This challenge asks you to consider the role that mutual support, compassion and kindness play in building and maintaining our communities, both large and small. What impact can positive, respectful and meaningful community action have in times of adversity, and what lessons can we carry forward into lasting behaviours for everyday life?
In this section, we consider the challenges faced by our communities in times of local, national and international adversity, and the ways in which we can make a difference by promoting positive community action. There are six task stations on the journey to the ultimate challenge. You might visit some or all of those stations according to the instructions you have been given by your teacher.
The ultimate challenge asks you to consider and research ways in which you can participate in, or instigate, collective community action that contributes to tacking some of our most significant global problems, before creating a plan for turning your ideas into a reality.
This station explores some of the language we use in discovering our Spirit of Service, and the meanings and intentions behind the terminology. We consider the definitions of the skills, competencies, attitudes and virtues that contribute towards effective service and think of people we know who exemplify these.
A dictionary definition of Service might define it as “the action of helping or doing work for someone”, but in a Learning context it is more complicated. At this station we explore the difference between good and bad Service Learning and discuss the need to make Service Learning a mutually beneficial experience in which everyone benefits.
In order to be of useful service to others we also must take the time to care for our own wellness and wellbeing; to we learn to channel our emotions, and to build and maintain reserves of inner-strength to draw on in support of others, At this station we rehearse a mindful meditation around the Wheel of Awareness.
Most of the biggest health, social, political, environmental and economic challenges faced by our communities today are issues of global magnitude and international concern, so tackling them requires co-operation amongst nations. At this station we explore some of the bigger issues facing the world and the relationship between these and local action we might take.
Big problems call for big solutions and we may feel powerless to make a difference in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. But often the best place to start is by taking small steps towards our goal. At this station we share in a hopeful story about a little boy and some starfish before writing a narrative of our own.
Sometimes service is about working with a community, perhaps in a group, to address a collective need. But Service can also be a very personal and individual experience. At this station we explore, through TED Talks, the idea that service in its simplest form is all about kindness, before considering how our drops of service will contribute towards making an ocean.
For the Spirit of Service Challenge we would like you to consider ways in which you can work together with other members of the communities that you are part of to support one another through difficult times. This might take the form of an idea that you initiate (either individually or as a class) or identifying existing support networks that need volunteers. Create a campaign plan for your ideas according to the brief provided and to the format specified by your teacher e.g. you might be asked to produce an illustrated infographic, a 5 slide presentation, or a written plan or another format.
