"Social Action" Course

I am taking a course called “A Nation’s Argument”, and this is my first Action Project. In this Action Project I have to create my own Declaration of Independence that focuses on a proposal of an Independent Study in addition to all of the courses my school (GCE Lab School) offers. In order to be able to do this I had to study two different Declarations of Independence, from USA and The Democratic Republic of Congo. I also interviewed a friend who has fought for the respect of human rights in Ecuador throughout most of her life. This helped me have a better view of reality itself, concerning human rights and the way humanity approaches them. I also learned about a very special word: unalienable.


I declare that there be an Independent Study called “Social Action” in which students learn how to apply the knowledge acquired in school towards the betterment of their own neighborhood. Service is part of our everyday lives. It is something that helps us forget about ourselves, makes us happy and permits us to learn from others. Service gives meaning to what we study by seeing how it can be applied to improve people’s lives. For these reasons I believe that service is imperative for every single human being.


The purpose of this independent study course, “Social Action”, is to use the Action Projects we have developed in school to improve the atmosphere in which we live.

Content

• In this course we will learn to interpret the signs of the times to understand the needs of our communities
• This course starts with an introduction, where students learn about the importance of helping their community, and of how it should be done for it to be most effective.
• We will learn how to have meaningful conversations with a variety of people in our communities to learn from them and be able to serve them better
• We will learn how to recognize and apply certain concepts like the search for truth, beauty and prosperity to our surroundings.

Logistics

• This course is to be given at the beginning of each year, every year. It consists of a short study phase at the beginning of the school year to study the introduction, and an implementation phase of the Action Project itself, which lasts about 5 months. 
• Halfway through the year at the latest, students should have already chosen an Action Project they have developed to start working on.
• The Action Projects chosen must be from that same year.
• The reason of why this course is so long (5 months on the Action Project only!) is because the key to learning through the Action Project  is to give it time to develop. While we are developing our project in our communities, we are constantly implementing and learning from each experience we have. I have chosen this because I believe that the only way to learn how to really create a positive influence on people is through constant action sustained over time.

This course has many different options of coursework, students can choose any Action Project they have developed so far (halfway through the year).This course is to be offered at the beginning of the GCE program, to continue throughout the whole program, until the very end; this way students would always have to mold at least one of their Action Projects in a way where they could use them for the service of their community. Students are to choose one Action Project they have developed that year, internalize and reflect on its purpose, and think of ways of using it for the betterment of their community This is to be done every year. The only requisite is to use their Action Projects in a positive way of action towards their community by developing an organized project(s). The Guiding Question for this course will be “How can I use the Action Projects I have developed so far this year to help my community overcome their issues and progress both spiritually and materially?”

I would like to say that among my unalienable rights, I have the right to study and learn. Therefore I think that with this course, I will be fully exercising this right, by both being able to take all of the apprenticeships that I have gained from the other courses I have studied and putting them in action by helping my community, and understanding the reality of other people’s lives so that we can help them better. It is true that we can serve others without linking that service to what we study, but our service becomes more effective when we learn to apply science to help resolve community issues. I believe it is necessary for me to write this Declaration because this way, students may be able to exercise their unalienable right to study and learn through Social Action, helping the community they live in,  learning by being in constant action to help resolve the issues their community is facing, and thus influencing their community in a positive way. I think that the purpose of school is to exercise the ability of both children and youth to reason in the most essential sciences and arts, permitting them to take these apprenticeships to real-life situations. I would like to emphasize this last phrase, “take these apprenticeships to real-life situations”, given that I consider this to be of utmost importance, for it is the difference between studying only and learning. School is a place for students and teachers alike to progress both materially and spiritually, and I believe that the Social Action course would thereby fit in our school curriculum perfectly.

Course objectives: By taking this course students will...

• Constantly seek to understand the issues that affect their neighborhood.
• Consciously identify ways their action projects can be potential small development projects.
• Develop their Action Project even further, to respond to the needs they have detected in their communities.
• Communicate their achievements in their school blog.

Resource List

For my course I will need a teacher, a workshop/classroom, and a study guide that they can work in with Google Drive, where students may write notes of how their project is developing for their teacher to see. 

Premise 1: Service is essential in our everyday life.

Premise 2: Our knowledge achieves its highest purpose when used to help others.

Premise 3: All of the action projects in GCE courses can potentially help students fulfill the highest purpose of education.

Conclusion: Therefore, students should take this course to help others in an organized and efficient way by applying the Action Projects they have developed throughout their courses to projects that help respond to their neighborhood’s issues.

I hereby declare that there be an Independent Study where students can learn to use the knowledge they have acquired in school to help others. For what I believe is an unalienable right I declare this to the head board members of GCE and anyone who stands opposed to this idea.