Service Learning Framework

The goal of the service learning framework is to establish greater awareness of national and local issues; beginning with the indigenous societies framework. This looks to establish a greater awareness of the culture of indigenous communities and the difficulties they face in the modern world. 

The goal of this framework is to be able to educate students on all of Thailand's indigenous communities, with the hope that if many schools took small actions to support them, it would cumulate to a big difference. Currently, we are able to offer a service learning framework focused on the Moken community of the Andaman. This community have been active in the Andaman for nearly 4000 years and are now facing cultural extinction. If you wish to have access to this curriculum, overviews can be downloaded in the relevant section of the website. For full lessons and curriculum outlines please get in contact. All resources are free, and we may be able to produce content specifically for your needs.

What is the WeMAD Service Learning Framework?

DREAM 

We ask students to both DREAM and Think Small, two things which don't often align. However, our DREAM skills are the overarching concepts which encompass the five stages of service learning, along with the skills and attributes we hope students will learn, embody and execute during our programme. 

DREAM stands for:

Discover Reflect Educate Activate Maintain

Discover - learn about global, national, and local issues. Focusing on environmental and social issues relating to indigenous communities in Thailand, through taught curriculums and personal research.

Reflect - consider how these issues are related to the school and you personally. How is our community, and ourselves as individuals, complicit and responsible in allowing/causing/benefitting from these issues? 

Educate - using our knowledge, educate others, spread awareness about issues, solutions, and responsibilities.

Activate - produce active solutions to problems. What can we personally, or the school, do to improve these problems on a localised level that will make a small but real difference?

Maintain - in what ways are our solutions sustainable when we are removed from the equation - what models and frameworks can help maintain the solutions to continue benefitting the communities? 

Think Small

A leading principle in the framework is that students, and schools, need to think small. Every global issue or local problem should be approached with realism and limitations. Although we want to make big changes to the world, we do this by all making very small changes and solutions. If every student and staff member were able to make a very small difference, our collective difference has a greater impact. Think Small is a driving force behind maintainable outcomes for indigenous communities; if we are all saying and doing something we can change a small part of the world.