Investigating community priorities is an important foundational step in service-learning. It helps ensure that service-learning projects address community concerns and engage community members as partners, not just recipients.

 

This step—considered vital for high-quality service-learning—introduces participants to basic research skills and techniques. When youth and adults understand the issues at stake, know people who would benefit, and have confidence that their efforts will meet genuine needs, they become more invested in their projects. In the long term, people who develop the practices of listening and learning will become more effective citizens, leaders, and change agents.

Key Activities

Select an Approach

There are many ways to investigate community priorities. For a simple investigation, you might do some library or online research, interview a few key community leaders, and tour the community. More sophisticated (and time- and resource-consuming) approaches involve community surveys, community mapping, and in-depth analysis of available public health and educational data.

 

Thus, it is critical to select an approach that fits the capacities, interests, resources, and skills of the youth and adults involved. It is better to engage in a simple process that can be accomplished successfully, than to take on an ambitious project that consumes the leadership team's energy and enthusiasm. Keep in mind that investigation needs to happen on a recurring basis, not just once. Hence, as your group becomes more proficient and known in the community, it may develop capacity to take on more complex investigation projects.

 

Some available approaches include:

• Conduct a community walk. Have participants walk through your selected area with flipcams or cameras in hand. (Be sure to include neighborhoods where participants don’t usually venture to widen their perspective and experience.) They might notice lots of parks and green spaces where people gather. Or perhaps your community is home to manysmall businesses. What are youth doing?
• Examine publicly available documents, like United Way or city/county government needs assessments.
• The Inspired to Serve pilot project developed a "community listening project" for interfaith service-learning. It is described below.
• The K-12 Service-Learning Project Planning Toolkit (PDF), developed by RMC Research Corporation, highlights many research activities to strengthen the investigation phase of service-learning.
• Community YouthMapping, developed by the Academy for Educational Development, mobilizes youth and adults as they identify resources and opportunities that exist in their community, generally focusing on opportunities for youth.
• The Community Tool Box from the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas provides in-depth information on and approaches to assessing community needs and resources.

Gather Information

• Focus your information gathering on a particular topic or area of the community about which the leadership team is passionate. This may be a particular neighborhood or a particular issue (such as the environment). Only gather information that is directly relevant; otherwise, you can quickly become overwhelmed.
• Before you gather new information, remember that other groups may have already conducted high-quality assessments. Check with city hall, the school district, and other central agencies to be sure that you are not duplicating efforts.
• Be sure that young people play key roles in gathering the information, with adult support. This teaches important skills and taps their curiosity and interests.

Interpret Information

• Work with community partners to ensure that the project chosen is appropriate and meaningful for everyone.
• Use these questions—excerpted from Service-Learning in Community-Based Organizations (PDF)—to help with your interpretation:
  • What needs or priorities stood out? What underlying issues are at stake?
  • What could be done to respond to what we’ve seen or heard?
  • What other questions do we need to investigate before taking action?
  • Which service options might fit our group, its skills, interests, and experience?
  • Which ones would fit our goals for service, learning, and growth?
  • What could we do that is attainable within the time and resources we have?
  • In what ways might we partner with other people, organizations, or agencies in the community to reach these goals?
  • How will we share what we’ve learned with other stakeholders—particularly those who would benefit—to ensure that what we do will really be valued?
• Identify potential priorities for service-learning projects. Find opportunities that:
  • Are high priorities in the community; AND
  • Tap the shared passions and commitments of the diverse range of youth involved;
  • Fit the capacities and strengths of the interfaith group (not too hard; not too easy); AND
  • Contribute to your goals for service, growth, and learning.

Set Goals Based on the Investigation

Once the priorities are identified and the project is selected, develop clear, specific, and attainable goals. Consider goals in the following areas:

• Service goals—Set service goals that are age- and ability-appropriate, personally relevant, interesting, and engaging for participants. Just as important, the service goals should be visible, attainable, and valuable to both the participants and the community they are serving.
  
• Learning goals—Many interfaith networks  have trouble thinking through learning goals, since learning is too often equated with "school." In reality, interfaith networks promote important learning priorities regarding issues of justice and mercy, interfaith understanding, leadership skills, and others. Keep in mind that goals may be accomplished in all phases of the project, from investigation through demonstration and celebration. For more on setting learning goals (including sample goals for faith-based networks), see Service-Learning in Community-Based Organizations (PDF).
• Growth goals—In what ways do participants hope to grow relationally, cognitively, emotionally, or spiritually? The Developmental Assets are useful setting goals for participants’ growth and development. Review the framework to identify specific ways your service-learning programs can nurture teens holistically.
   

The Community Listening Project