FINDING FAITH: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SERVICE-LEARNING IN FAITH FORMATION AT A CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL by IAN SHARP Bachelor of Education, UBC, 2004 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts Educational Leadership FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY June 2022 © Ian Sharp, 2022 Finding Faith in Service i Acknowledgements I want to thank my thesis advisors, Dr. Adrienne Castellon, Dr. Heather Strong and Dr. Jim Parsons. Dr. Castellon provided significant insight into the literature review. Dr. Strong provided incredible feedback during the writing of this thesis, allowing me to hone my craft of research. Thank you, Dr. Parsons, for your wisdom in guiding the study, especially the qualitative findings. Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleagues at Kelowna Christian School. Thank you, Mike Campbell, for allowing me to invite the school’s high school students to participate in this study. Your support in this work was invaluable. Thank you, Daryl Klassen, for supporting me in this project. Without your continual encouragement, I feel I would not have been able to finish. Thank you, Steve Wiebe, for constantly reminding me of my love for learning. Thank you, Nathania; this project would never have materialized without your listening ear, encouragement, stimulating conversations, and supporting nature. In addition, your continuous service to the well-being of our family inspired this work. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their continued support and wise counsel throughout this process. Thank you all for your love and support. Finding Faith in Service ii ABSTRACT Numerous K-12 Christian schools create service-learning opportunities to deepen their students' faith. This study aims to determine if service-learning (SL) could be more effective than classroom-learning (CL) in helping high school students personalize their faith and their school's values. Additionally, the study sought to explore the role moral and cognitive development plays in helping students evaluate their faith when reflecting on their SL experience. Finally, the study examined the inhibitors preventing teachers from offering SL. Although research exists on SL's effectiveness in faith development, nearly all current studies examine SL's effects on university students. Thus, despite many Christian high school students participating in SL experiences, little research exists regarding SL's impact on them. This action research study utilized a mixed-method approach to analyze the responses of 32 grade 10-12 Kelowna Christian school students and 20 alumni to determine if SL was more effective than CL in faith formation. Additionally, the study used a focus group of three KCS high school teachers to explore the obstacles preventing teachers from offering SL. The study found that the effectiveness of SL in helping KCS students personalize their faith was more significant than CL experiences. Moreover, the findings reveal that students who believed their faith was important were more likely to consider their SL experience enriching their faith. Finally, the focus group findings reveal the following factors that inhibit teachers from offering SL were as follows: little teacher prep time, few community contacts, and the demands of planning SL, rigid timetable, and unclear vision for SL at KCS. This action research study provides KCS with recommendations to enhance its ability to offer SL to help high school students be more intentional about their faith. Finding Faith in Service iii Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………. ii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………….. iii Chapter 1: The Introduction………………………………………………………………… 1 What is Service Learning (SL)? …………………………………………………………… 2 SL Helps Faith Formation ……………………………………………………………... 2 The Significance of the Study……………………………………………………………… 3 What is the Christian Narrative? …………………………………………………………... 3 Guiding Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………….... 5 Purpose of My Research…………………………………………………………………… 6 The Structural Outline……………………………………………………………………… 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review……………………………………………………………….. 9 Motivation for Both Teachers and Students…………….………………...……………….. 10 SL is Perceived to Offer Learning Advantages.……………………….……………….. 11 Developmental Readiness for SL………………………………………………………….. 12 Cognitive Modules and Moral Intuition ……………………………………………….. 14 Moral Intuition Shapes Narratives……………………………………………………… 15 Reflection is Vital to Form Narratives……………………………………………………... 16 Cognitive Development………………………………………………………………… 17 Theory of Mind and Cognitive Empathy……………………………………………..... 18 Reflection and Service-Learning……………………………………………...................... 20 Appropriate Service-Learning Experiences………………………..................................... 21 Support for Students and Teachers……………………………………………………. 22 Finding Faith in Service iv Chapter 3: Methodology…………………………………………………………………….. 25 Who is the Researcher……………………………………………………………………... 25 Participants………………………………………………………………………………… 27 Measures…………………………………………………………………………………… 27 Procedure…………………………………………………………………………………... 29 Research Design……………………………………………………………………………. 32 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………. 33 Chapter 4: Results……………………………………………………………………………. 35 Descriptive Statistics……………………………………………………………………….. 35 Does SL or CL Enable KCS Students to Personalize the Values of KCS?.........………….. 35 Is SL More Effective Than CL for Enhancing the Value of Prayer?…………………… 36 Is SL More Effective Than CL for Enhancing the Value of Scripture?……………....... 37 Is SL more Effective than CL for Enhancing the Value of Integrity?.............................. 38 Is SL more Effective than CL for Enhancing the Value of Faith?................................... 39 What Elements can Enhance SL’s Effectiveness in Helping Students Grow in their Faith? 40 Does Perceived Importance of Faith Increase with SL?……………………………….. 41 What Impact Does the Importance of SL Reflection have on Faith?…………………... 42 Qualitative Findings………………………………………………………………………... 44 SL and Cultural Narratives……………………………………………………………... 44 SL and Faith…………………………………………………………………………….. 44 SL and Antagonistic Motives…………………………………………………………… 46 Finding Faith in Service Does a Comprehensive SL Experience Enhance Self-Efficacy? ………………………. v 48 What Prevents Teachers from offering SL?………………………………………………... 49 Logistics in Coordinating Community Partners………………………………………... 50 The Need for Outside Help…………………………………………………………....... 50 Off-site Transportation………………………………………………………….............. 50 Flexible Schedule…………………………………………………………...................... 51 Prep Time………………………………………………………….................................. 51 School Leadership…………………………………………………………..................... 52 Greater Resources are Needed………………………………………………………….. 52 Service-Learning Coordinator………………………………………………………….. 53 Chapter 5: Discussion………………………………………………………………………... 54 Open-Ended Guiding Questions…………………………………………………………… 54 Reflection Should Challenge Students…………………………………………………….. 55 SL and Developmental Readiness…………………………………………………………. 58 Limitations of the Study…………………………………………………………………… 58 Chapter 6: An Action Plan for KCS……………………………………………………….. 60 Long-term Partnerships Refine Practice…………………………………………………… 60 Long-term Partnerships All for Additional Elements……………………………………… 60 Long-term Partnerships Ensure Safety…………………………………………………….. 61 Service-Learning Coordinator……………………………………………………………... 62 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………. 63 References…………………………………………………………………………………….. 65 Appendix A: HREB Approval Certificate…………………………………………………. 74 Finding Faith in Service vi Appendix B: Letters of Information………………………………………………….. 76 Appendix C: Informed Consent Forms………………………………………………. 79 Appendix D: Participants Debriefing Forms………………………………………… 86 Appendix E: Questionnaire Package…………………………………………………. 88 Appendix F: Focus Group Interview Script………………………………………… 113 Finding Faith in Service 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Robert Starratt (2011) argued that, for students to know something, they must make it their own. Thus, learning must move beyond students acquiring knowledge that is disconnected from their personal lives and void of meaning (Starratt, 2011). Moreover, Christian schools, like all schools, need to refrain from treating students' learning process like programming computers, uploading beliefs into empty heads. Instead, Christian schools must extend faith formation beyond merely lectures on doctrines and apologetics to one that allows students to form their understanding of Christian beliefs and values through the rituals and practices of service. Unfortunately, too often churches and Christian schools have been preoccupied with informing the correct beliefs through a lecture-based mode, instead of forming the right living through learning experiences embedded in the student's community. Consequently, nearly half of Canadians who grew up in an evangelical context leave the church by their early twenties, citing the faith as irrelevant (Penner et al., 2011, p. 22). Although Christian doctrine is essential, a deeper understanding of such views comes through applying it through faith formational habits. Without such formational practices, students are at risk of considering doctrine meaningless and irrelevant. This can lead to an exodus from the Christian faith. For example, those who attended church in their adolescence, but have since left, reported having a low degree of meaningful experiences with God in their life (Penner et al., 2011, p. 32). In contrast, adolescents who remained engaged with their church into adulthood report having a higher degree of personal experience with God during their youth (Penner et al., 2011, p.32). Because practices and rituals enable Christian doctrine, worldview, values, and beliefs to transform our characters, Christian schools must create these faith formative practices. Finding Faith in Service 2 What is Service Learning? According to Eyler and Giles (1999), service-learning (SL) is a promising pedagogical approach that can enable students to further their understanding of concepts learned in the classroom through community service. The authors insist that SL is not civic engagement or volunteerism as neither necessarily aim at connecting knowledge learned within the classroom to their through reflection. Instead, Eyler and Giles (1999) argue SL’s purpose is to enhance understanding of knowledge learned in the classroom through community service and reflection. Reflection is vital for allowing students to make connections between concepts learned in class and their community service. Eyler and Giles (1999) see the SL approach as engaging students in a continuous cycle between serving their community and reflecting upon their experience. This cyclic process allows students to make personal connections with the concepts learned in the class. Through reflection, students begin to form beliefs about the world and their roles in it. SL Reflection Helps Faith Formation SL has demonstrated effectiveness in helping students learn classroom concepts and increase their civic engagement. Studies involving university students have also demonstrated SL to be an effective faith formational practice when SL practitioners use reflection to help students connect Christian theologies, virtues, themes, and values to their service experience (Dirksen, 2020; Harrison et al., 2020). For example, 91% of SL participants at Azusa Pacific University who reflected on their service-learning through a Christian worldview, evaluated their SL experience as helping them value faith (Kaaka & LaPorteb, 2022). This effect seems to carry into adulthood. For instance, of Canadian adults engaged with their churches, 70% reported their faith became meaningful to them after participating in a service-oriented trip that allowed them to reflect on it through a Christian worldview (Penner et al., 2011, p. 98-98). Finding Faith in Service 3 Significance of the Study Unfortunately, most research on SL’s effectiveness on faith formation involves young adults engaged in SL experiences offered by their university. At present, there is little research demonstrating the efficacy of SL on adolescents participating in their high school’s SL program (Andreoletti, 2018). Thus, this study’s aim is to investigate the elements that would lead to SL’s effectiveness in helping high school students grow in their faith. More specifically, my school, Kelowna Christian School, vision is to educate and equip its students to serve God and others (Kelowna Christain School, n.d.). Thus, since this study is examining a pedagogical approach that involves service, it is vital to see if service enhances faith. If so, SL could be a promising approach for Kelowna Chrisitan School to adopt and develop. Thus, this study will provide recommendations that Kelowna Christian school may wish to consider to enhance SL’s effectiveness in helping students value their faith. What is the Christian Narrative? Although the Christian faith, or narrative, consists of a complex network of beliefs, this study uses the phrase “Christian narrative” as the story of God sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile His Creation and people. The establishment of the Church through Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and its leading by the Holy Spirit until Christ's return, has been a central doctrine of the Christian faith. These beliefs were presented in the writings of the early church and have remained prominent within the Christian faith (Kearsley, 1999). Thus, when the study refers to students or alumni adopting the Christian story or narrative, the study is referring to students accepting these beliefs. The study uses the words “story” and “narrative” instead of doctrine because the latter could be considered a proposition by nature, requiring students to affirm it is true or false. In Finding Faith in Service 4 contrast, a story has an inviting nature; it is asking the student to contextualize the values it embodies. In other words, the word story describes values through setting, characters, and plot. Stories challenge the reader to contextualize its values within their own setting. For example, students could see the Christian doctrine, Jesus died on the cross, as a propositional statement requiring them to decide whether it is true. However, when the same doctrine is placed within a story medium it can become an inviting question for students to consider: what does it mean if Jesus died on the cross? A doctrinal statement is a proposition, it is passive, only requiring students to agree or disagree with their validity. In contrast, stories are active because they invite students to contextualize such statements. Stories are animated by our responses to them. Since this study involves students acting out their faith, “story” or “narrative” is an appropriate word to use. Traditionally, the Christian story embodies values like prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude with the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity (Augustine, 435/2009). These values have helped Christians navigate contemporary ethical issues like abortion, euthanasia, poverty, and racial injustice (Kearly, 1999). The Christian story does not provide direct, straightforward answers to these contemporary issues; instead, it illuminates them. Thus, those who believe in the Christian narrative will discover themselves guided by these values. Moreover, SL experiences that embody these values can help students animate the Christian narrative. Narratives and moral development are in a symbiotic relationship because, as illustrated above, the Christian narrative embodies values and invites people to animate them. Thus, when a student understands the Christian narrative as relevant, they have likely learned that relevance by embodying the values esteemed by the story. Finding Faith in Service 5 Guiding Theoretical Framework This study examined the Christian narrative and moral development and the role each plays in helping SL participants evaluate their faith. Kohlberg's (1963) research on moral development is pivotal in understanding this study's findings. Moral development is age-based; faith formation is also developmental and dependent on teacher/adult influence. Therefore, faith formation can be understood through a developmental lens and SL is a prime location to explore how and even when faith is formed in secondary-aged students in a Christian school. Starratt (2011) argued that every school has a set of values it wishes to teach its students, and its practice should embody its values. Therefore, schools that allow their values to guide their programs, professional practices, and administration decisions will be institutions that cultivate cultures that enable students to personalize those values through formational practices. Moreover, since values are being taught to students through these programs, those creating such programs should use Kohlberg’s work on moral development to ensure the experiences consider the age of their participants. This study examined the effectiveness of SL on faith formation; consequently, effectiveness can be determined by the degree students personalize the values of KCS. The mission of KCS is as follows: "We exist to educate, equip and inspire our school community to become disciples of Jesus who love and serve God and others" (Kelowna Christian School, n.d.). The school desires for its students to embody the Christian faith and values by becoming disciples of Jesus. To hold its practices and community members accountable to its mission of making disciples of Jesus, KCS ascribes six values: biblical foundation, prayer, creativity, excellence, perseverance, and integrity (Kelowna Christian School, n.d.). If people animate Christian values through practices and rituals, and SL enables that, it follows that SL could be a promising approach for Christian schools, like KCS, to teach the Finding Faith in Service 6 Christian doctrines and values to their students. Although there has been research suggesting SL is effective at helping students deepen their faith, it is unclear how much impact their classroom experience had on their faith compared to their SL experience (Dickerson et al., 2017). Therefore, if SL is more effective than CL regarding faith formation for students at KCS, students should report their SL experience as having a more significant impact on their faith than their classroom experience. The Purpose of My Research Study Given Kohlberg’s (1963) framework of moral development, and a lack preliminary studies on service-learning in high school students, the purpose of this action research study had three parts: (1) to investigate if SL had a significant effect on faith formation than CL for Kelowna Christian School (KCS) high school students, (2) to explore elements that may enhance SL’s effectiveness at helping students values their faith, and (3) to explore the motivations of KCS teachers in offering SL. The effectiveness of SL at KCS will be determined by how well it enables its participants to personalize the Christian narrative. The following hypotheses were tested for the quantitative portion of this study: (a) SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of prayer, (b) SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of scripture, (c) SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of integrity and (d) SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of growth in faith. The null hypotheses that were tested were as follows: (a) there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of prayer, (b) there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of scripture, (c) there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of integrity, and (d) there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of growth in faith. The second aim of this study is to explore the factors that contribute to SL’s Finding Faith in Service 7 effectiveness at helping students value their by allowing SL participants to provide feedback on their service-learning experience. The final aim of this study is to explore KCS teachers’ perspectives into what inhibits and motivates them in offering SL. Furthermore, teachers who have facilitated SL offered their perspectives about what makes service-learning more effective in faith formation. The Structural Outline of This Study This thesis is in six sections. Each section contains several subsections that cover distinct but interrelated issues. Chapter 1 introduces the rationale for undertaking this topic, the theoretical framework underpinning this study, my research questions and aims, and a brief outline of how the thesis is structured. Chapter 2 contains the context of the study. It specifically covers the theoretical context and the body of literature on this subject. Chapter 3 outlines my chosen methodology. In this section, I discuss my choice of using action research as a paradigm and outline the structure of my study in terms of the mixedmethods I used to gather data and how I analyzed and interpreted my findings. In Chapter 4, I outline the results and themes that arose from my study's quantitative and qualitative aspects. Here I present my findings and the evidence I base my understanding of this topic. In Chapter 5, I relate my findings to the theoretical context in which I situated the study. Then, I reexamine some issues raised by the literature and reflect on their relevance to my practice. Finally, I consider the limitations of this study. In Chapter 6, I draw together the knowledge I gained from undertaking this study and reflect on how much I learned. Finally, I suggest some actionable recommendations for Kelowna Finding Faith in Service 8 Christian School. These recommendations are intended to enhance SL's effectiveness in helping students value their faith. Additionally, the recommendations are aimed at helping KCS teachers implement SL. The final section of the thesis is made up of references and appendices, which include the Human Research Ethics Board approval letter, the letter of information and informed consent, the questionnaires used in this study, and the focus group script. Finding Faith in Service 9 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW SL is a pedagogical approach that engages with the community's needs by creating service opportunities that address student learning and enhances their overall understanding of the curriculum (Stanton et al., 1999). Not only can SL transform the student's character, but it also increases community involvement, student self-efficacy, empathy, servant leadership, and project-efficacy; furthermore, it allows the student to see how their work can positively impact their community (Astin et al., 2000; Chen et al., 2018; Taylor et al., 2018). However, despite these promising outcomes, many teachers are hesitant to adopt SL practices, citing a lack of knowledge, skills, time, and support to properly implement the SL experience (Abes et al., 2002). Likewise, students are not always eager to participate in the SL process because they perceive the service work as too difficult to complete or ambiguous and meaningless (Rosing, 2010). Because this study explores the effectiveness of SL on teaching Christian values, the literature review helps uncover research that examines cognitive development and how it influences students learning moral and spiritual values. Specific attention has been given to Kohlberg’s work (1963) on moral development as its findings can provide SL practitioners insight when planning age-appropriate SL experiences. Additionally, the literature review discusses practical strategies that may broaden student participation in service-learning and create positive experiences where both the student and community mutually benefit (Shumer, 2017). The literature does not resolve the nature vs nurture debate. Instead, it gives SL practitioners the insight to consider both when creating compelling SL experiences. First, the literature shows moral intuition develops throughout our lifetime, and can influence the narratives we adopt and value. Second, it shows the importance of reflecting through narratives to help students resolve Finding Faith in Service 10 the dissonance encounter in SL. Kolhberg's (1963) work provides a fascinating picture of moral development, and SL practitioners should consider his work when creating age appropriate SL. According to Kolhberg, age matters when forming moral responses and answering ethical dilemmas. Since our religious narratives provide us with values that we are invited to embody, our responses to such narratives will be influenced by our moral development. Thus, SL practitioners must consider the impact moral development has on students’ response to religious and cultural narratives. Finally, in addition to exploring moral development, and the role it plays in helping students understand religious narratives, this literature review aims at understanding what increases student participation with SL and its overall impact by looking at student and teacher motivation. The literature review also explores the skills and knowledge needed to enrich the SL experience for students as such elements may increase SL’s effectiveness at enhancing faith. The themes from the literature are as follows: (a) motivation of both teachers and students towards SL, (b) the developmental readiness of a student for SL (c) reflection and SL, and (d) appropriately designed SL experiences. Motivation for Both Teachers and Students Before schools can increase students' engagement within SL, they first must be aware of motivations that correlate with student participation. This awareness allows schools to tailor their SL experiences and increase SL's appeal to students. For example, Christensen, Stritch, Kellough, and Brewer (2015) research on student motivation showed that the likelihood of students selecting an SL experience directly related to their motivation to volunteer within their community. However, the findings did not necessarily indicate a cause and effect, rather a correlation, as it is difficult to determine if the motivation to volunteer increases a student's desire for SL or vice versa. Nevertheless, their findings suggest that schools that provide SL Finding Faith in Service 11 opportunities to their younger students may see an increase in participation when students are older. Service-Learning is Perceived to Offer Learning Advantages Pearl and Christensen’s (2017) observation leads to the possibility that the primary motivation for some students enrolled in SL is the perceived learning advantage it promises. Their survey found students wanted their SL experience to be measurable in the difference it made in the community. Moreover, their research showed the students’ desire to make a measurable difference in the community was more significant than the desire to do service because of moral obligation. Similarly, Rosing and colleagues (2010) found that students struggle with understanding the importance of their SL work when ongoing feedback about why their SL work matters from both their school and the onsite leader(s) is missing. Thus, students can find SL experiences to be challenging when the positive effects of their service are difficult to witness. Although the motivation for students towards SL is critical when understanding how to increase participation, so is understanding teachers' motivation in offering SL experiences to their students. A study by Abes, Jackson and Jones (2002), of over 500 university faculty members, sought to uncover elements that deter teachers from offering SL experiences to their students. They discovered that most faculty considered the following four areas the biggest deterrents: logistics, funding, relevance to course material, and teaching loads (Clarke-Vivier & Lee, 2018). Additionally, Abes and colleagues (2002) research found that teachers are strongly motivated by their community and students and are more willing to offer SL if it enhances the following two areas for the student: personal development and learning. Finding Faith in Service 12 Developmental Readiness for Service Learning People should not attribute ethical decision-making in adolescence to one cognitive component. Instead, a series of cognitive factors influence such decisions: cognitive empathy, executive function, and moral development (Vera-Estay et al., 2015). Kohlberg's (1963) work on moral development illustrated how motivation for making an ethical decision is dynamic and changes as the child matures into adulthood. It begins in preschool and progresses through six stages of moral development. The six stages are spread evenly among three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. The preconventional level, experienced usually prior age 9, comprises two stages. The first stage illustrates the tendency for children to make moral decisions to avoid punishment, while children in the second stage are driven to achieve rewards or praise. Their motivation, in both stages, is strongly oriented toward an authoritarian figure (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). Consequently, children’s values and beliefs align with those of authoritarian figures. For example, a child in this stage is quick to tell their teacher if they witness their peers disobeying instructions like playing only in certain areas. Their decision is not motivated by transcending values like justice; instead, it emerges from an attempt to win favour with an authority in their life. A child’s need for security reinforces their eagerness to please authority figures. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs stresses that children must meet their need for safety before moving on to higher needs like acceptance by others and self-discovery (Maslow, 1943). Their need for security strengthens their motivation to make moral choices pleasing to their authority figure (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). Consequently, a tendency exists for children in this stage to unquestionably align their values to parents and teachers. A child at the preconventional level will navigate moral dilemmas by selecting actions that result in the least amount of harm (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). An ethical dilemma example for a Finding Faith in Service 13 child at the preconventional level would center around whether to report wrongdoing by a peer. For example, the decision to report the wrongdoing could prevent the child from getting into trouble with their authority figure; however, it could also result in a strained relationship with a peer. Both consequences can be painful, making it difficult for the child to decide (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). However, the decision might demonstrate the child’s moral development level. Children firmly entrenched in the pre conventional level would likely report the wrongdoing to an authority figure, while those moving into the conventional level would lean towards protecting their peers. In the conventional level, occurring after age 9, a motivational change occurs in the child's adoption of values. A child in the conventional level of moral development is likely to accept or reject values because of the positive effects on social relationships (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). In other words, children at this level have the tendency to align their behaviour to values entirely for social acceptance (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). Two stages comprise the conventional level (Kohlberg, 1963). In the first stage, children make moral choices aligning with the role their authority figure assigns them. The terms “good boy” or “good girl” are sought after by children within this stage. The second stage marks the tendency for children to make moral choices that benefit those around them. A child’s need for acceptance by their community reinforces their motivation to engage in the second stage. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs stresses that once people have fulfilled their need for security, occurring around age 4, they must create conditions that lead to social acceptance (McLeod, 2007). This need for approval must be satisfied before moving on to the highest need: self-actualization (Maslow, 1943). The post-conventional level, rarely experienced by adolescents and adults, occurs when people start to make moral decisions because of a need to embody abstract principles like Finding Faith in Service 14 fairness and compassion (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). Those experiencing the post-conventional stage will adopt values that align with universal moral principles (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). Like the previous two levels, Kohlberg split the post-conventional level into two stages. In the first stage, moral decisions are made with consideration of others' opinions and viewpoints (Kohlberg, 1963). Those experiencing this stage are not satisfied with the idea of static rules. Instead, moral reasoning in this stage sees rules as dynamic and changeable (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). As a result, ethical issues are considered complex, and appropriate answers are challenging to create. In the second stage, there is a willingness to enact principles because there is a belief that such principles are correct. Moreover, people are willing to enact them even at the risk of causing conflict with authority figures and peers (Kohlberg, 1981). Kohlberg’s mythology to uncover moral development involved offering ethical dilemmas to children, examining their responses, and using stages and levels to highlight emergent themes (Kohlberg & Hersh, 1977). The method revealed a similar moral development experienced by most people and Kohlberg’s work demonstrated the importance of age in SL. Therefore, the SL practitioner should consider the age of participants when constructing the SL experience. Cognitive Modules and Moral Intuition Although Kohlberg’s work demonstrates moral development, it is limited in answering why people moral agents. In other words, why do people have moral intuition? The reductionist approach answers this question by attributing the genesis of moral intuition to cognitive hardware. It is the cognitive components and their interaction, that provides an innate sense of right and wrong (Haidt & Craig, 2004). Proponents of this position point to certain moral values that are universally adopted as evidence. For example, the value of treating others as you would want to be treated is held by nearly all people regardless of the cultural backgrounds they experience (Kinnier et al., 2000). The reductionist would argue these widespread values exist because they emerge from similar, shared, neurological structures. Finding Faith in Service 15 In contrast, the environmental model argues that a person’s sense of right and wrong is shaped by their culture. As communities began to grow in size and complexity, new social dilemmas emerged, and cultural rules and roles were created to solve these issues. (Haidt & Craig, 2004). For example, social cooperation is threatened when lying becomes widespread and jeopardizes trust. Communities which discourage lying will experience greater cohesion. Thus, communities will venerate behaviours considered transparent, truthful, and humble as virtues. Haidt and Craig (2004) provided a third possibility: moral intuition emerges from the interaction between cultural stories and the built-in modularity of mental function. In other words, Haidt and Craig suggested it is both nature and nurture that lead to moral intuition. They argued that brains are equipped with cognitive modules that enable us to recognize four abstract domains: hierarchy, purity, suffering, and reciprocity. Each module generates a distinct emotional response when triggered by a perception of an experience (Haidt & Craig, 2004). Through natural selection, these four modules emerged because of the survival advantages provided for the individual (Haidt & Craig, 2004). For example, the module for purity generates a sense of disgust towards corpses, causing people to limit contact. This response kept people safe long before germ theory informed them of the dangers the dead posed to the living. Moreover, this module can provide people with feelings of disgust and revolt around incest, helping to limit harmful mutations within the population. Again, the purity module prevented the magnification of genetically induced disease caused by inbreeding long before genetics was understood. Moral Intuition Shapes Narratives These module-created responses can shape individual and cultural stories over time. Likewise, these stories can shape a person’s module responses. According to Haidt and Craig (2004), the symbiotic relationship between the module responses and cultural narratives causes Finding Faith in Service 16 moral intuition. Cultural stories do not create new modules; instead, they highlight them (Haidt & Craig, 2004). In return, the collective module responses animate cultural stories (Smith, 2014). Given that people possess the same modules, it is no surprise that today’s stories elicit similar reactions to everyday social experiences. However, although reactions are similar, cultural narratives provide different accounts to explain their significance (Haidt & Craig 2004; Taylor, 207). People’s deep-seated feelings or intuition about how the world is and their role in it compel them toward stories that best explain these feelings (Taylor, 2007). Reflection is Vital to Form Narratives More importantly, if moral intuition emerges from the symbiotic relationship between module-generated responses and cultural stories, SL practitioners should allow students to reflect on their behavioural responses and evaluate their alignment with their narrative’s values. John Dewey’s (1934) work highlighed the components of service-learning to be reflection, inquiry, and hands-on service experiences. These elements enable students to understand how their moral choices apply to their context. In other words, SL helps students reflect on their module responses and the cultural stories they live. For example, their service experience will likely encourage empathy, causing students to challenge or affirm their cultural narratives. Consequently, SL can help students evaulate their personal and cultural narratives by allowing them to reflect on their community service (You & Rud, 2010). Cognitive Development Although narrative could encourage students to engage in empathy, Tong and colleagues (2012) work showed that empathy, like Kolhberg’s (1963) moral development, goes through a series of stages. Thus, it appears empathy is age dependent. For example, by the age of two, children start to demonstrate empathy towards others (Tong et al., 2012). Children at this age can emotionally experience empathy because it requires simple cognitive functions like pattern Finding Faith in Service 17 recognition, and sensory registration (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1990). However, a more comprehensive form of empathy that is informed by the social context cannot occur until the child has a more developed ability to consider others' perspectives (Eisenberg & Strayer, 1990). For example, empathy for someone may be tempered if the child understands the individual is socially doing well but happens to be facing an unfortunate situation. Thus, a more complex form of empathy, that considers social issues and individual circumstances, does not emerge until adolescence (Terry & Bohenberger, 2004, Tong et al., 2012). Piaget's (1950) cognitive development framework aligns with this the findings of these studies. His work suggests that, by around 12-years-of-age, the adolescent mind transitions from concrete-based to abstract-based, capable of handling complex social problems previously hidden from their perspective. The ability to deal with the abstract through critical thinking allows SL participants to engage in the social issues facing their community (Taylor et al., 2018). This engagement occurs through planning, implementing, and reflecting on strategic initiatives to address social injustice (Taylor et al., 2018). Without the ability to think abstractly, children will find it difficult to understand why their service matters. Children in Kolhberg’s (1963) preconventional stage may want to help others but struggle to understand their community’s needs or the needs of the individual as they relate to the community. Consequently, since understanding the perspective of others requires abstract thinking, empathy can be limited. Children in the preconventional stage may exhibit emotional empathy or a desire to help but lack cognitive empathy (Hoffman, 2000). Scott and Graham's (2015) findings demonstrated that children below grade five, who participated in service-learning, demonstrated only a slight increase in cognitive empathy: their ability to understand the world from another perspective. Instead, they found these young Finding Faith in Service 18 children experienced an increase in affective empathy: an emotional desire to help others. Thus, before thinking abstractly, children will struggle with understanding the perspective of others (Scott & Graham, 2015). Consequently, they might naively assume that solutions that helped them will work for others. Naturally, these personalized solutions might be ineffective and inappropriate for someone not facing the same problems (Hoffman, 2000). For example, young children may consider impoverished people stealing as morally wrong, neglecting the context such people face. However, as students acquire cognitive empathy, their moral reasoning will begin to integrate the social and political forces that influence the decisions of others. Thus, their understanding of social justice issues should become more comprehensive with age, enabling them to respond more appropriately to the needs presented by their SL experience. However, it is important to note, students who participate in SL demonstrate increased empathy, compassion, altruism, commitment, and responsibility (Roeper, 1992; Terry & Bohnenberger, 2003). Therefore, it is essential to utilize SL to develop empathy. Theory of Mind and Cognitive Empathy SL practitioners should develop cognitive empathy by incorporating the Theory of Mind (ToM) (Wellman et al., 2001). The ToM considers other people's thoughts and feelings. The theory suggests that people see themselves and others as mental states composed of emotions, desires, and beliefs (Wellman et al., 2001). ToM stresses that people’s behaviour actualizes these mental states (Wellman et al., 2001). Consequently, to understand individual and communal behaviour, people should strive to uncover the beliefs, emotions, and desires which create such behaviour. ToM highlights the importance of cognitive empathy and its ability to consider someone else's perspective as a valid reason for their behaviour and choices even if it is false and does not correlate with reality (Boran-Cohen et al., 1985). When students employ their cognitive Finding Faith in Service 19 empathy, they can effectively serve people with different values and opinions. Furthermore, cognitive empathy allows people to better understand the causes for the behaviours of others, providing them with a richer and more complex picture of social issues (Scott & Graham, 2015). Cognitive empathy enables students to explore the range of beliefs potentially responsible for the behaviour of others. People’s behaviour can result from a comprehensive set of beliefs, each idea influencing the other. For example, despite some people claiming their opposition to vaccinations stems from their belief that greedy companies corrupted vaccine clinical studies, those in favour of not being vaccinated might be operating from a narrative that governments and large organizations are not trustworthy. This idea could be contingent on a belief that such institutions are inherently corrupt. However, a pro-vaccine individual likely does not possess these same beliefs, or at least not to the same degree. Thus, understanding the thoughts of others is vital if we are to understand their behaviour (Wellman et al., 2001). A student’s executive function plays a role in their ability to analyze, plan, and implement a response to the social injustices around them (Vera-Estay et al., 2015). Consequently, it is vital SL practitioners understand the development of a student’s executive function when creating SL experiences. Executive function comprises three domains: working memory, cognitive agility, and delayed gratification or self-control (Vera-Estay et al., 2015). In addition, the complexity of novel situations challenges cognitive empathy because children rely on executive function to discard irrelevant information while deciding which details are essential for forming their decisions (Doenyas et al., 2018). Poor moral choices during adolescence, often exacerbated in the presence of peers, have been attributed to the immaturity of the frontal lobe and, by extension, executive function (Steinberg et al., 2009). Many adolescents find themselves in Kolhberg's (1977) conventional Finding Faith in Service 20 stage of moral reasoning, and their desire to please their friends could contribute to their failure to consider other perspectives. Yu et al.’s (2021, Results section, para 2.) study revealed that participants were more likely to make moral decisions that mirrored their peers if they first observed them making the ethical decision. Moreover, the complexity of social injustice can demonstrate the limitations of the executive function within adolescents (Doenyas et al., 2018). Early and mid-adolescence children desire approval from others, and their moral decisions often reflect those of their peers (Eisenberg et al., 2013). As children begin to approach adolescence, the emergence of cognitive empathy enables them to become more reflective on how their actions affect others (Eisenberg et al., 2013; Eisenberg et al., 2005). The moral decisions of children between the ages of 12 and 18 tend to reflect Kohlberg's (1963) conventional stage: their behaviour aligns with the values of their dominant peer group. The conventional stage witnesses moral choices that display more significant consideration of the needs of others. The adolescent behaviour will now be more cooperative and empathic towards their peers. Although the aim of this increased consideration might be to fulfill the need for acceptance as outlined in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it also leads to an increased appreciation of different needs. Consequently, the understanding of the complexity of social justice increases. Furthermore, adolescents are in the process of identity formation and begin to define themselves as "good" or "bad" based on the degree they align themselves with universal values like justice and fairness that transcend culture (Erikson, 1968; Eisenberg & Strayer, 1990; Leming, 2002; Yates & Youniss, 1996). Consequently, to understand themselves, adolescents might define themselves based on the degree their moral choices align with the community's ethical principles (Eisenberg et al., 2005). Hogg and Terry's (2000) self-categorization theory described the shift that adolescents will go through as they depersonalize themselves and assimilate their sense of self to reflect their group's identity. Their behaviour will mirror the Finding Faith in Service 21 normative behaviour of their group (Terry & Hogg, 2000). Reflection and Service Learning The executive function consists of two cognitive processes: “habit and representational systems” (Baker et al., 2021, p. 2). The habit system is “automatic, unconscious, instinctive, and implicitly forms our behavioural responses to familiar environmental stimuli” (Baker et al., 2021, p.2). The representational system describes “the cognitive ability to intentionally create behaviour that appropriately addresses novel situations” (Baker et al., 2021, p.2). Unlike the habit system, “the representational system is slower and requires the individual to activate correctly” (Baker et al., 2021, p.2). Therefore, students must have time to reflect on the SL experience, allowing them to resolve the dissonance caused by their experience and realign their behaviour to reflect their new understanding of their role in the world (Leming, 2001). Steinberg's research (1996) discovered that SL, with reflection, increased engagement amongst high school students with social issues facing their communities. This study suggested that the increase in engagement is due to students having greater control over their responses. By having greater autonomy, students can create a more personalized response to the social issues they face, providing them with a sense of self-expression and greater self-awareness (Eccles et al., 1984). The reflection process allows youth to challenge and reconstruct identities based on their adopted narratives (Yates & Youniss, 1996). For example, a Christian student might have a warm and welcoming experience with Hindus while on a service trip in India. However, the experience might cause dissonance, causing them to question the ideas inherited from their community. Reflection on SL allows these ideologies to be tested by the student, allowing them to refine their answers to fit their experiences (Yates & Youniss, 1996). Without testing doctrines, people risk adopting them because of the social advantages rather than their validity. Finding Faith in Service 22 In other words, adolescents may confess beliefs that please their community without experience to attest to its truthfulness. SL with reflection helps to avoid this, creating greater moral conviction and rationale based on lived experiences. Appropriate Service-Learning Experiences SL causes a transformation in the student's thinking and alters their understanding of the world and their role (Chen et al., 2018; Taylor et al., 2018). Their cultural values shape a student’s understanding of themselves and their world (Taylor et al., 2018). A transformational SL experience can cause the student to challenge hidden social values that discriminate against those they came to serve. Identifying and challenging these social values requires a student to be developmentally ready (Taylor et al., 2018). If the student hopes to resolve the dissonance introduced by their service experience, they will have to reinvent their role within the world; consequently, this can be an emotionally-intense and invasive process that some students may not be equipped to handle (Taylor et al., 2018). SL projects should be appropriate for the developmental readiness of students. For example, Niehaus and Cain’s (2013) study shows that international service opportunities are emotionally more intense than domestic ones. Furthermore, indirect service opportunities where students do not deal directly with the people they are helping are less emotionally intensive than those opportunities that directly deal with people (Taylor et al., 2018; Niehaus & Crain, 2013). SL can become a transformational process for a student's character when provided with an appropriate service-learning experience that fits their developmental readiness; such experiences lead to students displaying greater self-awareness, compassion, and interest in their community (Taylor et al., 2018; Chen, 2018). In addition, students will have a greater understanding of why their work matters within their context (Chen et al., 2018). In contrast, inappropriate SL experiences will cause students to be overwhelmed, withdrawn, Finding Faith in Service 23 or underwhelmed and feel their work does not matter (Rosing et al., 2010). In either case, these students will have no dissonance to resolve; thus, students will experience little character development. Support for Students and Teachers In addition to having an appropriate SL site, Taylor et al.'s (2018) study demonstrates the need for schools and teachers to journey with students as they attempt to resolve the challenges to the preconceived notions of their world and their role in it. When values are challenged and changed, so is the behaviour that stems from them. Students will need new skills and knowledge to fulfill their desire to explore their role in the world (Taylor et al., 2018). Reflection is a crucial component of SL (Taylor et al., 2018); however, students, guided by external feedback from their onsite leader will display higher project efficacy than those with little or none (Chen, 2018; Rosing, 2010). Students desire to have an onsite leader who guides them in completing the work, communicates the meaning of the work, and socially connects them with other onsite staff and clients (Rosin, 2010). In addition, an attentive onsite leader will provide the support that allows students to navigate their SL experience challenges better. Consequently, this support enables them to mature due to their SL experience (Chen, 2018). For participation in SL to increase, teachers must be willing to offer it. Schools can support their teachers offering SL by providing the following: (a) professional development, (b) increased funding, and (c) assistance with logistics planning. Abes and colleagues (2002) found that teachers overwhelmingly requested more professional development around SL and collegial discussion. In addition, teachers reported a greater willingness to offer SL if their school granted the release time (Abes et al., 2002). Finally, teachers who receive SL during their education exhibited a higher degree of motivation to provide SL opportunities for their students than those Finding Faith in Service 24 who did not receive such training (Stanke et al., p. 126, 2019). In addition to both the required costs and time associated with SL, teachers cited planning logistics as a significant inhibitor to using SL (Clarke-Vivier, 2018; Abes, 2002; Clarke-Vivier, 2018; Lillo, 2019). Specifically, Lillo’s (2019) study highlighted five categories: (a) SL pedagogy (b) understanding of local/global issues, (c) knowledge of whom to speak to about SL (d) the ability to lead SL teams, and (e) effective communication and public relations. Therefore teachers may struggle to have the necessary time and expertise to fulfill each knowledge and skills category adequately. Instead, a partnership should exist between teachers, a school service coordinator, and an onsite service leader(s) (Chen, 2019; Lillo, 2019; Chen, 2019; Rosing, 2010). Each provides their expertise and efforts, creating a service-learning process more manageable for the teacher. Teachers have a tremendous opportunity to positively impact their students’ character through SL. However, the perceived logistics, time, and money required for SL can feel overwhelming (Abes et al., 2002; Clarke-Viver et al., 2018)). Many teachers see SL as an instrument only for adventurous teachers who possess high-risk tolerance (Clarke-Viver et al., 2018). To change, schools will have to start providing support staff to assist teachers in facilitating the SL experience (Stanke et al., 2019). Thus, schools should give staff wide training sessions and release time for teachers to implement their SL experiences (Stanke et al., 2019). The literature has examined the motivation of both teachers and students because this study is aimed at understand the factors inhibiting/motivating KCS to offer SL. Moreover, by examining students' motivation, moral development, and needed skill sets and knowledge, teachers can consider creating effective SL. Finding Faith in Service 25 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY This study addresses three related but separate research questions. Addressing these questions involved an action research design utilizing a mixed-method approach (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). The quantitative phase examines the effectiveness of SL versus CL at creating faith formation and internalizing values in high school students. The qualitative phase explores the participant’s experiences about what elements of SL affected their faith formation. A follow up, focus group of teachers volunteered to discuss what motivates/inhibits them from offering more SL experiences. Who is the Researcher? I have worked at Kelowna Christian School since 2004 as a High School Math and Science teacher since 2004. In 2016, I enrolled in a class called Teaching for Transformation (TFT) offered by the Society of Christian Schools of BC. The eight-session course highlighted the importance of using experiences to help students understand the following Biblical themes: “God Worshiping”, “Idolatry Discerning”, “Creation Enjoying”, “Beauty Creating”, “Order Discovering”, “Justice Seeking”, “Servant Working”, “Earth Keeping”, “Community Building”, and “Image Reflecting”. "We become what we do" is a phrase esteemed by Teaching for Transformation. Finding Faith in Service 26 Experiences that embody the above phrases, known as "through-lines" become formative when participants are allowed to reflect on how the experience connects to the through-lines. At the time, I felt that TFT’s model could be instrumental in helping Kelowna Christian School fulfil its vision of educating and equipping its students to serve God and others (Kelowna Christian School, n.d.). The approach inspired me to reconsider how students can embody the school's vision by seeing behaviour as a tool to deepen understanding of abstract values. Rather than teach about service through a lecture-based mode, I decided to create opportunities for my students to serve, hoping the experience would help form a deeper understanding of the school’s values and their faith. I approached my administration, and together we co-created a Social Justice 12 class, where all enrolled students would serve the needs of a Children’s Home in Northern India. I decided to focus on India because of my previous experience living and working at the Home. Fortunately, my wife and I had remained close to the Children’s Home throughout the years, allowing us to co-create a plan to bring a team of grade 11 and 12 KCS students to serve at the school. The team would run a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program for one week at the Children’s Home during the Social Justice 12 class. The Children’s Home has nearly 100 children, with 11 staff members and fatigue is common. The service provided by the students to run a VBS program allowed the staff to have some rest. Additionally, running a VBS program was a helpful strategy for the Children’s Home as it aligned with its vision of raising children to know Jesus. Finally, the VBS program occurred when the children were out of school in January. As a result of this agreement, since 2015, our school has sent annual VBS teams of grade 11 and 12 KCS students to serve at the Children’s Home. Many students who participated, reported that serving at the Children’s Home helped them value their faith more. Finding Faith in Service 27 Inspired by these results, I wanted to create an action research study that examined the elements that help increase SL's effectiveness in helping KCS students mature in their faith to provide recommendations to help KCS achieve its vision (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). As a teacher, I am interested in advancing this vision, and all the participants in this study were either KCS students, alumni, or teachers. Thus, their feedback was relevant for the school, strengthening the study's recommendations. Participants Students The student participants in this study were a convenience sample of 32 grade 10-12 students that had classroom and service-learning experiences at KCS. All of the student participants were between 15 and 18 years of age. The student participants consisted of four grade-10 students, 16 grade-11 students, and 12 grade-12 students. There were 11 males and 20 females. One student participating did not provide their gender. Alumni The alumni participants in this project were 20 alumni who had previously participated in at least one KCS SL experience. Although the survey did not ask for the alumni’s age range, the SL trips they claimed they participated in were all within the last 15 years, placing their age range between 19 to 40 years old. Of the 20 alumni, eight were male and 11 were female. The majority of the alumni had participated in a SL experience in India to serve at a children's home. Teachers The teacher participants were a purposeful sample of three teachers at KCS. The study did not require all teacher participants to have experience in facilitating SL; however, two teachers did have SL experience. Although teacher participants needed to be teachers at KCS, there were Finding Faith in Service 28 no other exclusion criteria. Two of the teachers were male, each in their early 50s, and one teacher was female in her late 20s. The female teacher was a new teacher, having three years of experience, while the other two male teachers had more than 15 years of experience each. One of the males was the only one with no SL experience. Measures Service Learning Experiences Questionnaire This researcher created a survey that asked participants to evaluate the effectiveness of both SL experiences and CL experiences that helped them personalize the values of KCS (see Appendix E). Because this study aimed to measure the effectiveness of classroom and SL experiences on students' internalizing KCS values, no current questionnaire used such values in its measurements; consequently, the researcher generated a questionnaire that incorporated such values. Gillham’s work (2008) highlights the importance of creating questions that align with the purpose of the study. Boynton and Greenhagh (2004) point out that researcher generated questionnaires are entirely appropriate when no published questionnaire exists that can gather data to test the study’s hypothesis. The first part of the SL questionnaire collected the following information: (a) grade or alumni (b) gender (c) whether the student participated in SL (d) what SL experiences they participated in (e) and the importance of faith. The purpose of collecting background information was to see if differences exist between groups when rating the effectiveness of their SL and classroom experiences. The second part of the questionnaire provided questions about the student's evaluation of the effectiveness of their CL and SL experiences regarding their faith formation. The questionnaire also included questions regarding the student's evaluation of onsite leadership, communication, preparation, and debriefing on their SL experience. Finding Faith in Service 29 The SL questionnaire provided participants with four statements about their CL faith formation experiences and four statements about their SL faith formation experiences. Specifically, the statements focused on four sub-categories: prayer, bible reading, integrity and perceived importance of faith. These statements emerged from the values of KCS, as one purpose of the study is to determine if SL is more effective than CL at helping students personalize the values of KCS (Kelowna Christian School, n.d.). To help answer the study’s second question, What elements make SL effective for faith formation?, the questionnaire provided participants with ten statements asking them to rate the effectiveness of the factors credited by other studies as enhancing SL effectiveness (Rosing et al., 2010; Chen et al., 2018). Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement on a Likert type scale ranging from strongly agree = 5, agree = 4, undecided = 3, disagree = 2, and strongly disagree = 1 (Likert, 1932). Only the endpoint categories were labeled with anchors on the questionnaire. Research suggests a 5-point Likert-type scale will decrease ambiguity between the choices and variation between individual responses (Revilla et al., 2014). The SL questionnaire also included two open-ended questions: "What were the differences between service-learning and your classroom experience?", and “How can service learning help you in understanding your faith better?” The purpose of the open-ended questions was to explore the experiences that students and alumni had with SL and to explore how SL influenced their faith formation. Moreover, the open-ended questions strengthened the survey’s ability to provide space for participants to respond more fully. The open-ended questions also allowed the study to collect data that could help answer the study’s second question: what elements of SL enhance the effectiveness of faith formation for high school students? Procedure Finding Faith in Service 30 KCS Students Approval was obtained for this project from the Human Research Ethics Board at Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia (see Appendix A). Next, the action researcher explained the purpose of the study to the grade 10, 11, and 12 classes at KCS. After going over the study, defining SL and providing examples, the action researcher asked how many students believed they had experienced SL at KCS. The action researcher provided a few moments to allow students to consider a SL experience. Next, the action researcher asked the students to name the SL experience they had in mind. These examples helped prompt other students in the classroom with possible school activities that might be SL. Once the researcher felt that the students had a clear understanding of SL, they invited students to participate in the study. Students were informed that participation was voluntary. Next, the information letter and consent forms were sent home for parents to review and sign. Finally, the researcher informed all high school parents about the purpose of the study through the June High School Newsletter. Parents of children who wished to volunteer received an email with a copy of the consent form. The email explained the study in greater detail than the newsletter and invited parents to communicate questions or concerns about their child participating in the study. Once the parent or student returned the signed consent form to the school, the child could complete the online survey. The grade10 students took the survey on June 11, 2021, and grade11 and 12 students took it on June 12. Finally, two grade11 students took the survey on June 14, 2021. The researcher booked a classroom, and each grade was given a one hour time slot to complete the SL questionnaire. However, one grade 11 and one grade 12 student could not complete the questionnaire during the assigned time, so the researcher, in consultation with both students, booked another room for one hour to complete the questionnaire. Grade 10, 11, and 12 Finding Faith in Service 31 teachers supervised the students taking the SL questionnaire. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and current health restrictions, the supervising teacher was also the teacher for that grade cohort. The researcher created a Google classroom called "Service-Learning," and the SL questionnaire was attached. All participants had Google accounts, allowing them access to the Google classroom platform. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical copies of the questionnaire were not provided to students because of current restrictions and protocols in place at KCS. Therefore, all participants remained in their grade cohort while taking the survey. Only teachers from each grade cohort could supervise participants from that grade. The supervising teacher instructed the students to sign in to their Google accounts. Next, they provided the code to access the Google classroom, which contained the survey link. The teacher did not need to give instructions on how to take the questionnaire since the researcher attached an instructional video to the survey. However, the supervising teacher reminded the participants that taking the survey is voluntary and will not impact their grades in any course. Although supervising teachers were permitted to help students read the questions and define unfamiliar words, they could not help students recall their SL experience. Students used either their phones or laptops to access and complete the survey. Each grade cohort took the survey together in a classroom environment. Students did not interact with each other while taking the survey. Once the students were finished completing the online questionnaire, they were free to leave. KCS Alumni The researcher invited alumni participants to participate in this study by using social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, and email. KCS provided the researcher with a list of alumni email addresses. Emails were sent to all KCS alumni on the list, informing them of the purpose of the study and providing a link to the survey. The survey asked the participant if they Finding Faith in Service 32 were alumni and had participated in a KCS SL experience. The alumni survey also had video instructions explaining how to respond to Likert-scale questions. The video informed participants there was no obligation to answer any questions, their participation was voluntary, and they could stop the survey at any time. The alumni completed the SL questionnaire within an 8-day window, starting June 19 and ending June 27, 2021. KCS Teachers The researcher sent out an email to all KCS teachers to recruit focus group participants. The email informed the teachers of the study's purpose and invited them to participate. Additionally, it provided teachers with the four questions and outlined the discussions structure (see Appendix F). Finally, the email encouraged interested teachers to contact the researcher. As a result of the email, three teachers agreed to participate in the focus group, and all of the teachers signed a consent form to permit the researcher to collect and use data in this study. When participants returned the consent forms, the researcher informed them that the focus group would occur in a classroom setting at 1:00 pm on June 23. The four questions guided the 20-minute focus group (see Appendix F), and the researcher collected the data using a recording device and field notes. The recording was digitized and stored on a password-protected computer. In addition, data was thoroughly read and transcribed verbatim into type text (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). Research Design For this study I utilized action research as the research paradigm. Action research is often used when teachers work as researchers and seek to improve their own practice. One of the main reasons I chose the action research approach was because action research is used in real situations as it focuses on solving practical problems (Parsons, et al., 2013). In this study the real situation was the experience that my students at Kelowna Christian School had with service- Finding Faith in Service 33 learning. The practical problem was whether service learning had an impact on how my students personalized their faith. Action research differs from more traditional research approaches because it attempts to solve specific problems within specific contexts using any combination of research strategies (Parsons et al., 2013). This action research study used a mixed-method strategy for gathering data since qualitative and quantitative data collection happened concurrently, and the researcher gave each equal weight to both data types (Plano & Clark, 2015, pp. 389-393). The quantitative data examined the differences between SL versus CL in influencing faith formation in high school students. The qualitative data explored participants’ experiences about what elements of SL impacted their faith formation. A focus group with teachers also explored what motivated/inhibited teachers from offering SL experiences. Plano-Clark and Creswell (2015) argued that a mixed-method research design is best suited when answering two related questions. For example, the researcher can employ mixed-method research when they want to examine the effectiveness of an intervention and explore the participants' experiences during that intervention (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015, p. 386). Data Analysis Quantitative Data Analysis The SL questionnaire was used to measure the effectiveness of CL and SL experiences in helping students internalize KCS values. The three variables that were measured in the questionnaire included (1) participation in SL (2) participation in CL and (3) the degree in which a student personalizes KCS values through prayer, bible reading, integrity, and perceived importance of faith. The independent variable is mode of participation (SL versus CL) and the dependent variable is the personalization of KCS values, specifically, prayer, bible reading, integrity, and perceived importance of faith. Finding Faith in Service 34 Descriptive statistics were calculated and paired sample t-tests were conducted to compare the effectiveness of SL versus CL on the personalization of KCS values (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). The paired sample t-test was used because the sample of students and alumni both evaluated the impact that SL and CL had on their ability to personalize the KCS values (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). Measures of statistical significance were reported for the paired t-tests. Statistical significance was interpreted through p-values (i.e., the probability that the finding is due to chance) and was held to conventional levels p <.05, enabling the researcher to draw a conclusion between the differential impact of SL and CL on internalized KCS values (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). To apply the paired t-test to test for differences between paired measurements, the following assumptions were held: The data are continuous, measured differences are normally distributed, and the measurements for one participant do not affect the measurement for another participant (Surhone et al., 2010). Furthermore, the researcher calculated the mean, standard deviation, and distribution to generate normal probability curves. One curve represented the distribution of the effectiveness of SL on faith formation. The second curve showed the distribution of responses to the effectiveness of CL on faith formation. Finally, the researcher compared the curves to determine the mean difference between SL and CL experiences (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). Qualitative Data Analysis Qualitative data was collected from the student, alumni, and teacher participants. The student and alumni participants responded to three open-end questions on the SL questionnaire. The teacher participants responded to questions in a focus group interview. The researcher used open coding and summarized the segments of each text. The codes were used to link segments with similar ideas; consequently, similar codes converged, and themes emerged (Plano-Clark & Creswell, 2015). The researcher eliminated potential biases by writing down personal interest in Finding Faith in Service 35 this issue and reviewing it to identify preferences that may have influenced the decisions around code selection (Plano-Clark & Creswell 2015). The same process was used for the alumni and students' response to open-ended questions within the questionnaire. Since the participants are KCS students, alumni, and teachers, the results are specific to Kelowna Christian School. In other words, the results are not meant to be applied beyond the Kelowna Christian school context. Since this mixed-method study is meant to be an action research plan, the purpose of this study is to create recommendations for KCS, helping it fulfill its vision to create servants of God and others. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS Descriptive Statistics Thirty-two KCS students, grades 10-12, and 20 alumni completed the survey. The researcher calculated the mean and standard deviation values regarding the responses to statements around the effectiveness of CL and SL experiences on prayer, scripture, integrity, and faith (see Table 1). Table 1. Descriptive statistics for Dependent Variables Variable N M SD Service Learning 52 2.77 1.31 Prayer 52 3.33 1.28 Integrity 52 3.67 1.22 Perceived Faith 52 3.57 1.40 Prayer 52 2.06 1.07 Scripture 52 2.65 1.22 Classroom Learning Finding Faith in Service 36 Integrity 52 2.94 1.01 Perceived Faith 52 2.51 1.04 Does SL or CL Enable KCS Students and Alumni to Understand the Values of KCS The first purpose of this study was to discover if SL or CL enabled KCS high school students and alumni to understand the values of KCS. Specifically, the values of prayer, scripture, integrity, and faith. The survey used paired statements to compare the experiences of SL and CL on the KCS values of prayer, scripture, integrity and perceived faith. For example, for each of the values, one statement asked participants to rate the effectiveness of their CL in helping them understand a particular KCS value, and the other statement asked the same for SL experiences. The survey consisted of four sets of paired statements: the value of prayer, the value of scripture (bible reading), the value of integrity and the value of growth in faith. The researcher conducted a paired sample t-test for each pairing to compare the participants' ratings of CL and SL experiences in their effectiveness in helping students understand KCS values. The following hypotheses were tested for the quantitative portion of this study. First, SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of prayer. Second, SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of scripture. Third, SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of integrity. Fourth, SL is more effective than CL for enhancing the value of growth in faith. The null hypotheses that were tested were as follows: First, there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of prayer. Second, there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of scripture. Third, there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value of integrity. Fourth, there is no difference between SL and CL for enhancing the value Finding Faith in Service 37 of growth in faith. Is SL More Effective Than CL for Enhancing the Value of Prayer? When comparing their CL and SL experiences, participants reported that SL had a greater impact on their prayer life than CL. The following two statements were used to measure the value of prayer: (a) "I pray more because of my service-learning experience" and (b) "I pray more because of my classroom experience." The responses to each statement were calculated and the means were compared. The participants who had an SL experience (M = 2.77; SD = 1.31), were significantly higher on the value of prayer than those with only CL experience (M = 2.06; SD = 1.07), t(51) = 5.29, p < .001 (see Figure 1). These differences occurred within the KCS student population and only provide insight into how they assess SL and CL when it comes to helping them value prayer. However, the results indicate that SL could be more effective than CL in enhancing the value of prayer for other school populations. Figure 1 Comparing SL versus CL on Enhancing the Value of Prayer Finding Faith in Service 38 Is SL More Effective Than CL for Enhancing the Value of Scripture Reading? When comparing their CL and SL experiences, participants reported that SL had a greater impact on their understanding of scripture than CL. The following two statements were used to measure the value of understanding scripture: (a) “Service-Learning helps me understand the Bible better.” and (b) "What I am learning through the classroom helps me understand the Bible better.” The responses to each statement were calculated and the means were compared. The participants that had an SL experience (M = 3.32; SD = 1.28) were significantly higher on the value of understanding scripture than those with only the CL experience (M = 2.65; SD =1.22), t(51) = 4.58, p < .001 (see Figure 2). Therefore, the results indicated that SL may be more effective than CL on improving the value of understanding scripture. Figure 2 Comparing SL versus CL on Enhancing the Value of Reading Scripture Finding Faith in Service 39 Is SL more Effective than CL for Enhancing the Value of Integrity? When comparing the CL and SL experience, participants reported that SL had a greater impact on their value of integrity than CL. The following two statements were used to measure the value of integrity: (a) “Service-Learning is helping me live a life of integrity” and (b) "What I am learning in the classroom helps me understand how to live a life of integrity.” The researcher used the responses to each statement to calculate and compare the means. The participants with the SL experience (M = 3.93; SD = 0.96) were significantly higher on the value of integrity than the participants with only CL experience (M = 2.96; SD = 0.744), t(51)= 4.21, p < .001 (see Figure 3). Therefore, the results indicated that SL could be more effective than CL at improving the value of integrity. Figure 3 Comparing SL and CL on Enhancing the Value of Integrity Finding Faith in Service 40 Is SL more Effective than CL for Enhancing the Value of Faith? When comparing their CL and SL experience, participants reported that SL had a greater impact on their value of faith. The following two statements were used to measure the value of faith: (a) “I have grown in my faith because of my service-learning experience” and (b) " I have grown in my faith because of my classroom experience.” The responses to each statement were calculated and the means were compared. The participants with an SL experience (M = 3.57 SD = 1.40) were significantly higher on the value of faith than the participants with only CL experience (M =2.51; SD = 1.04), t(51) = 6.52, p < .001 (see Figure 4). Therefore, SL could be more effective at equipping participants to grow in their faith than their CL experience. Figure 4 Comparing SL and CL on Improving the Value of Faith Finding Faith in Service 41 Summary. By calculating the mean difference for each of the KCS values of prayer, scripture, integrity and faith, the overall results revealed that SL was more effective than CL to enable KCS students to personalize KCS values. The researcher rejected each of the null hypotheses that indicated that there would be no difference between the effectiveness of CL and SL on the KCS values of prayer, scripture, integrity, and faith. What Elements can Enhance SL’s Effectiveness in Helping Students Grow in their Faith? The second purpose of this study was to answer the following research question: what elements can enhance SL’s effectiveness in helping students grow in their faith? Thirty participants indicated that they had participated in at least one SL experience. One such element that emerged was the importance of personal narrative in determining SL's impact on faith. Students and alumni who considered their faith important were more likely to see their overall SL experience as helping their faith grow. In addition, they were more likely to rate their reflection as valuable faith-forming activity. The researcher calculated the mean and standard deviation values regarding the responses to statements around reflection and SL's effectiveness Finding Faith in Service 42 in helping deepen faith to demonstrate this relationship. Does Perceived Importance of Faith Increase with SL Experience? The majority of KCS students and alumni reported that their SL experience was more effective than their CL in helping grow their faith. However, SL's effectiveness increased for participants who reported their Christian faith as essential. Those who had a lower value on the importance of their faith had a lower impact of SL on the value of their faith. The graph below demonstrates the difference between the two groups (See Figure 5). Seven alumni and one student either strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement, “my faith is important to me,” by assigning a value of one or two. Nearly all the participants in this group strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement, “I grew in my faith because of my SL experience (M = 1.5; SD = 0.58). The fourteen students and seven alumni who strongly agreed with the statement, “my faith is important to me,” were significantly more likely to agree with the statement “I grew in my faith because of my SL experience (M = 4.27; SD=0.88), t(29) = 8.48, p < .001. The p-value indicates the difference between these two groups is statistically significant (see Figure 5). Figure 5 Importance of Faith versus Impact of SL on Faith 49 Finding Faith in Service 43 What Impact Does the Importance of SL Reflection have on Faith? Resolving the dissonance created by SL is done through reflection (Leming, 2001). Students use this process to integrate the experiences encountered into their narratives. Thus, SL practitioners should consider their students’ cultural and religious narratives when asking them to engage in reflection. In this study, the importance students and alumni gave their faith determined their perceived effectiveness of reflection in helping them personalize. For example, alumni and students who reported a 1 or 2 (strongly disagreed or disagreed) with the statement "my faith is very important to me" were more likely to strongly disagree with the statement "reflecting on my servicelearning experience through discussion, and writing made the experience more impactful on my faith (M = 1.75; SD = 1.16) when compared to alumni and students who strongly agreed that their faith was important (M = 3.45; SD = 1.22), t(29) = 3.41, p < .001 (see Figure 6). Thus, this Finding Faith in Service 44 study demonstrated a difference between participants who valued their faith and those who did not when asked to evaluate the importance of SL reflection. The graph below demonstrates that difference (Figure 6). Figure 6 Importance of SL Reflection on Faith The process of reflection invites students to integrate their SL experiences into the Christian narrative. Thus, students who consider the Christian narrative valid are more likely to find the reflection process valuable. In contrast, students who did not ascribe high value to their faith, but were asked to reflect within a Christian framework, were more likely to report the experience as low in value. Although KCS is a Christian school with the aim of creating disciples of Jesus, its students may not all ascribe to that narrative. If KCS wants to include all its students in its SL experience, it must craft reflection experiences that allow students to engage with their narrative. Failure to respect student autonomy may lead to the student using their SL experience to validate a Finding Faith in Service 45 narrative that paints Christianity in a negative light. Consequently, students may feel ignored and unwanted. Therefore, an important element to consider when crafting SL experience is the personal reflections of its participants and whether the reflection activity can facilitate multiple narratives. Qualitative Findings In addition to the quantitative results, this study also provides qualitative findings that address the second research question: what elements of SL enhance its effectiveness at forming faith? The following elements were identified as effective: (a) SL and cultural narratives, (b) SL and affirmative faith narrative, (c) SL impact on “Integrity” and “Bible” (e) SL and antagonistic faith narratives, (d) comprehensive SL experiences and enhanced self-efficacy. SL and Cultural Narratives The relationship between faith and SL experiences reveals the importance of cultural narratives in helping students and alumni resolve the dissonance caused by SL. Students and alumni used their SL experiences to alter or reinforce cultural and religious narratives they considered valid. Students and alumni will likely interpret the experience through their cultural narratives; moreover, they will further use their SL to construct this narrative. Thus, practitioners of SL need to consider Kolhberg’s (1963) moral development and the student’s cultural and religious narratives as both elements guide students in resolving the dissonance introduced by their SL experience. SL and Faith The findings indicated that students who indicated that their faith was essential were more likely to resolve the dissonance of their SL experience within a Christian narrative. For example, when responding to the study’s questionnaire question, “How is SL different from CL Finding Faith in Service 46 in impacting faith?” one student wrote: It can help me understand my faith better because it allows me the opportunity to put myself in a place of service and to bring joy to other people the way Jesus did for others. The servicelearning gives me a chance to understand that the world is extremely complicated but reassures me about the faith we have in God. Another student responded to the same questionnaire question: "You can learn everything and be intelligent about a topic; however, actually exercising that learning allowed me to feel God's presence." Finally, a KCS alumnus, when asked the same question, provided the following response: "I got to see first-hand the struggle people are having and the impact God is having in their lives." These students and alumni found their SL experience to increase their confidence in the Christian narrative. Although there is evidence that SL enhanced understanding of the Christian narrative, SL also appeared to have enriched some participants' understanding of words like "Bible" and "Integrity." For example, one student answered the question, "how can SL help you in understanding your faith" by stating: When Christianity is just about the Bible and written or spoken lessons, it isn't as impactful as hands-on experience. Service-learning helped me connect to God and form a relationship with Him through Christianity. It also helped me to understand some stories in the Bible better. Another student wrote, "You can interact with problems and ideas that are more modern-day examples of what happened in the Bible, and I can relate them to what I've read and my faith.” These students' comments demonstrate how contextualizing biblical stories enhanced their understanding of its meaning. Although students did not directly use the word "integrity" in their responses, they Finding Faith in Service 47 highlighted how SL taught them the importance of their behaviour aligning with their beliefs. One student wrote: For me, service-learning was a great way to help others and see the effects of my actions within the community I served. Personally, this reinforced the importance of demonstrating Christ-like values because I was made aware of the positive effects my service actions can contribute to. Another student responded, Service-learning helped me see the effects that my beliefs can have in my community. Without these experiences, it would be more difficult for me to understand my faith and my beliefs, as there would be less moments where I actually applied them. These students considered SL to enhance their understanding of why integrity matters. SL and Antagonistic Motives Participants who indicated that their faith was not very important to them were more likely to report their SL and CL experiences as not helping them grow in their faith. However, this is not to say that students reporting a low commitment to the Christian faith did not interpret their SL experience through a cultural lens. Instead, non-Christian students participating in SL at KCS were more likely to interpret their SL experience as reinforcing an antagonistic version of Christianity. Despite participating in a service experience arranged by a Christian school, these students questioned the school’s motives. For example, one alumnus who strongly disagreed with the statement, "my faith is important" wrote the following to describe the antagonistic motive of Christianity: I wish it had nothing to do with faith and instead was about teaching young adults to be happy, healthy members of their community who want to make their community a better place to live. When it is attached to religion, their[sic] is an underlying purpose that [...] Finding Faith in Service 48 serves the church and the school to create blind followers who are supposed to do good in order to convert people into blind followers, who all pay the church and school tithes to keep them funded. Church is political. It should just end at the kids are doing good because it's good to do good. It appears this alumnus’ SL experience reinforced a narrative that is casting the school and church’s intentions as manipulative. The alumni’s comments could indicate that they see faith and church differently, seeing the latter as evil. However, their comments also include their wish that SL had nothing to do with faith. Thus, it is also possible that distinction is being made between faith and church. Regardless of the alumnus’ true conclusions, their comments demonstrated the use of religious and cultural narratives to resolve the dissonance created by SL. In this case, the alumnus considered their SL a form of manipulation performed by the school and church to pressure people to convert. Another alumnus, who shared similar answers around the importance of faith, responded to the same question "It opened my eyes to the hypocrisy of the church and the self-serving altruism of most religious-based service learning." Another alumnus revealed their feelings of manipulation and coercion with the following words: I learned that people who need help just want to be heard and seen. They absolutely do not want to be preached to or proselytized. I learned that I can do more good by being spiritual in my own way and letting that guide my life without pushing it on other people [or] by following religious rules. That just breaks people down and makes them feel unloved, unwanted, and unrecognized. These comments shed light on the possibility that these alumni are distinguishing between church and Christianity. For example, they may define the church as representing a far-right political voting block that wants to force others to ascribe to their beliefs while seeing spirituality Finding Faith in Service 49 as serving others without proselytizing. Moreover, although each of these participants indicated a low value to their faith, they may also define the concept associated with this political movement. Thus, participants could be stating that their SL experience left them with a more profound understanding of what it means to be Christian. Does a Comprehensive SL Experience Enhance Self-Efficacy? India’s comprehensive SL approach was illustrated by one alumni who participated in the experience: The beauty of service-learning is that you are able to see first-hand what is being done or happening. It allows you to visualize problems and find solutions through experiences. I personally find my past service-learning, even in my degree, to be really beneficial as it provides great examples of what I need to do/or what I have seen and experienced. It appears that this alumnus found their India SL experience empowering for their university degree. India SL’s emphasis on creating comprehensive solutions may better equip students to navigate the dissonance they encounter as young adults. This alumnus appreciated their SL experience in helping them visualize and craft solutions to problems encountered. Moreover, this alumnus is still drawing on their SL experiences to guide their thinking in university. Another alumnus believed their India SL experience allowed them to become aware of their strengths, “the [SL] teacher challenged me in ways that made me realize my gifts and now have made me the person I am today.” The students who participated in the India SL experience led grade 6 to grade 9 classes weekly in prayer for the children’s home in India. Moreover, the students participated in a school-wide fundraiser for the home. The India SL elements were distinct from other international SL experiences offered by KCS, allowing the study to explore the impact such Finding Faith in Service 50 elements had on advancing students' faith. Over the last 15 years, KCS has offered numerous 2-week international service trips to their grade 11 and 12 students. Past trips have gone to Africa, Bolivia, Mexico, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago. Participation in all KCS trips is voluntary, and the school expects students to fundraise their support or pay their way. Except for India, past international service trips have occurred outside the school timetable, and students went during their spring break in March. The school only embedded India into a course. The qualitative findings indicated that students and alumni considered their SL experiences to strengthen their academic achievement and self-efficacy. In other words, alumni and students who participated in the more comprehensive India SL program reported having a greater sense of themselves and being better equipped to engage in the challenges presented by their degrees. All India SL participants reported their faith to be at least moderately important. Thus, this study could not compare the experiences of those whose faith was not important to them. Thus, it is unclear if a comprehensive SL program would have the same effect on this group as those who assigned higher importance to their faith. What Prevents Teachers from Offering SL? The third purpose of this study was to explore the inhibitors that prevent KCS teachers from offering SL to their students and uncover the solutions generated by those implementing SL. The focus group involved three KCS teachers: one female and two males. Although two of the teachers had previous experience with SL, all three provided insights into the challenges inhibiting teachers from offering SL. The researcher identified the following themes as inhibitors: (a) logistics in coordinating with community partners (b) need for outside help, (c) off-site transportation (d) flexible schedule, and (e) prep time, (f) school leadership, and (g) greater resources. Additionally, the focus group provided a possible strategy to address these Finding Faith in Service 51 obstacles: KCS creates a SL Coordinator role to help mentor teachers, instill vision, and allocate resources. Logistics in Coordinating with Community Partners One teacher in the focus group facilitated a year-long SL program for students by partnering with a local NGO which cleans the homes of those with disabilities. Another teacher implemented an SL experience where students grew vegetables for the food bank. Unfortunately, her class did not complete the SL project before the end of the school year. Both teachers used their SL experiences to illustrate problems they encountered and solutions they used to address them. Finally, the third teacher had no SL experience and was brought into the focus group to help reveal the inhibitors that are keeping him from offering SL. The Need for Outside Help The first inhibitor to offering SL is the increased risk to student safety. To ensure student safety while they cleaned homes, the teacher mentioned the NGO's role in providing adult supervisors. The provided supervisors would meet students at the homes needing cleaning and stay with them until the bus returned. Although the NGO currently provides hosts, the teacher hoped the school could eventually rely on parents, mentioning that past attempts by the school to do this had limited success and have since dissipated. Although requiring only a few hours, the required training makes recruiting parents challenging. Off-Site Transportation In addition to providing adult supervisors to help ensure student safety, the teacher also spoke about transporting students. When asked what the inhibitors to offering SL were, the teacher stressed the importance of transportation availability, responding: "I would say adequate transportation to move kids from place to place." Presently, KCS provides transportation to and Finding Faith in Service 52 from the homes that need cleaning. However, transportation availability is challenging because of the numerous demands on the buses to transport athletics teams to tournaments and students to field trips. Additionally, drop-off and pick-up are limited to a fixed two-hour timeframe created by the school schedule. Flexible Schedule A fixed schedule limits KCS' involvement in the community to school hours. Moreover, the schedule is divided into hour-long discrete sections and involves multiple subjects and teachers. Thus, another inhibitor preventing teachers from implementing SL is the school schedule. All three teachers referred to this obstacle. For example, one stated: If we are offering one-hour courses you cannot drive somewhere [to] serve somebody and be back for the next class in a one-hour experience, so you have to have the schedule that condones us being away from the school for, you know, two hours or two and a little bit. To enhance flexibility, a suggested course of action could be pair-teaching, allowing one teacher to stay in the classroom while the other goes out with a small group. This practice is already underway in Community Service 12, where the school has assigned a larger class between two teachers. Having two teachers allows one to leave the school while the other stays with the other half of the class. Prep Time One teacher commented she felt overwhelmed by the demands of SL and the lack of provided time, stating: "I think time and a feeling [SL] is too overwhelming [as] (...) I have too much on my plate." The other two teachers agreed with her assessment, stating prep time as essential in implementing SL. The teacher who had no SL experience believed KCS's ability to offer SL was because of the willingness of teachers to give up their time, stating, I think that most of the success of service-learning is built off of the spare time of the teacher that Finding Faith in Service 53 wants to do it. So, it is not something that the school budgets in their time or budgets in their finances; it is strictly done on the energy and will of the teacher and their own free time to make it happen. School Leadership Two teachers believed school leadership needed a clearer vision regarding the importance of SL. Additionally, the teachers desired to see a greater willingness to assign resources to teachers wishing to adopt an SL approach. For example, one teacher stated, "We have started project(s) [in] the past [but they have] fallen apart, and that is simply due to a lack of administration vision or backing." Additionally, both teachers indicated a need for greater clarity around how SL will further the school's vision. Greater Resources are Needed At present, SL, as indicated above, is perceived to exist at KCS because of the charitable actions of a few teachers wishing to donate their own time and money; however, there remains skepticism towards the school backing the approach with resources. When asked, “what resources would enable you to offer service learning that help students connect their learning in the classroom and their faith experience?” one teacher stated: I think that most of the success of service learning is built off of the spare time of the teacher that wants to do it. So it's not something that the school budgets in their time or budgets in their finances, it's strictly done on the energy and will of the teacher and their own free time to make it happen. Additionally, although not directly mentioned, teachers are aware of the additional liability they take on when providing SL opportunities for students. Consequently, they are likely to look to the school leadership to create community safety protocols for teachers. Finding Faith in Service 54 Service-Learning Coordinator All three teachers mentioned the benefits of having an SL Coordinator and agreed the position would help overcome SL obstacles by providing the following: (a) someone available to help create and foster community partnership, (b) mentor teachers, (c) ensure accountability to safety protocols, and (d) coordinate available school resources. This year the school provided the researcher with one block as an SL coordinator who worked closely with one of the teacher interviewees in creating an SL project involving growing produce and distributing it to the community through the food bank. The following comments made by the interviewee emerged from that partnership with the researcher: "I don't know what you call yourself (referring to the researcher) the service-learning coordinator? That is kind of what you were to me. So having someone, a guide, walking me through how to set service learning in my class, super helpful." Another teacher agreed, saying, "I think for me it would be the same. The resources of contact, someone to take some of the workload off, [help with] the stress." However, when the researcher asked if the word "contact" only meant someone in the school, the teacher expanded the term to include an outside community member, "It would be [a] contact within the community, so if I had an idea to do an indigenous study thing [I could have] (...) a contact through one of the local reservations and set something." Therefore, KCS would be wise to create an SL position to help cultivate a long-term partnership with outside organizations. Finding Faith in Service 55 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION This study set out to answer the following three questions: Is SL more effective than CL in helping high school students personalize their faith and the values of KCS, what elements enhance SL's faith formation, and what are the factors motivating and preventing KCS teachers from offering SL? The quantitative findings addressed these questions: (1) is SL more effective than CL in helping KCS students personalize the Christian narrative? The results demonstrated SL is more effective than CL in helping students personalize KCS values of prayer, scripture, integrity and faith. In addition, the quantitative findings addressed the study's second question: what elements enhance SL's faith formation? The results revealed a relationship between the value participants ascribed to their faith and the importance of reflection in deepening it. In other words, students who considered their faith important were more likely to rate their SL reflection as valuable in helping their faith grow. In contrast, students who did not ascribe to the Christian faith were more likely to consider a Christian driven reflection unhelpful and manipulative. Christian school SL practitioners must be careful not to assume a Christian-driven reflection will be helpful for non-Christian students. This study illustrates that some nonChristian participants can associate a Christian-driven reflection as reinforcing feelings of being unwanted and unloved. However, it is possible the SL experience propelled them to leave a legalistic, right-wing, Christian faith that sought to control people with religious dogma. Open-Ended Guided Questions The participant's written responses revealed their own experience of feeling unheard, unwanted, and unrecognized by Christians. Christian SL practitioners must not send such a message when providing guiding questions during reflection. Instead, questions should be open Finding Faith in Service 56 and inviting, allowing everyone to engage. For example, instead of asking how the experience solidified their faith, the practitioner could ask, “how did the experience help you understand what you might do differently in your own life?” The openness of this question allows students to answer within their own adopted narrative. Reflection Should Challenge Students Although the findings suggest that SL practitioners should consider students' narratives when crafting reflections, they must remember that narratives are formed by behaviour (Smith, 2016). Therefore, acts of service increase the likelihood of participants adopting a narrative that values service. Therefore, reflection is not merely about reinforcing a preconceived narrative, but resolving the dissonance created by the SL experiences. Service Learning and Developmental Readiness The results do provide insight into the importance of creating age-appropriate SL experiences. Taylor et al.'s (2018) case study of 13 undergraduate and graduate students revealed the importance of being developmentally ready to resolve the dissonance encountered during the SL experience. The India SL experience invited grade 11 and 12 students to co-create with beneficiaries and NGOs a sustainable response to the social problems they are facing. Naturally, the SL experience will challenge students' ability to manage time, exercise cognitive empathy, critically consider viable options, and collaborate with unfamiliar adults. Although the process is admirable, it might add nothing to the SL's effectiveness in furthering younger students' faith. In other words, the SL trip might be too complex and comprehensive for younger students. Moreover, its demands might create too much stress for the students, eroding the SL experience's impact on faith. Finding Faith in Service 57 Instead, some students may prefer participating in a plan created by others to address poverty rather than create their own. For example, younger high school students who travel to Mexico to build a house for the homeless might consider the experience as impactful on their faith as students co-creating with an NGO a comprehensive plan to address homelessness. Despite not having an opportunity to co-create with a NGO a sustainable plan to address social injustice, the student’s tendency to trust authority figures' solutions may explain why participants of non-India SL experience see their acts of service as effective and enhancing their understanding of KCS values. It might not be until young adulthood, after entering Kohlberg's (1963) post-conventional level that students can begin to value abstract moral principles and strive to align their behaviour with such ideals. Individuals in this stage are more likely to be critical of SL experiences that lack collaboration and appear parental and one sided. Students participating in the post-conventional level would likely be more willing and able to create their responses to observed social injustice. Thus, they would likely value a more comprehensive SL approach, seeing it as having a more significant impact on their faith. Younger students at Kohlberg's (1963) conventional level are more likely to be satisfied by the answers of an authority figure. However, students engaged in Kohlberg's post-conventional level are more willing to research to resolve the dissonance created by SL. Students who appreciate the complexity of social issues will go beyond the answers of their immediate authority figures. Students wishing to uncover ethical principles, not necessarily provided by their parents or teachers, are developmentally ready to engage in a more comprehensive process as they learn to align their behaviour to the abstract moral principles (Giles, 2014). These students may find the India SL experience elements helpful in addressing their need to craft more comprehensive answers to social injustices. For example, "The Sustainable Finding Faith in Service 58 Development Challenge," embedded within the India SL experience, requires students to research their beneficiaries' cultural and geopolitical context. Not only does the challenge require students to consider the findings of their research when creating their plans, but it also requires them to collaborate with their beneficiaries, NGOs, and adult mentors. Consequently, the answers generated are far more complex, and students must be developmentally apt at working with adults and driven to create a life that expresses the moral principles embedded with their narratives. Many alumni and students who considered their SL experiences manipulative, fake, or useless also assigned a low value to their faith. These alumni and students may benefit from a more comprehensive SL approach that tries to address the concerns they bring to light. However, for those not seeking such answers, a short and straightforward SL may be as effective as a comprehensive SL experience regarding impacting faith. When responses were compared between those who participated in India SL with other SL experiences, both reported similar impact levels on their faith. The negligible difference between India and non-India SL experiences in helping students personalize their faith opens up the possibility that SL experiences do not need to be composed of the same elements to help students understand their faith. This study cannot determine if the India SL experience added to SL's effectiveness in helping students personalize their faith. Unfortunately, the study only asked participants to identify one SL experience, making it impossible for the researcher to determine if any participants had nonIndia and India SL experiences. Furthermore, the survey's questions did not ask students to compare non-India and India SL experiences. Thus, this study cannot accurately compare the experiences; however, the findings reveal that simpler SL experiences may be as effective in Finding Faith in Service 59 helping them understand their faith and KCS values. The focus group pointed to transportation, leadership, prep time, and coordinating with others as obstacles to implementing SL. KCS can address these areas by establishing long-term partnerships with community members. Additionally, an SL coordinator can help cultivate such relationships. The coordinator, provided with time from the school, could help migrate planning and logistics challenges created by SL. Moreover, they could absorb the time required to plan SL and coordinate with off-site community partners. Finally, a coordinator could help facilitate longterm partnerships with community NGOs. Limitations of the Study The elements of the India SL experience might enhance the effectiveness of SL in helping students personalize faith; however, this study was limited by its methodology. Unfortunately, the survey only asked participants to list one SL experience. Thus, the study cannot directly compare the responses between non-India and India SL participants to determine if a relationship exists between the elements embedded within the India SL experience and its efficacy at helping students personalize their faith. Further research could help answer this question by involving KCS students with prior international SL experience to participate in the elements available to those participating in the India SL experience. A follow-up focus group could ask these students to compare their experiences to explore the impacts such elements have on faith. By allowing students to participate in different elements of SL and asking them to evaluate their experience regarding its efficacy in helping them understand their faith, KCS can start to understand which elements are age-dependent. Moreover, the school can identify the elements that should be universally included in all SL experiences. For example, it is presently unclear if Finding Faith in Service 60 student-initiated SL experiences are less practical for younger students than their older counterparts in cultivating faith. Perhaps student choice can overwhelm less mature students, eroding the SL’s effectiveness at helping them personalize their faith. Furthermore, this study was focused on high school students, alumni, and teachers. Likewise, the focus group was limited to three high school teachers. Thus, the study solely focused on the SL experiences of older students. Therefore, the inhibitors uncovered by the study may not be the same as those experienced by elementary teachers and students. Moreover, although intuition would suggest a SL Coordinator could help elementary teachers implement SL, the suggestion of such a role was only generated by the high school teachers within the focus group. Finding Faith in Service 61 CHAPTER SIX: AN ACTION PLAN FOR KCS Long-Term Partnership Refines Practice Effective partnerships take time to develop, and the uniqueness of each one requires different safety protocols and procedures. Additionally, long-term partnerships provide time between the schools and host NGOs to coordinate their efforts to overcome the logistics involved with SL. The comments from one focus group teacher who facilitated the cleaning of homes of individuals with disabilities illustrates this point: "In my experience, we changed the experience each year trying to improve on it each year, but by the end, we were getting to a place where I won't change it that much." Not only do long-term relationships allow for the refinement of strategic action, but it also expands the service to the school's community, enriching the expression of the school's vision. For example, the use of KCS parents to supervise students cleaning the homes of those with disabilities would enhance the impact of SL. Long-Term Partnerships Allow for Additional Elements Although the results indicated that simpler SL experiences, with fewer elements, are still being reported by students as significant contributors to helping them personalize their faith, long-term partnerships will enable KCS to offer more comprehensive SL options for older students. For example, India’s comprehensive approach emerged after six years of partnership between KCS and the Homes in India. Initially, the India SL experience was a short two-week experience, much like the other international SL experience offered by KCS. However, the longterm relationship between KCS and the Homes allowed the time to refine the experience by adding other elements. For example, after the students’ initial visit to the children’s home, they wanted to respond to what they witnessed. Still, they were unable because the SL experience ended upon their Finding Faith in Service 62 return to Canada. The following year, in response to the student's desire to respond, KCS embedded the SL experience into a year-long course, allowing students a chance to create and implement a plan to respond to the needs they saw. Moreover, thanks to the partnership KCS enjoyed with the Home, the students could create a more sustainable response by co-creating with the staff at the children’s home. SL practitioners will struggle to introduce elements like sustainability without a long-term relationship. Long-Term Partnerships Ensure Safety The school cannot allow students to select their own experiences without supervision. Thus, to ensure safety and help the student connect the curriculum to the service experience, teachers should have a relationship with the host organization and be deeply familiar with their practices and services. Moreover, KCS must provide the most significant level of supervision at the elementary level before slowly tapering it by high school. As a result, elementary school SL experiences will likely involve the entire class, while those in high school could involve smaller groups of students. Furthermore, long-term partnerships could provide KCS with a reliable host to help facilitate student-driven SL experiences. For example, although the Children's home in India is concerned with raising children, KCS's relationship with the Home has allowed the school to safely facilitate several student-driven SL experiences. For example, the following SL experiences were co-created by KCS students in collaboration with the Home to increase access to the following: (a) counseling services, (b) drinking water, and (c) post-secondary education. All three choices addressed various issues facing the Home, and their long-term partnership with KCS allowed the school to facilitate these individualized SL experiences. Finding Faith in Service 63 The Need for a Service-Learning Coordinator An SL Coordinator can help enrich and foster these relationships. The focus group participants spoke about the importance of easing the workload created by SL. A service coordinator could provide training through mentorship and professional development days. Additionally, they can meet outside of the school schedule with community members, ensuring the relationship benefits both parties. Additionally, as safety concerns emerge, such meetings can create proactive responses. An SL Coordinator can meet with teachers weekly to plan, organize, and implement SL projects. Finally, an SL coordinator can advocate on behalf of teachers for needed resources, ensuring SL projects are adequately supported. Long-term partnerships will enable KCS to increase the complexity of its SL approach to align with the development of its students. The India SL experience is a comprehensive approach that should be reserved for students demonstrating a desire for more substantial answers to the pressing injustices surrounding them. The results indicate that simpler SL experiences, with fewer elements, are still being reported by students as significant contributors to helping them personalize their faith. These SL approaches should be more teacher-directed, allowing students to participate as an extension of the will of KCS. However, as students develop, more autonomy and choice should be given. SL Choice Would Help Alleviate Feelings of Coercion KCS hopes SL can help advance the validity of the Christian narrative for its students by enabling them to personalize its values. Therefore, SL practitioners should give students a choice in selecting their own SL experience. By doing so, a student-selected SL experience is better able to serve as a vehicle to drive the desired values of the school. If students are to personalize the values of KCS, they must be allowed to freely choose the expression of such values using their Finding Faith in Service 64 gifts, interests, and talents. Presently, KCS offers a class where students can incorporate personal passion into SL experiences. For example, one student could integrate her love of art into SL by painting a mural highlighting the school's values. Although she would not consider herself a Christian, this student recognizes what it looks like for an artist to serve her world. Thus, the service experience allows her to embody the school's values without understanding the Christian narrative that embodies such values. Students who reported low importance towards their faith were more likely to see their SL experience as a form of coercion and manipulation by the school. Instead of SL aiding such students to personalize KCS's values, these students were more likely to see the Christian religion as a negative force in the world. Although it is impossible to know if SL created such feelings, it likely helped reinforce them. Thus, SL practitioners need to consider students’ narratives when creating SL experiences designed to impact faith. Furthermore, this research showed the importance of narrative when it comes to reflecting on SL experiences. Conclusion This study investigated three questions: Is SL more effective than CL in helping high school students personalize their faith and the values of KCS, what elements enhance SL's faith formation, and what are the factors motivating/inhibiting KCS teachers from offering SL? This study revealed that SL can be more effective than CL in creating such students and advancing KCS' vision of creating faithful servants of God and others who see prayer, integrity, and scripture as vital components of their lives. Moreover, the study revealed that SL practitioners should consider a student's narrative framework when facilitating reflection of their SL experience and allow them the autonomy to resolve and express the dissonance they Finding Faith in Service 65 encountered. To aid in healthy reflection, practitioners should adopt guiding questions that allow students to reflect on their own feelings. Moreover, the questions should not be leading participants towards a particular narrative. Instead, questions could allow students to resolve their dissonance by engaging with their own thoughts. This study showed SL to be an effective approach to advancing the KCS values; however, SL can be a demanding and intimating approach for KCS teachers. Presently, KCS teachers in this study pointed to the absence of SL support within the school as an inhibiting factor that is preventing them from implementing SL. The school should provide an SL coordinator to help nurture collaborative relationships between the classroom and community members that are aimed at cultivating student service opportunities. Over time, as such relationships deepen, a cultural transformation may occur at KCS, where the school community can embody the values of its mission-service to others. Moreover, long-term SL that is co-created with local NGO partners will lead to a positive impact on Kelowna. Finding Faith in Service 66 References Augustine, S. (2009). The city of God. Hendrickson Publishers. Abes, E. S., Jackson, G., & Jones, S. R. (2002). Factors that motivate and deter faculty use of service-learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 1(5), 5-17. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3239521.0009.101 Afzal, A., & Hussain, N. (2020). Impact of community service learning on the social skills of students. 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As many of you know, over the last five years I have taken a team to India in the hopes of helping our students understand what it looks like for them to follow Jesus. In that time I have witnessed the transformational power that serving can have on a student’s faith. This year I am pursuing my Master’s in Leadership of Education at Trinity Western, and I am conducting research that explores the effectiveness of service-learning on students. I am looking for both grade 10-12 KCS students and alumni who have participated in service-learning projects in the past, or currently, and would like to share the impact those experiences had on both their faith and learning. Service-learning projects involve engaging students in acts of service towards their community. The aim of service-learning is twofold (a) it provides faith formational experiences, allowing our students to understand what God’s redemptive story looks like in their lives, and (b) it deepens students’ understanding of concepts learned in class. I believe that deepening our understanding of how service-learning affects the faith of students will benefit so many students at KCS. However, to do that we need to find out the impacts it is currently having on our students. Your help would be greatly appreciated. The purpose of the study is to reveal the effects that both classroom and service-learning experiences have on the student’s ability to personalize the values of KCS. Since our values emerge from our vision to make students disciples of Jesus, it follows that personalizing the values of KCS will mean a student is growing in their faith with Jesus. If students wish to voluntarily participate, they will need to have a consent letter signed by their parent or legal guardian. Once the consent forms are returned, you can email me, and I will pick them up. I will then provide the students with a link to the survey using their kelownachristian.ca account. The survey should take 50 minutes to complete. I would ask that you supervise the students while they take the survey, making sure they complete it on their own, and they have access to help if they need help with reading or understanding the questions. All surveys must be completed between May 15-June 15 2021. Thank you so much for your help with this. If you have any questions about the project, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your help. Finding Faith in Service 79 Hello Parents, KCS is committed to its vision of educating and equipping its students to be disciples of Jesus. We believe that serving others is key to forming students into disciples of Jesus. Service-learning is a promising approach to advance our vision. Service-learning projects involve engaging students in acts of service within the community to deepen your child's understanding of their faith and role in the world. Over the years, KCS has provided numerous such experiences: visits with the elderly, India, Belize, Hands of Service, tree-planting, and others. Inviting Your Child to Participate in Research on Service-Learning at KCS This year I am pursuing my Master's in Leadership of Education at Trinity Western, and I am conducting research that explores the effectiveness of service-learning on students. I am looking for 10-12 KCS students and alumni who have participated in service-learning at KCS and would like to share their experiences' impact on both their faith and learning. I am sending this email as a follow-up to my meeting with your child today regarding their participation in the study. The survey should take 50 minutes to complete, and your child will take it during their flex block on Thursday, June 10 for grade 10 students and Friday, June 11 for grade 11 and 12 students. The survey is anonymous, and no collected information can be traced back to your child. Why this Research Matters By deepening our understanding of what makes service-learning experiences impactful, KCS can refine its programs to be more effective in shaping our students to embody our communities' values. This research can further that understanding. Your help would be greatly appreciated. The purpose of the study is to reveal the effects that service-learning experiences have on your child's ability to personalize the values of KCS. Your Consent is Needed However, for your child to participate in the survey, they will need your consent. I have attached a consent form below, but your child should have brought one home today. Please return the consent forms to the office by Monday, June 7. Thank you so much for your help with this. If you have any questions about the project, feel free to email with any questions about this study. Thank you for your help. Finding Faith in Service 80 Appendix C: Informed Consent Forms Finding Faith in Service 81 KCS Student Consent Form Exploring the impact of Service-Learning on Kelowna Christian School students Principal Investigator Ian Sharp, Masters of Educational Leadership, Trinity Western University, 250-801-3239, ian.sharp@kelownachristianschool.ca. As a graduate student, I am required to conduct research as part of the requirements for a Master’s in Educational Leadership. This research is part of a thesis and will be made public following completion. It is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Service-learning links the learning that takes place in the classroom with the needs of the community by engaging students in community service. An example would be students that have taken my Social Justice 12. Students learn the concepts of justice in the classroom and understand what it looks like within the Indian community through their service to a Children's Home in Northern India. Your teenage son/daughter is being asked to participate in this study because the school wants to know about the effect service-learning has on their student's faith. All grades 10-12 KCS students and alumni, who have participated in a service-learning experience at Kelowna Christian School, can participate in the study. Please click on the consent form if you are interested in having your child participate What is involved? If you voluntarily agree to allow your child to participate in this research, participation will require around 40 to 50 minutes of their time to fill out an online survey. Once this consent form is returned, the online survey will be given on a designated day during their Christian Study's Class. A supervising teacher will be present with them as they take the online survey. Upon completing the study, they will be provided with a debriefing letter thanking them for their time and providing them with contact information if they have any further questions or concerns. Upon completion of the research, you will have access to its findings. Copies of the study will be available upon request by email to ian.sharp@kelownachristian.ca. Potential Risks and Discomforts The risks associated with participating in this research are minimal; no more than would your child would encounter during everyday life. The Benefits of this Research This research will greatly help in understanding how service-learning enables KCS to carry out its vision of both educating and equipping students to love God and serve the world. It will Finding Faith in Service 82 also reveal areas that need to be addressed with strategies, making future service-learning experiences better. Confidentiality and Anonymity Your child's response to the questionnaire will remain confidential, and I will only disclose it if requested by you or required by the law. The information will be kept under lock and key, and access will only be given to the lead investigator, Ian Sharp, and the supervisor of this study, Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Additionally, since the survey is done on google forms, the servers are located in the United States, and information is subject to US Patriot Act. Contact for information about the study Please contact Ian Sharp if you have any questions or concerns about participating in this study. Ian Sharp 250-801-3239, ian.sharp@kelownachristianschool.ca. You may also contact Dr. Adrienne Castellon at adrienne.castellon@twu.ca. Contact for concerns about the rights of research participants If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, you may contact Elizabeth Kreiter in the Office of Research, Trinity Western University at 604-513-2167 or researchethicsboard@twu.ca. Consent Participation is voluntary, and you may refuse to participate or withdraw from the study at any time without explanation. If you withdraw from the study, all data collected will be removed from the study upon your request. Please contact Ian Sharp, and inform him of your withdrawal by July 1. Without this request, your data will remain a part of the study. Signatures Your signature below indicates that you have had your questions about the study answered to your satisfaction and have received a copy of this consent form for your own records. Your signature indicates that you consent to have your child participate in this study. Please have your child drop the form off in the office. Please return by May 21, 2021 Parental consent: I consent/do not consent (circle one) for _____________________ participate in this study. (child’s name: please print) ___________________________________________ __________________________________ Parent Signature Date ______________________________________________________________________________ Parent Name Printed Finding Faith in Service 83 KCS Alumni Consent Form Exploring the impact of Service Learning on Kelowna Christian School students Principal Investigator Ian Sharp, Masters of Educational Leadership, Trinity Western University, 250-801-3239, ian.sharp@kelownachristianschool.ca. As a graduate student, I am required to conduct research as part of the requirements for a Master’s in Educational Leadership. This research is part of a thesis, and will be made public following completion. It is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Purpose of the study The aim of this research is to understand the effectiveness of service learning in helping KCS students understand their faith. Service learning is linking the learning that takes place in the classroom with the needs of the community by engaging students in community service. An example would be students that have taken my Social Justice 12. Students not only learn the concepts of justice in the classroom, but learn what it looks like within the Indian community through their service to a Children’s Home in Northern India. You are being asked to participate in this study because I want to know about the effect service learning has on a KCS student’s faith. Alumni, who have participated in a service learning experience at Kelowna Christian School, can participate in the study. What is involved? If you voluntarily agree to participate in this research, participation will require around 40 to 50 minutes of your time to fill out an online survey. Once this consent form is returned, the online survey will be given on a designated day during the lunch hour break. A supervising teacher (not your current teacher) will be present when you take the online survey. Upon completion of the survey, you will be provided with a debriefing letter thanking you for your time and providing you with contact information if you have any further questions or concerns. Upon completion of the research, participants will have access to its findings. Copies of the research will be available upon request by email to ian.sharp@kelownachristian.ca. Potential Risks and Discomforts The risks associated with participating in this research are minimal, no more than would be encountered during the course of everyday life. The Benefits of this Research This research will greatly help in understanding how service-learning enables KCS to carry out its vision of both educating and equipping students to love God and serve the world. It will also Finding Faith in Service 84 reveal areas that need to be addressed with strategies, making future service-learning experiences better. Confidentiality and Anonymity All personal information that is collected by this study will remain confidential, and will only be disclosed if requested by you or required by the law. The information will be kept under lock and key, and access will only be given to the lead investigator, Ian Sharp, and the supervisor of this study, Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Additionally, since the survey is done on google forms, the servers are located in the United States and information is subject to US Patriot Act. Contact for information about the study Please contact Ian Sharp if you have any questions or concerns about participating in this study. You may also contact Dr. Adrienne Castellon at adrienne.castellon@twu.ca. Contact for concerns about the rights of research participants If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, you may contact Elizabeth Kreiter in the Office of Research, Trinity Western University at 604-513-2167 or researchethicsboard@twu.ca. Consent Participation is voluntary, and you may refuse to participate or withdraw from the study at any time without explanation. If you withdraw from the study, all data collected will be removed from the study upon your request. Please contact Ian Sharp, and inform him of your withdrawal. Without this request, your data will remain a part of the study. By clicking “yes” in response to the question, do you wish to participate in this study, you are indicating that you have had your questions about the study answered to your satisfaction and that you consent to participate in this study and that your responses may be put in an anonymous form and kept for further use after the completion of this study. Finding Faith in Service 85 Teacher Participant Consent Form Exploring the impact of Service-Learning on Kelowna Christian School students Principal Investigator Ian Sharp, Masters of Educational Leadership, Trinity Western University, 250-801-3239, ian.sharp@kelownachristianschool.ca. As a graduate student, I am required to conduct research as part of the requirements for a Masters in Educational Leadership. This research is part of a thesis and will be made public following completion. It is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Purpose of the study The aim of this research is to understand the effectiveness of service-learning in helping KCS students understand their faith. Service-learning is linking the learning that takes place in the classroom with the needs of the community by engaging students in community service. An example would be students that have taken my Social Justice 12. Students not only learn the concepts of justice in the classroom but learn what it looks like within the Indian community through their service to a Children’s Home in Northern India. You are being asked to participate in this study to identify the obstacles that are inhibiting teachers from facilitating service-learning experiences. Furthermore, your participation will provide a teacher’s perspective of what makes service-learning effective in impacting the faith of students. All Kelowna Christian School teachers are welcomed to participate, as I would like to hear from teachers who have facilitated service-learning and those that have not. What is involved? A focus group will meet to discuss the motivations and obstacles around offering servicelearning to KCS students. Additionally, the discussion will focus on what makes service-learning effective. If you voluntarily agree to participate in this research, 1 hour of your time will be required on a designated day between May 15- June 15. At the end of the focus group, you will be provided with a debriefing letter that I will read. Upon completion of the research, participants will have access to its findings. Copies of the research will be available upon request by email to ian.sharp@kelownachristian.ca. Potential Risks and Discomforts The risks associated with participating in this research are minimal, no more than would be encountered during the course of everyday life. The Benefits of this Research Finding Faith in Service 86 This research will help in understanding how service-learning enables KCS to carry out its vision of both educating and equipping students to love God and serve the world. It will also reveal areas that need to be addressed with strategies, making future service-learning experiences better. Confidentiality and Anonymity All personal information that is collected by this study will remain confidential, and will only be disclosed if requested by you or required by the law. I will be recording the focus group’s discussion with an audio device. The recordings will be digitalized onto my password-protected computer. Any printed copies or backup disks with this information will be kept under lock and key, and access will only be given to the lead investigator, Ian Sharp, and the supervisor of this study, Dr. Adrienne Castellon. Additionally, since the survey is done on google forms, the servers are located in the United States and information is subject to US Patriot Act. Contact for information about the study Please contact Ian Sharp if you have any questions or concerns about participating in this study. You may also contact Dr. Adrienne Castellon at adrienne.castellon@twu.ca. Contact for concerns about the rights of research participants If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, you may contact Elizabeth Kreiter in the Office of Research, Trinity Western University at 604-513-2167 or researchethicsboard@twu.ca. Consent Participation is voluntary, and you may refuse to participate or withdraw from the study at any time without explanation. If you withdraw from the study, all data collected will be removed from the study upon your request. Please contact Ian Sharp, and inform him of your withdrawal. Without this request, your data will remain a part of the study. Signatures Your signature below indicates that you have had your questions about the study answered to your satisfaction and have received a copy of this consent form for your own records. Your signature indicates that you consent to participate in this study and that your responses may be put in an anonymous form and kept for further use after the completion of this study. ___________________________________________ Research Participant Signature _______________________ Date _____________________________________________________________ Printed Name of the Research Participant signing above Finding Faith in Service Appendix D: Participant Debriefing Forms 87 Finding Faith in Service 88 Debriefing Letter Thank you for participating in this research on understanding what makes service-learning effective for student learning and faith formation. Your participation will help improve future service-learning experiences for KCS students. We appreciate your time. If you would like your data withdrawn from the study, please contact Ian Sharp by July 1, 2021. If you have any questions or desire further information with respect to this study, you may contact Ian Sharp at ian.sharp@kelownachristian.ca or 250-979-7914. If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, please contact Elizabeth Kreiter in the Office of Research, Trinity Western University at 604-513-2167 or researchethicsboard@twu.ca. Thank you again for your participation in this research, Ian Sharp Finding Faith in Service 89 Appendix E: Questionnaire Package Finding Faith in Service 90 Finding Faith in Service 91 Finding Faith in Service 92 Finding Faith in Service 93 Finding Faith in Service 94 Finding Faith in Service 95 Finding Faith in Service 96 Finding Faith in Service 97 Finding Faith in Service 98 Finding Faith in Service 99 Finding Faith in Service 100 Finding Faith in Service 101 Finding Faith in Service 102 Finding Faith in Service 103 Finding Faith in Service 104 Finding Faith in Service 105 Finding Faith in Service 106 Finding Faith in Service 107 Finding Faith in Service 108 Finding Faith in Service 109 Finding Faith in Service 110 Finding Faith in Service 111 Finding Faith in Service 112 Finding Faith in Service 113 Finding Faith in Service Appendix F: Focus Group Interview Script 114 Finding Faith in Service 115 Hello friends, Thank you for participating in this focus group. Although only short, I am confident that our time today will have long-term impacts on the way KCS offers service-learning. Today's discussion will be recorded. All recordings will be digitized and kept on my password-protected computer. Backup drives and printed copies of these records will be kept under lock and key. Only myself, and the research supervisor, Adrienne Castellon, will have access to today's conversation. Service-learning has several different definitions, but Janet Eyler and Dwight Giles define it as "...a balance between service to the community and academic learning" (Eyler & Giles, 1999, p.4). Although this is one definition, part of today's discussion is to uncover the outcomes you have experienced from service-learning as teachers, especially around faith formation because of service-learning? The purpose of our discussion will be around understanding the inhibitors and motivations for teachers when it comes to offering service-learning to students at KCS. Additionally, we'll be discussing what makes service-learning effective for faith formation. You are under no obligation to share anything you do not feel comfortable sharing. You may withdraw from this group at any time, and no reason is required to justify your withdrawal. Furthermore, if you have any questions or concerns after our time today, feel free to contact me. My role today will be to facilitate the conversation. I will be taking field notes during the discussion and maybe asking clarifying questions; however, my primary focus will be listening and observing the conversation. Please remember to keep our conversation confidential. Also, please do not share anything you are not comfortable sharing within this setting. Thank you again for taking time out of your day to help with this research. Questions: 1. What is your understanding of service-learning, and how could it be used in the faith formation of students? 2. Have you provided a service-learning experience for your students? If so, what have you learned? What would you do differently, and what would you keep? Finding Faith in Service 116 3. What are the obstacles inhibiting you from offering service-learning or limiting the impact of service-learning on your students? 4. What resources would enable you to offer service-learning? What elements must be in place? Thank you for participating in this research on understanding what makes service-learning effective for student learning and faith formation. Your participation will help us to improve future service-learning experiences for KCS students. If you would like a copy of the results, please contact me and I will provide you with a copy. If you have any questions or desire further information concerning this study, you may contact Ian Sharp at ian.sharp@kelownachristian.ca or 250-979-7914. If you have any concerns about your treatment or rights as a research participant, please contact Elizabeth Kreiter in the Office of Research, Trinity Western University at 604-513-2167 or researchethicsboard@twu.ca. Thank you again for your participation in this research, Ian Sharp References: Eyler, J., & Giles Jr., D. E. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? Jossey-Bass.