This study explores whether students in the mandated Ontario high school community service program consider their service requirement to be meaningful; the relationship between meaningful service and subsequent service; and other factors related to a meaningful experience and future service. A secondary analysis was conducted using a survey of 1,341 first-year university students, collected by a research team led by Steven Brown of Wilfrid Laurier University. The main finding is that meaningful service is a predictor for subsequent service and can contribute to individual and social change. Meaningful service opportunities help address a gap in service learning literature, which is the impact of service on communities, perhaps by underestimating the capacity of youth to contribute to social change. Three policy recommendations emerge: curriculum should be created to enable students to serve more effectively; program structure is necessary for reflection; and nonprofit agencies can meet both of the above needs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/29472 |
| Date | 11 August 2011 |
| Creators | Farahmandpour, Hoda |
| Contributors | Quarter, Jack |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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