondary schools in Hong Kong begin to employ service learning in designing student learning activities. A vast majority of these attempts is developed based on the philanthropic ideas of altruism, love and care; it involves serving elderly people living in the elderly homes far away from the school community. While it is quite right to say that both the students and the elderly people benefit from these projects; the connection of these students to their community, as well as the student learning from the senior citizens in these projects are still in question. In other words, there is a missing linkage between student learning and the community in these philanthropic service learning projects.
Aims or focus of discussion: In this paper, we suggest to bridge this missing linkage with the concept "classroom in community" to connect students, and their learning, with the community.
Arguments / comments /suggestion: Based on the service learning curriculum derived by us with local secondary schools, we will illustrate how "classroom in community" could facilitate students to learn from and learn for their community, and to act with the community to co-produce public goods. Examples of community based services for elderly people will be used to further elaborate how students could initiate community services through collective dialogues with the community, in these cases, to get connected with their community by serving the elderly people and learning from them as senior citizens.
Conclusion: A summary of the characteristics of the approach of classroom in community to service learning is suggested to conclude the paper.
背景:近年,香港越來越多中學開始嘗試以服務學習作為教學活動。當中大部份的計劃,多以推廣關懷慈愛或慈善救濟作為理念基礎,而服務對象大多是遠離學校所在社區的長者。誠然,從上述服務當中,學生與長者是有所得著的。但是,在這些計劃能否連繫學生與身處社區和使學生從長者身上學習這兩個問題上,就值得存疑。換句話說,這些以慈善為理念基礎的服務學習計劃,欠缺了結連學生學習於身處的社區當中。
目的或討論焦點:我們透過本文提出善用“社區有教室”的概念來彌補這些不足,把學生、學習、以及社區三者緊密地結連起來。
論點/評論/建議:根據我們在中學進行服務學習課程的經驗,我們將透過本文說明