Service Learning
The EF Approach to Service: This is Leadership Development (Part 3/3)
Trevor Shorb | September 18, 2018
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EF Service Learning trips aim to help EF travelers and developing communities grow. Through collaboration on service projects, cultural exchange, and reflection, students help communities address critical needs and learn in the process. EF offers Service Learning programs in the Americas, Africa, and Asia where we partner with local organizations to address community-driven projects. In this three-part series, we’ll illustrate our approach through the pillars of EF Service Learning: meaningful service ( part 1), cultural immersion ( part 2), and leadership development. Read on for more about what leadership development means to us.
Students arrive at school on Sunday when the local students are not there. They spend the day learning about where the students they will tutor are in their curriculum, and where EF travelers can help. They are working on present perfect, so they will assist the teacher with conversation lessons and even develop some activities on their own that will incorporate their lessons.
EF travelers will need to step up to act as responsible global citizens and collaborate across cultures to make an impact. They will plan, act, and work in teams in a different language, climate, and altitude than they are accustomed to. They will reflect on their work and plan how to bring their service home. While students often come back with as many questions as answers, they also come back with inspiration and a plan. Communities, too, must plan, collaborate, and delegate in a way that helps them manage projects and bring in resources to the community. By working together, EF travelers and communities learn through service and grow.
On a recent trip to Peru, a group from California and the community they served did all of the above while building a greenhouse to benefit a local family.
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More about Service Learning at EF
EF’s Service Learning trips are a celebration of powerful outcomes you can see, plus all the ones that you can’t. Dig into community-driven projects that matter in places that will change your students, including the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Visit eftours.com/service to learn more about what we do, where we go, and how the students who travel with us make a meaningful, sustainable difference.
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Trevor Shorb
Trevor is the Service Learning Program Manager at EF Educational Tours. He has lived, worked, and studied in El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and Spain. Despite his extensive experience in Latin America, he can’t dance salsa but still tries.
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