Redesign of a Service-learning Social Entrepreneurship Program for High School Students Part I

Abstract

Started as a program in 2003 and then incorporated as a nonprofit in 2008, each year, LearnServe has taken students of diverse backgrounds from the Washington, DC area to experience a summer of international service-learning and social entrepreneurship. However, the students who travel abroad are not always prepared to go or able to successfully complete the post-trip activities. With experiences of extreme homesickness and severe culture shock, a lack of true social empowerment projects during the trip, and a lack of engagement in social entrepreneurship after the trip, the program directors realized there was a need to improve the LearnServe curriculum. The aim was to create an improved educational experience that prepares students to travel, engages them during the trip, and creates sharing and entrepreneurial opportunities afterwards. This paper presents the design research and prototyping work completed to redesign this service-learning program so that it meets its goals for success, more effectively preparing students to have a successful service-learning trip abroad and engaging social entrepreneurship work upon return.