Who? What? How?

This resource was created by the Education Northwest/Bank Street College (BSC) training team. Education Northwest/Bank Street College has been a Training and Technical Assistance provider for AmeriCorps*VISTA since 1998. They design and deliver the Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) and the Supervisor Orientation (SO), as well as other events.

Education Northwest/Bank Street College uses this handout in the Supervisor Orientation. It helps new VISTA supervisors deepen their members' understanding of the cultural groups in their community.

Use this resource to:

• Identify the who, the what and how of your community.
• Help coach your members' community entry process
• Brainstorm community groups to introduce your members to

At the PSO, VISTAs discuss how to successfully enter the culture of their sponsoring organizations. However, they do not discuss community entry. The cultural composition of their communities varies widely. Sponsors and supervisors can best coach community entry for their members.

There are many different cultures in a community that members need to learn about and respect. Culture extends beyond race; it includes religion, age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Begin your community entry discussion by making members aware of the different cultural groups in your community. Which are most closely linked with the member's service assignment?

Click here to access a worksheet that you can use to identify the cultural groups in your community.

Go on to Cultural Effectiveness

Identifying them

Education Northwest/BSC uses this handout in the Supervisor Orientation. It helps new VISTA supervisors focus their member's community entry process.

Use this resource to:

• Identify the cultural groups in your community
• Prioritize groups for members to learn about
• Help coach your members' community entry

By cultural effectiveness, we mean the ability to respond to, affirm, and value people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, and religions in ways that protect and preserve their dignity.

Many members are committed to acting with cultural sensitivity and are skillful at it. But being culturally effective is something we do not want to leave to chance. We need to take an active and explicit role in community entry. We want to ensure members are cross culturally respectful and adept at working with other cultures.

Take a minute to reflect on what we mean by "cultural effectiveness." Click and drag the following phrases into the Effective or Ineffective category.

What does cultural effectiveness look like?

Culturally Effective	Culturally Ineffective
Practice listening and observing	Talk before listening
Recruit a cultural guide or coach	Spend a week learning, then get to work
Commit to learning about the visible and less visible aspects of a culture	Never apologize
Wait, ask permission	Demand
Focus first on strengths and assets	Focus first on challenges and problems
Learn from your mistakes	Never make mistakes

Two resources to help coach members through their community entry are:

• Identifying the aspects and resources of the local culture
• Working with a cultural coach or guide

How to find one

Many people have learned about a cultural community through a mentor or coach. This resource was created by the Education Northwest/Bank Street College (BSC) training team. Education Northwest/BSC has been a Training and Technical Assistance provider for AmeriCorps*VISTA since 1998. They design and deliver the Pre-Service Orientation (PSO) and the Supervisor Orientation (SO), as well as other events.

Education Northwest/BSC uses this handout in the Supervisor Orientation. It helps new VISTA supervisors think about how their members could find and work with a cultural coach or guide in their community.

Use this resource to:

• Identify the benefits of working with a cultural coach
• Guide your members to work with a cultural coach

The second training schedule was contributed by Minnesota Alliance With Youth Promise Fellows Program (Minneapolis, MN), an AmeriCorps*State program whose Promise Fellows work with schools and communities managing tutoring, mentoring and service-learning programs.

Service-learning may mean somewhat different things to different individuals and organizations. But, in its essence, service-learning must have these three elements:

1. Clear learning objectives- Learning must be an intentional and important component.
2. Genuine community needs as its goal- The strength of service-learning is that learning is utilized to make a real difference. It is in the genuineness of the work that young people find the power of learning.
3. Systematic reflection- One of the most powerful and important parts of good service-learning is reflection. For more information on reflection and a wealth of resources, see Using Reflection Activities.

The Promoting Service-Learning Excellence Training Manual is a hands-on guide to service-learning developed by ESD112 and Service-Learning Northwest.

Useful Websites
For much more information and resources about service-learning, visit:

• CNCS Learn and Serve America
• Service-Learning Clearinghouse

Go on to Training and Development Topics

An essential part of service is putting experiences in context and learning to find meanings and take action in the face of adversity.

Reflection in service offers members a way to look back at complex problems through a new lens. Using reflection, members examine their experiences, evaluate them, and apply new insights to future experiences. Members build skills necessary for analyzing and solving problems and developing creative solutions.

If members don't reflect, they will simply report on experiences rather than examine how their actions impact themselves and those they serve. Well-designed reflective activities allow members to acquire a deeper understanding of the world around them and how they can make positive contributions to society.

These resources will help you understand and implement reflection activities.

• Reflection by Design is a Service-Learning Northwest six-step manual for how to organize and facilitate reflection training for members.
• The Reflection Toolkit, from the Northwest Service Academy, has guided discussions, facilitator tips, session plans, and other activities.
• For some background and theoretical framework around reflection as it applies to K-12 service-learning, see Reflection: K – 12 Service-Learning by RMC Research Corp.
• The Need for Reflection includes more information about why reflection is so important, plus tips for conducting reflection activities.
• Reflection Ideas Worth Borrowing features ideas for speaking, writing, multimedia and other reflection activities.
• The Council Process provides instructions for this group reflection technique.
• Group Reading provides a process for staging group readings as a reflection activity.
• Youth Volunteer Resume is a reflection activity designed to help youth volunteers create customized volunteer resumes.
• What's Next, a self-guided tutorial designed to help members explore their transition options, also includes a number of interesting prompts for reflection.

Go on to Promoting Service-Learning

Good intentions and boundless energy don't necessarily translate into successful outcomes. The best initiatives can lead nowhere if there is no vision or a plan to achieve the project's goals. Effective project management consists of visioning, project planning, and facilitation.

Visioning resources

• Visioning is a two-hour training in which participants create vision statements for individual or team projects and learn the value of visioning for leaders and in project planning. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger leadership curriculum.

Facilitation resources

• Facilitation is a one-day training in which participants learn a structure for facilitating team project planning meetings. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger leadership curriculum.
• The Effective Facilitation Training Packet includes information and tips to help members understand the core practices and important skills of an effective facilitator.

Project planning resources

• Project Planning consists of a curriculum and handouts contributed by Service-Learning Northwest, which operates a number of school-based programs in Washington state, that you can use to help members organize their ambitions into actionable plans. This module can be used alone or as part of a larger leadership curriculum.
• One of the most exciting aspects of being a part of a national program is serving together on national service days. Plan your team day using the planning documents above and give your member a calendar of national service days.

Go back to Training and Development Topics

A key component of your training program is providing the information and skills that members need to perform their service effectively. Training should also focus on ensuring members' physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

The Northwest Service Academy/Mt. Adams Center–a small, rural and remote program in Washington that does environmental projects–suggests these tips for wellness trainings:

• Familiarize members with your risk management plan, which details your organization's response to potential risks. These plans vary from one program to another, but all programs should have one. Read an example of the Northwest Service Academy/Mt. Adams Center plan here.
• Give members training in conflict resolution so they are prepared to deal with challenging situations. See the Conflict Resolution page for existing training and tips. Look for additional training resources at the Conflict Resolution Information Source and Association for Conflict Resolution. Your state commission, state CNCS office, or national direct headquarters might have a list of trainers in your area that they can share with you.
• Offer training in cultural issues that goes beyond general diversity awareness and focuses on specific topics that affect your clients. Members need to understand these fundamental issues before they can take action.
• Prepare members for the stress that can result from service. For example, some members will be challenged by living on a limited stipend and will need tips for simple living.
• Consider providing a basic first aid course and CPR training. The American Red Cross can help provide a local trainer.

Some of these resources can also be used with clients, or at the project site.

Useful Websites

• National Mental Health Information Center

Go back to Training and Development Topics

During members' service term, you call on them to take a prominent role in the community: Organizing and facilitating meetings, resolving conflicts, understanding all the stakeholders' perspectives, setting an example with attitude and action, following through on commitments, etc. Taken together, these skills amount to one thing: Leadership.

The training modules below can be used as stand-alone half-day training sessions or as part of a multi-day leadership training for members. You can also pass along these modules to your member leaders so that they can replicate these trainings for additional member and service site audiences.

Getting started:

Expectations and Agreements–Learn how to encourage a group to lay the foundation for their learning environment.

Life Maps–Participants get to know one another through this activity in which they chart the path that led them into service.

Balloon Castles–Participants learn about themselves as communicators, team members, and leaders through this activity.

Leadership Compass–Participants learn how their personality preferences lend themselves to leadership styles.

Skill Building:

Facilitation–Participants learn a structure for facilitating team project planning meetings.

Visioning–Participants create vision statements for individual or team projects and learn the value of visioning for leaders and in project planning.

Project Planning–Participants engage in a structured process for inclusive team planning of service projects.

Asset-Based Community Development–Participants learn how they can serve as a convener of community members and a catalyst for change.

Interpersonal Leadership Skills:

Coaching–Participants learn approaches to coaching others in a learning environment.

Situational Leadership–Participants learn about themselves and others as they pass through various stages of enthusiasm and competence in a given situation.

Conflict management–Strategies for easing conflict in team settings.

Go back to Training and Development Topics

Members will face many situations where teamwork plays a critical role: whether it's working together on an environmental project that requires lots of strong hands or inspiring young people to collaborate on a community service project.

By not providing opportunities for cooperation, we run the risk of further polarizing people, increasing misunderstandings, and sabotaging our own best efforts at implementing positive change.

Using games and other collaborative activities in trainings can be a great way for members to practice cooperation.

A list of "do's":
When modeling the exercises, it's important to:

1. Be playful at the right times.
2. Believe in people and focus on the positive.
3. Understand that many group members may be reluctant to join in or may be afraid of "looking stupid."
4. Emphasize that the leader is willing to take the same risks as the other participants-he or she plays as well as facilitates.
5. Be willing to relax and have fun.

These resources can help you successfully facilitate game activities:

• Stages of a Game outlines essential components of any game activity and includes useful tips for facilitating games in training.
• Leave It at the Stream illustrates how to use "feed-forward" instead of feedback to get good results.

See Member Team Projects for ideas and resources for projects that further develop teamwork while getting the job done.

For additional team tools, visit Teampedia, a collaborative encyclopedia of team building activities, icebreakers, teamwork resources, and tools for teams that anyone can edit.

Go on to Using Reflection Activities

In the course of their service, members are apt to confront situations that are rife with conflict—whether it is personal, or differences in opinion on approaches to community issues. Conflicts among individuals have derailed many teams and organizations. Conflicts also present a test of leadership, in that it often takes skilled leadership to get the crew back on track.

Use the following resources and training modules to help members learn how to deal effectively with conflict:

Leadership Practices for Conflict Management provides participants a lens to see how they and others approach conflict, as well as strategies for facilitating a resolution to conflict. How to Have a Productive Conflict provides tips for how to behave in a conflict situation.

Useful Websites

• The Resource Center
• Conflict Resolution Information Sources
• Association for Conflict Resolution

Go back to Training and Development Topics

Active citizenship is about personal and community empowerment. It's more than simply casting a ballot in elections, performing service, organizing, or even social action. But together, behaviors, attitudes, and actions define active citizens and help them address community needs and effect positive change.

Well-trained members can be a significant influence and resource in spreading an expanded awareness of active citizenship and civic engagement.

To help you in such training, this section contains two well-developed resources designed by the Northwest Service Academy (NWSA), Washington Service Corps (WSC), and Service-Learning Northwest (SLN):

Roadmap to Civic Engagement–This extensive publication by WSC and SLN offers seven units that "cultivate an understanding of the behaviors, attitudes, and actions that reflect concerned and active membership in a community." The Roadmap provided the structure for 800 AmeriCorps members to civically engage up to 1,000 young people in service-learning projects.

Download individual units that contain meaningful lessons, activities, and reflections. Read an independent evaluation of the Roadmap.

Community Action Project–NWSA requires all members who serve 900 hours or more to lead a Community Action Project (CAP) that speaks to their vision of society. The CAP can be linked to direct service, education and outreach, or policy analysis. It provides an experiential understanding of how an individual can create positive change. Download the CAP Project Proposal Guide and Reporting Form that helps members identify and research projects. The Policy Analysis Projects guides members through planning their projects, building public support, and conducting and concluding the project.

Other Resources:

Another way to fold a continuous civic engagement strand into your yearly training schedule is to regularly bring members together to read and discuss selected readings on civic engagement. See how one program uses their Meaning of Service training in just such a way.

• Does Service Increase Civic Skills? is a research study about the impact of service on civic skills.
• Just Cause is a research study about how to motivate young people to volunteer.
• Oral History Projects includes two trainings designed to create a culture of civic engagement while helping members learn about the communities they serve.

Go back to Training and Development Topics

Adapting style to circumstances

Situational Leadership provides a simple and effective framework for understanding the transformation that takes place as AmeriCorps members and volunteers go from the enthusiastic beginner to the peak performer stage. It also offers strategies for adapting leadership styles to meet changing needs in that process over time.

Use this resource with members to:

• Understand the situational leadership model, including the four stages of the skill development process and the supervision styles that best suit each stage
• Identify the supervisory styles that are most and least natural to them
• Experience using supervisory styles that do not match developmental needs, and practice adapting styles to facilitate better matches with needs

This training module was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Empowering others to perform

In this training module, participants gain an understanding and self-confidence in the basics of coaching and motivating others to perform their best. Participants take home a strategic process for guiding a coaching session.

Use this resource with members to:

• Learn about circumstances in which coaching can bring about benefits
• Practice specific coaching skills
• Identify their strengths and growth opportunities

Coaching was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

A process that underlies planning and change

Visioning is an indispensable skill for leaders to have, as individuals and as members of a team. It's an early step toward getting things done.

Use this resource with members to:

• Learn about the value of visioning in leadership and project planning
• Learn a shared visioning and an individual reflection/vision process
• Develop a vision statement for a project or a personal challenge they are working on

This training module was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Building Consensus and Empowering Others

Effective facilitation is a means to involve all parties and points of view in an empowering process, while demonstrating leadership in action. Learn effective facilitation skills in this one-day training.

Use this resource with members to:

• Define concepts around mindful facilitation and describe how it relates to effective work in their organizations/communities
• Identify problem meeting behaviors (individual and group) and learn effective prevention and intervention strategies
• Identify and practice three key ingredients for effective and mindful facilitation
• Learn and use a feedback cycle that aids teamwork and provides coaching practice

This training module was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

How Approaches Differ

The Leadership Compass provides participants a tool for understanding how they approach work and how it can differ from how others approach work. One key to effective leadership is to be flexible within your own work style and receptive to others whose styles differ from your own.

Use this resource with members to:

• Develop understanding and appreciation of each other's work styles and approaches
• Promote a deeper sense of team and teamwork
• Acquire a tool and language to help members work more effectively in teams and within organizations

This training module was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Facilitating teamwork and active learning

This training module includes an introduction to the DIGA experiential learning model, the ORP (Outcomes, Relationships, Procedure) model and reinforces the group's understanding of these concepts by providing a team-based activity.

Use this resource with members to:

• Learn a model for outcome-driven teamwork
• Engage in a hands-on activity to illustrate concepts of teamwork and planning
• Engage in an experiential learning feedback cycle to evaluate what works and what needs work in a teamwork setting

Balloon Castles was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Self-Awareness is Crucial for Leaders

This is an activity designed to help members of a group get to know one another better. When conducted at the beginning of a leadership training, it builds trust among team members and sets the stage for more indepth later activities.

Use this resource with members to:

• provide opportunity to learn about one another and what they have in common
• provide opportunity to see themselves as a team
• set the stage for more indepth leadership activities

This training module was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Supporting teams and leaders with clear expectations and agreements

This activity is designed to open a training day to lead a group through a democratic process of generating a set of expectations of what they would find most useful in the session and/or training as well as their thoughts on what the process might look like. The group members also compose a set of agreements that set forth the ground rules for a successful learning environment and achieving their expectations.

Use this resource with members to:

• Create an open, safe, and democratic learning environment
• Empower the learners by giving them a voice in how the activities unfold
• Give participants an opportunity to learn about one another and what they have in common
• Provide participants a tool for when they facilitate meetings/trainings in the field

This training activity was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Proactively addressing potential risks

Use this resource to develop or adapt your own risk management plan.

This risk management plan was created by the Northwest Service Academy — Mt. Adams Center to provide guidance for the trainings, preparations, and policies implemented for team leaders, team members, and field staff for all activities related to working in "the field." The Mt. Adams Center is one of the few AmeriCorps programs to offer a residential option with the majority of members serving on field teams focused on environmental restoration.

For more resources on risk management, check out the Nonprofit Risk Management Center.

Insights On Motivating Young People To Volunteer

Contributed by Service-Learning Northwest, this research study's findings conclude that young people are interested in active citizenship but don't always go out of their way to volunteer. The report identifies four themes:

• Role of technology in redefining "community"
• The gap between wanting to volunteer and actually doing so
• The support young people need for volunteering
• Strategies for moving young people from "wanting" to "doing" volunteer work

Insights from research

This resource contains short descriptions of two longer articles on the question, "Does service increase civic skills." Use this resource to learn more about civic engagement and as encouragement to incorporate civic engagement in your member training program.

This document was contributed by Service-Learning Northwest, a program of ESD-112 in Vancouver, WA.

A three-part activity to get members thinking about the underlying principles of the nation

In this activity, developed by Larry Fletch of Service-Learning Northwest, members break down a passage of the Declaration of Independence in an activity to determine what the words mean to them.

Principles of active citizenship as related to AmeriCorps members

Developed by Larry Fletch of Service-Learning Northwest, this four-page document asks the questions, "What is civic engagement and citizenship and why is it important for AmeriCorps members to increase civic engagement competencies? Aren't members civically engaged by virtue of their commitment to service?"

Planning and implementing a Community Action Project

This resource builds on the CAP, Section 1 document and guides members as they analyze policy, plan ways to implement their project, and evaluate the process.

Use this resource for brainstorming a similar project with your program.

This resource was created by the Northwest Service Academy — Lower Columbia Center (NWSA). NWSA addresses critical environmental and educational needs, partnering with 125 community agencies with members serving in individual placements or on field teams.

Implementing the first steps of a Community Action Project

Section 1 introduces the Community Action Project (CAP), in which members select individual projects in the community and implement them. It is the first of the three CAP documents and includes information for members on how to select a project.

Use this resource for brainstorming a similar project with your program.

This resource was created by the Northwest Service Academy — Lower Columbia Center (NWSA). NWSA addresses critical environmental and educational needs, partnering with 125 community agencies with members serving in individual placements or on field teams.

Looking at the effectiveness of the Roadmap tool

Use this resource to learn about how The Roadmap to Civic Engagement was used by practitioners in the field, as well as their level of success.

This executive summary was contributed by Service-Learning Northwest, a program of ESD-112 in Vancouver, WA.

A resource for involving young people

Use this resource to design activities to instill an ethic of service in your younger members, or provide it to your members as a resource for working with youths.

This 200-page resource was contributed by Service-Learning Northwest, a program of ESD-112 in Vancouver, WA.

What the research says about reflection in service-learning

This resource provides a brief summary of the theory and importance of reflection as part of service-learning.

Use this resource to:

• understand the theoretical basis of reflection and its outcomes associated with service-learning
• learn the best practices for supporting reflection
• try the activities presented

Reflection: K-12 Service-Learning is a resource produced for the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

Promoting reflection about community service

Reflection is a crucial part of community service, which allows volunteers to look back on, think critically about, and learn from their service experience. This collection of activities illustrates ways reflection can happen through writing, speaking, listening, reading, drawing, acting, and any other way you can imagine.

Use this resource to:

• Design a reflection activity.
• Learn tips about facilitating a reflection activity.
• Promote journaling as an opportunity for reflection
• Use one of the many "tools" (activities) to promote reflection

The Reflection Toolkit was contributed by the Northwest Service Academy, an AmeriCorps program that addresses critical environmental and educational needs, partnering with 125 community agencies, with members serving in individual placements or on field teams.

Learn how to facilitate meaningful reflection

This manual is designed using the Six-Step Model of Service-Learning Planning and Implementation as the framework for reflective opportunities. The activities have been chosen for their effectiveness at each step of group project planning and are appropriate for people in middle school through adulthood.

Use this resource to:

• guide the planning of service-learning projects
• use these activities at different steps in your project
• adapt the activity to meet the needs of your objectives and your group

Reflection by Design was created by Service-Learning Northwest, a program of the Educational Service District 112 (Vancouver, WA).

Using a visual, team-based approach to planning projects

Use these resources with your members to provide a framework for project planning.

The Project Planning Curriculum contains an agenda and tools to create a solid action plan. The goals of the curriculum are:

• To be able to identify and develop a goal with awareness of the resources, success factors, challenges, and tasks involved
• To encourage group members to collaborate on creating a project plan
• To continue to practice facilitation and group decision-making skills
• To learn how to effectively use the project planning mountain as a strategic planning tool

The Project Planning Handouts are the tools contained in the curriculum, along with an example of what they look like after a planning session.

Both of these documents are in Word, so you can take them apart and customize them for your own program.

The Project Planning resource was contributed by Service-Learning Northwest (Vancouver, WA), which operates a number of school-based programs in Washington state, and was developed by Nicole Trimble.

Managing conflicts and keeping teams on track

Use this resource with members to:

• gain knowledge on how different personalities deal with conflict and will develop strategies for dealing with them.
• reflect upon their own approaches to conflict.
• gain strategies to address conflict and for limiting conflict escalation by engaging one another in an open and respectful way.

This training module provides participants a lens to see how they and others approach conflict, as well as strategies for facilitating a resolution to conflict. Conflict Management was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble.

Learning to look ahead, not back

Use it to help members reflect on the importance of going forward, rather than rehashing missteps and "what should have been."

This resource, adapted from the work of Marshall Goldsmith, was provided by Regional Service Corps (Pasco, WA), an AmeriCorps program that addresses educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities.

Things to be aware of when leading exercises

Games are commonly used in member trainings. This tool explores the dynamics of games and gives facilitators tips on how to be most effective.

This resource was provided by Regional Service Corps (RSC) of Pasco, Washington. RSC members address educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities. Members range from 18 to 70 years old.

Exploring the consequences of negative thoughts

This group exercise uses a series of vignettes and related questions. Use this tool to help members reflect on and discuss how attitudes affect outcomes.

This tool was contributed by Regional Service Corps (RSC, Pasco, WA), an AmeriCorps program that addresses educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities.

A group exercise to improve communication

Use this tool in a group training to promote self-reflection, improve group dynamics, and foster interpersonal relationships.

This exercise was adapted from material supplied by Regional Service Corps (RSC) of Pasco, Washington. The original source of the Johari Window activity comes from http://www.noogenesis.com.

RSC members address educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities. Members range from 18 to 70 years old.

Ensuring host sites provide consistent reviews

Used in conjunction with a member review form, this memo to host site supervisors outlines a schedule for member reviews, along with expectations and procedures.

The memo was created by Regional Service Corps (RSC, Pasco, WA), an AmeriCorps program that addresses educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities.

Helping you track performance throughout the year

Use this form to evaluate members three times a year. It includes sections for supervisor, member, and joint feedback, as well as a "work plan for future growth."

This member review form was created by Regional Service Corps (RSC, Pasco, WA), an AmeriCorps program that addresses educational, social service, and public safety needs through team and individual placements in rural and urban communities.