Service Learning Project

Abstract

This paper aims to describe my Service Learning Experience, which occurred at the Islamic center of Terre Haute, located at 1319 South 6th Street, Terre Haute, IN 47802. I spent my 12 hours in the Mosque by helping to teach the kids and cleaning the Mosque. It occurred every Sunday from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. The Islamic center of Terre Haute helps adults and the children to learn Arabic, and how to read the Holy Quran. The lessons also involved memorizing the sacred book. Almost every Saudi child born and raised in the USA are more than willing to learn English than their negative language. It is why parents bring them to learn Arabic. The opportunity gave me the best experience because I had a chance to meet with some people who want to learn my native language. In addition, I met with some teachers that shared a lot of information with me. They also gave me a chance to ask many questions about anything.  The numerous meetings I held with the teachers and students during my Service Learning Project sharpened my perception about life. Cleaning the mosque and organizing things are acts of service that rejuvenate a person. The teachers told me everything I should know about this job, including what I should do in different situations.

Service Learning Project

A Service Learning Project offers students an opportunity to balance the formal direction and instruction offered by instructors with service for the community (Hagan, 2012). Robert Sigmon, who argued that effective learning occurs when a balance is struck between service outcome and learning goals, developed it. The aim is to reinforce theoretical knowledge acquired in the classroom setting with practical and real life experiences. Consequently, the student is able to connect to the content and syllabus in a more meaningful ways to the unmet community needs that surround us every day (McLaughlin, 2010). My Service Learning Project opened me up to immediate opportunities that tested the depth of my knowledge and degree of flexibility in responding to emerging circumstances. The concept helps in dealing with communal issues while also preparing students for the world and task ahead. There are also structured reflection points that help both instructors and students achieve their learning goals and objectives.

The current world is marred with drastic changes in technology. Growing wants and needs necessitate the occurrence of change to deal with uncertain events (Hagan, 2012). During our classroom training, the instructor emphasized the need to apply and exploit technology during the field excursion.  In designing and/or developing the appropriate technology, there is need to put the preferences, needs, and desires of all stakeholders in mind in order to ensure a high sustainability level. A better understanding of their behaviors will ensure that they apply the technology to deal with personal and communal issues more effectively and rapidly.

Main body

There were interesting ways of learning Arabic, Holy Quran, and the biography of Prophet Mohammed in the school. Its director is Aisah Alzahrany,  and she is the charged with managing the school. There are 28 students who are accommodated in  three classess;14 kids in kindergarten, 10 students in elementary, and 4 students in middle school. Aisah allocated 3 teachers and 3 assistants for each class.  The kindergarten teacher is called Razan, and her assistant is Faten.  Aisah teaches the elementary section, aside from her administrative roles, and is assisted by Rabeeha. The head of the middle school is teacher Hawazen and her assistant is Abeer. Everyone come to class half an hour early because the classes began at 2:30. The first lesson is Arabic, and it takes place from 2:30pm to 3:30pm.  Afterwards, there is a brief break that runs for half an hour. The teachers and their assistants task themselves with preparing some snack meals for the students. They are treated with a healthy diet that also involves milk and fruits. The second period is from 4:00pm to 5:00pm. It is when lessons on the Holy Quran and the biography of the prophet are offered.  I learned how to communicate with teachers and with the students. Moreover, I got to know how the teacher communicates with the kids. Cleaning the mosque and preparing meals for everybody formed the main part of my busy schedule. Another task also involved watching over the young children to ensure that they are on the right track in everything they did. The sessions offered great lessons. For instance, I learned about team work and collaboration in solving problems. In some instance, I joined them and encouraged them to ask pressing questions. I also warmed up their minds by presenting puzzles for them to solve.  The experiences made me realize about my leadership and management skills. Other valuable lessons include how the be a good team member, including superior communication skills while interacting with teammates. Research skills were also encouraged, and they enabled an information sharing session with other teachers.

This school is wonderful. They have the best teachers and the best methods of teaching. If I work with them on a long-term basis, I will recommend the administration to expand the institution. For example, they should make some ads to make people come to this school because there are people out there who  are on the dark about the fascinating institution. It is unique because it teaches Arabic and the Holy Quran. So, I recommend the mosque to make a lot of announcements to let people know and come to this school. Moreover, it is a charitable organization, and the teachers work on voluntary basis. I suggest that small amounts of money be raised from every student to meet administrative expenses. It will help the school to develop and become larger. The teacher compensation scheme will also enhance their motivation level.

I would like to volunteer again in the mosque. It has interesting and highly social people who enrich the environment.  I would love to volunteer again if have time, and if there is another class that requires my free services, I would gladly consent the mosque’s request, because this organization gave me the best experience and I learned a lot from it. Since all the teachers work on a voluntary basis, it makes us feel comfortable and free. There is the feeling of belonging and togetherness, because I am like one of them. They allowed me to ask all of the questions in my mind and explained everything to me. However, I would like to volunteer in another organization but with the same purpose since it will diversify my learning experiences

Conclusion

            A Service Learning Project is a framework that offer students an opportunity to apply their skills and serve the community around them. My learning experience was in a mosque, where I helped with teaching and cleaning services. It was a very enriching and knowledge imparting experience that changed my perception about life. On a scale of 10 I will say that my experience is very connected to the course content and the scale will be 9. If you learn something and you practice it, it will stay in your head forever (McLaughlin, 2010). In my opinion, all classes in the Indiana State University should require a volunteering hours for the students. This will make it a lot easier to the students and also the teachers.

References

Hagan, L. M. (2012). Fostering experiential learning and service through client projects in graduate business courses offered online. American Journal of Business Education (Online), 5(5), 623.

McLaughlin, E. (2010). The “real-world” experience: Students’ perspectives on service-learning projects. American Journal of Business Education, 3(7), 109-117.

Warner, J., Glissmeyer, M., & Gu, Q. (2012). Are real world projects worth the risk? evidence from service learning projects. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 7, 1-9.