Service, the 4Cs, and Employment Skills

03 Int roduct ion: What are the 4Cs?

04 The IPARD/C model of service-learning and the 4Cs.

05 Invest igat ion and ut i l izat ion of crit ical thinking skil ls.

06 Planning and preparat ion: harnessing creat ive abil i t ies.

07 Act ion! Col laborat ing with one's peers.

08 Ref lect ing on the impact of a project .

09 Demonstrat ing and communicat ing the aims of a project .

10 How to extend the 4Cs.

11 What do the 4Cs mean to you?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: What are the 4Cs?

The "4Cs" of deeper learning lie within a set of broader skil ls f irst identif ied by the National Education Association in 2002 as being crit ical to employability in the 21st century. While the "three Rs" of a classic skil ls-oriented education program stil l lay a solid foundation, today's rapidly-evolving world demands a well-developed array of abilit ies to guarantee future success. Among the top of these skills l ie the "4Cs", which have been recognized by the NEA as crit ical to any education program in the 21st century. Confirming that study, a Forbes survey emphasized the dramatic rise of each of the 4Cs among skills desired by businesses since 1999 as compared to those same businesses in 1970. We can no longer afford to consider the 4Cs as just an option when it comes to enacting education programs in the 21st century.

"We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies

that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet." Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, Shift Happens

Cri t ical Thinking / Problem

Solving

Creat ivity

Col laborat ion

Communicat ion

3

Service-learning and the 4CsService activit ies provide an excellent opportunity to integrate the 4Cs in order to achieve meaningful youth service. In this resource, you will f ind a number of examples of

how you can implement the 4Cs into your service activit ies to benefit youth in your community. Commonly, career counselors recommend that youth volunteer to gain more experience, responsibil ity, and skills that transfer into the working world. When properly integrated, the 4Cs can complement traditional school subjects as well as community service.

While every phase of a service learning project will draw upon most of the crit ical employability skil ls, each point in the IPARD/C model offers a unique opportunity to more deeply expand upon one of the 4Cs. Leaders of a project should try to incorporate each stage of IPARD/C for a complete and meaningful service project. Furthermore, by emphasizing each skill of the 4Cs at the appropriate stage, youth service becomes a powerful tool to develop abilit ies needed in college and career.

The IPARD/C model of service-learning:

Invest igat ion: Youth learn to ut i l ize problem solving and crit ical thinking skil ls.

Planning and preparat ion: Where young people harness creat ive and innovat ive abil i t ies.

Act ion! Youth learn to col laborate with their peers en route to complet ing the service-learning project .

Ref lect ing: Evaluat ing and improving upon a youth-led service-learning project .

Demonstrat ion and Celebrat ion: A way for youth to communicate the mission of the project to others.

Incorporating the 4Cs into a service-learning project

4

Investigation: Utilizing critical thinking and problem solving skills to begin the service project.

What is Crit ical Thinking?

A successful service-learning project depends heavily on the ability of youth to think crit ically and solve new and diverse problems during the investigative phase. Without it, projects lose steam and young people lose motivation. Crit ical thinking is def ined as the ability to reason effectively, use systems thinking to analyze how parts of a whole interact, make judgment decisions using evidence, and solve dif ferent kinds of unfamiliar problems.

Crit ical Thinking in a Service Project

Rather than dictating who or how youth will serve, instead, make sure to emphasize the variety of options available and what the pros and cons of each option are. Adults involved in a youth-led service project should try to serve in an advisory role as much as possible. By taking ownership over the project and issue, youth will demonstrate why it is so important to address, why they care about the issue, and how they can take action. While youth may easily become enamored with broad topics, encourage them to start small and be specif ic whenever possible. According to Carol Ferguson from Postcrashers, adults should, "try to strengthen confidence in this stage of the project, as youth aren't expert crit ical thinkers overnight."

SPOTLIGHT ON YOUTHSeveral of the GYSD 2015

participants at the United Way of Greater Toledo identif ied

hunger in their community as a worthwhile and important issue

to combat for their project. However, as hunger is a broad

topic to tackle, crit ical thinking was needed to engineer a project

which would have a large impact, while using limited funding and with the available materials. During GYSD, some of the youth

(pictured above) il lustrated the daily hunger-related issues facing some of Toledo's

residents on paper plates. Pictures of these plates were collected and sent to the Governor of Ohio. Their efforts were

eventually recognized in a proclamation by the Ohio Governor to the United Way.

"As an adv i sor ,

i t 's best to be ok ay

w i th the gr ey an d m ur k y!

Ideas m i gh t n ot becom e

sol i d i f i ed i n youn g m i n ds as

qu i ck l y as i n adu l ts."

-Ren ee An der son ,

M innesota Alliance with Youth

5

Planning and Preparation: Harnessing creative and innovative abilities in a service-learning project

What is meant by creat ivit y?

If our youth leave school without the ability to create and innovate, they will be unprepared for the challenges of society and the workforce. Creat ivit y and innovation are defined as abilities needed to create new and worthwhile ideas, while elaborating, refining, analyzing, and evaluating original ideas to improve and maximize their impact. Simply put, creativity and innovation encourage originality, new ideas, and new ways of doing things.

Creat ivit y in a service project

A 2004 study found that developing creative thinking skills in realistic situations is the most l ikely scenario through which a young person develops creative skil ls. Therefore, throughout the planning and execution of service in your community, youth can develop creativity skills by brainstorming new ways to change the status quo on social issues in their community. Creativity and innovation skills can be developed by youth throughout the life cycle of a service project whenever they are given the opportunity to develop original thoughts and then reform their ideas into action. If youth seem stuck in brainstorming creative ideas, Quintin Bauer from SOLVE recommends showing them completed projects of similar scope to help spur breakthrough ideas. Subdividing workload among different groups in a service project can also promote new and creative ideas, as smaller voices will be heard more readily in groups of fever individuals.

SPOTLIGHT ON YOUTHA GYSD project in conjunct ion with the M N Al l iance with Youth wanted to tack le the potent ial ly disastrous effects of honeybee populat ion decl ine on the envir onm ent. The project cam e up with two creat ive solut ions. Youth leaders at GYSD (pictured below) helped develop a shor t awareness cam paign which focused on the consequences of deter iorat ing honey bee colon ies. In addi t ion, volunteers created seed packets on GYSD of honeybee-fr iendly f lowers for distr ibut ion to com m unity gardens.

6

Action! Collaborating with peers to complete the service-learning project

What does it mean for youth to col laborate?

As the world continues to grow more globalized, collaboration is no longer just an option. Fif ty years ago, much work was completed by individuals. Now, most signif icant work is accomplished in teams whose members work in various locations. Furthermore, the ability to collaborate is a requirement for success largely due to advances in technology and increasing globalization. Col laborat ion is def ined as the ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams while exercising f lexibil ity and will ingness to compromise. Collaboration also includes the ability to assume shared responsibil ity of collaborative work and the capacity to value the work of others.

Col laborat ion in a Service Project

Whether youth are volunteering in their own community or across the globe, oftentimes they have a unique opportunity to work alongside people from dif ferent backgrounds who have their own experiences to share. Subdividing youth into dif ferent committees with distinct objectives will encourage youth to collaborate when re-integrating to complete their project.

Q: HOW CAN YOUTH LEAD CHANGE?A: THROUGH A S A P!

Serv

ice

Phil

anth

ropy

AWAR

ENES

S

?Un der the

r i gh t ci r cum stan ces,

gr oups ar e r em ar k abl y

i n tel l i gen t , an d ar e of ten

sm ar ter than the

sm ar test peopl e i n

them ." -Jam es

Su r ow i eck i

Advo

cacy

Helping peers, adul ts, and your community be informed about and

understand important issues in order to change behaviors.

Using young voices and joining others to promote solut ions that

change pol icies and laws.

Giving and generat ing funds and in-kind resources to meet an

important social need.

Taking act ions that direct ly address a human, community, or

environmental need.

7

Reflection: Assessing the impact of a project on self, others, and the community

Why is ref lect ion so important?

Reflection is a continual process present in all phases of a service-learning project and, as such, the ref lection process will incorporate each of the 4Cs. Recent research by the Harvard Business

School ref lects the long-held belief that learning is best accomplished through ref lection. Thus, ref lection at each part of

the service-learning process is crit ical to bolster development of the 4Cs. Even after a service event, youth can develop crit ical thinking skil ls by thinking about how the project related to them, their community, and their future. Reflection prompts creative processes in young minds to improve upon

the project in the future and requires communication to convey those thoughts to others to achieve project goals.

REFLECTION SHOULD BE...Continuous: Make reflection a "before, during, and after" experience.

Connected: Link service in the community with other structured learning (i.e. formal classroom education). This can help bridge gaps between abstract issues and concrete experience.

Challenging: Pose questions and ideas that are unfamiliar or thought-provoking for deeper consideration by youth.

Contextualized: All types of reflection are not equal. Make sure reflection activities are appropriate, meaningful, and that they relate to the service experience as much as possible.

CREATIVE WAYS

TO REFLECT

"We do not learn from

experience ... we learn from reflecting on

experience."

- American education reformer John

Dewey

WATCH:

Youth in Oswego,

Il l inois publ ished a

video on YouTube as a

way to ref lect on their GYSD

project .

YouTube, Vine, or Instagram contests

Creat ive writ ing assignments

Creat ing poetry or writ ing a song about an experience

Invit ing an expert to your classroom for organizat ion to speak about an issue of interest

8

What is Communicat ion?

As we move further into the 21st century, the amount of communication present in our lives will only continue to increase. Communicat ion is def ined as the ability to clearly articulate thought and ideas using oral, written, and non verbal skil ls while also listening effectively by deciphering meaning. Youth in the 21st century will need to util ize multiple mediums of technology to convey thoughts as well as understand messages communicated by others.

Communicat ion in a service project

Throughout the life cycle of a service project, communication is essential for all parties involved including project managers, volunteers, and the population being served. In a service project, communication is crit ical for volunteers to work together to achieve a common goal. Often, youth will hone communication skil ls by invit ing others to join them in service through social media or in person. After a project has completed, youth can easily f ind ways to communicate their project and its aims to their peers. This can be done through small, individual efforts or through larger, organization-wide celebrations of multiple projects and their participants. Through communication, a service project can display its achievements to youth and adults alike and inspire other individuals to serve through future opportunities.

Demonstrating the goals of a project to others and celebrating youth service through communication.

HOW DO OUR EXPERTS DEMONSTRATE AND CELEBRATE?

United Way of Greater Toledo: Youth asked for recognition by the city council of their service project efforts in the off icial minutes.

Milwaukee Non-prof it Center: Participants in Global Youth Service Day will receive t-shirts to demonstrate that they were part of a massive youth-led service accomplishment.

Minnesota Al l iance with Youth: Leaders of several exemplary projects (pictured above) were asked to create presentations and speak at the Alliance's Minnesota Youth Council.

9

Extending the 4Cs

The 4Cs are readily developed through a service learning project , but to cement these skil ls within our youth, we must be ready to make the appl icat ion of

the 4Cs part of an ongoing process. Extending a service learning project

of fers many points at which youth can cont inue to ut i l ize the 4Cs.

What issues may arise with the expansion of a small or

localized project?

How will youth activate and mobilize the increased number of participants

needed for a larger project?

How can youth keep projects fresh, attractive, and exciting?

Will youth in a larger project be able to communicate with each

other in the same ways?

COLLABORATIONCRITICAL THINKING

CREATIVITYCOMMUNICATION

Let YSA help prolong a

service-learning project...

For another day:MLK Day of Service

9/11 Day of Service

Global Youth Service Day

For a whole month:Classrooms with a Cause

For an entire semester (or longer):Semester of Service

10

What do the 4Cs mean to you: a youth perspective

Tweet @YouthService your thoughts on the 4Cs!How did one of the 4Cs help your project?"Col l abor at i on t r u l y i s the k ey to success.

I 've d i scover ed that i t 's v i r tual l y i m possi bl e

to succeed by you r sel f because ever ybody

possesses thei r ow n un i que set of st r en gths.

By r ecogn i zi n g the fact that a com m un i ty i s

i n f i n i tel y m or e pow er fu l than an

i n d i v i dual , w e w er e abl e to accom pl i sh so

m uch m or e than w e ever cou l d have al on e. "

-Josh K apl an , Foun der of GOALS

?By communicating and sharing ideas I was able to......expand m y program even fur ther. I m et wi th the K-8 STEM Coordinator for Pi t t County. H e witnessed f i r sthand the success of the exist ing schools in the program and has acted as an am bassador to expand the River Guardians W ater project helping to ident i fy teachers and schools that could benefi t and also m axim ize par t icipat ion. "

-Jaein Yoon, River Guardians W ater ProjectAbove: Youth part icipat ing in a GOALS event , a unif ied soccer

program for young people with intel lectual disabil i t ies. 11

YSA is always in terested in hear ing about new and creat ive ways in which your organizat ion im plem ents the 4Cs of em ploym ent sk i l ls in to service-learn ing

program m ing. I f you want to share your exper t ise, please don 't hesi tate to contact YSA. This r esource is in tended to be a work ing docum ent which grows

with the shared pract ices of our lead agencies.

Em ai l the par tnerships team at outreach@ysa.org with any addi t ional in form ation fr om your organizat ion.

An dr ew Spei del l - Geor getow n Un i ver si ty

Ren ee An der son - M innesota Alliance with Youth

Qui n t i n Bauer - SOLVE Or geon

Am y Dav i dson - Volunteer M acon

Gr ace M ar t i n an d Am an da H ow ar d - United Way of Gr eater Toledo

Jess Tabbu t t - N on-pr ofit Center of M ilwaukee

Rebecca H aav i k - Duluth YM CA

SPECIAL THANKS:

FURTHER RESOURCES:Nat i on al Resear ch Coun ci l

"Devel op i n g Tr an sfer abl e K n ow l edge

an d Sk i l l s i n the 21st Cen tu r y"

Nat i on al Educat i on Associ at i on

"An Educator ?s Gu i de to the ?Four Cs?

You th Ser v i ce Am er i ca

"The 4Cs an d Col l ege an d Car eer

Read i n ess"

"STEM ester of Ser v i ce - Car eer an d

W or k p l ace Read i n ess Sk i l l s"

YSA's Lead Agencies are the leaders of Global Youth Service Day in their

com m unit ies across the United States. As a youth-serving

organizat ion, they are responsible for engaging hundreds to thousands

of young people in a GYSD event every year through their coal i t ion of local par tners. Incorporated in th is

r esource was their shared exper ience with im plem enting the 4Cs in service act ivi t ies. Their input offer s an invaluable perspect ive for

both YSA and the broader Global Youth Service Network .