Curricular service learning (also known as community engagement and active global citizenship) is an excellent and practical way to transform learning via relevant, experiential, community-based and inquiry-based experiences. In an era of complexities and challenges, the question becomes: How can we approach schooling in innovative, creative and transformative ways to empower students to shape the present and future in positive, hopeful ways?
In this advanced 2-day deep dive workshop, you'll explore service learning, storytelling, and community engagement tools and approaches. YCIS Pudong Student service leaders will engage with educators in parts of this deep dive so we can co-learn, co-design, and co-create solutions where student leadership, agency, and voice are the foundation for learning and action. This modelling is designed to showcase how you can replicate such an activity in your own community.
This workshop is ideal for educators and leaders looking to advance their expertise and practices, ensuring service learning is deeply embedded in school community culture and woven into the fabric of the holistic student experience.
Key themes in this workshop are:
- Transformation - Strong emphasis on moving beyond traditional approaches to truly transformative teaching, learning, and community engagement
- Student Leadership & Agency - Significant focus on authentic student voice and the role of students as co-creators and designers of authentic and impactful learning and action
- Systems Thinking - Attention to creating sustainable, school-wide frameworks rather than isolated experiences
- Community Partnerships - Deep exploration of reciprocal community relationships and how to get there
- Critical Mindsets - Integration of critical lenses and frameworks like Triple Well-Being
- Storytelling - Using narrative approaches as both a foundation and tool for service learning
Workshop Outcomes
This 2-day deep dive workshop will provide experienced educators with advanced strategies for using service learning, storytelling, and community engagement to create transformative learning experiences. Unique to this workshop is the involvement of YCIS student service leaders who will co-learn, co-design, and co-create with educators, positioning student leadership, agency, and voice as the foundation for learning and action, and modelling how to replicate this process with your own student service leaders.
The workshop features two modules per day, with each module being approximately 3 hours and divided into two parts. This creates longer, more immersive learning blocks that allow for deeper exploration of complex concepts.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Design transformative service learning experiences that address complex societal challenges while empowering student voice and leadership
- Apply innovative storytelling approaches to enhance reflection and impact measurement in service learning
- Develop frameworks for authentic co-creation with students and community partners
- Create systems that support sustained, transformative service learning beyond isolated projects
- Implement strategies for measuring long-term impact and transformation through service learning
- Build school-wide cultures where service learning is embedded in the community fabric and holistic student experience
Workshop Price & Details
Date: November 14 & 15, 2025 (Thursday & Friday)
Time: 9AM – 4:30PM for both days
Location: Yew Chung International School - Regency Park Campus, Pudong, Shanghai
Early Bird Registration discount is available until Sep. 30th 2025.
ACAMIS Members
$400 USD per person. After September 30, the rate will be changed to $500 USD per person.
Non-members
$500 USD per person. After September 30, the rate will be changed to $600 USD per person.
This is a Certificate Program, 16 Hours of Professional Development will be Awarded.
Workshop Preparation
The facilitator will survey each participant to understand their expectations, assess familiarity with proposed content, and identify case material for all activities and resources. Participants should also prepare for the workshop by listening to this podcast episode from Educators Going Global about service learning, storytelling and active global citizenship.
Program Agenda
The program for each day will be divided into modules, two per day.
Module 1 - Service Learning as Transformative Teaching & Learning
Overview:
This module explores how service learning can move beyond traditional approaches to create transformative experiences that empower students and community stakeholders to respond to complex challenges and shape a hopeful, sustainable future.
Module 2 - From Projects to Partnerships: Authentic Community Engagement
Overview:
This module explores strategies for developing deeper, more reciprocal community partnerships that address root causes and create systemic change, authentic relationships and human connection. Our well-being is profoundly impacted by the ways in which we feel connected to others, and being in community is an essential foundation for health and wellness. This module will help us explore how we can learn from and with community partners to facilitate this type of meaningful conection, as well as intercultural understanding and a more reflective, perceptive and present way of being.
Module 3 - Student-Led Transformation: Beyond Voice to Authentic Leadership
Overview:
This module introduces student service leaders who will work alongside educators to explore frameworks for authentic partnership and co-creation. We will also co-explore frameworks for amplifying student voice and authentic student leadership in service learning. Educators will have an opportunity to listen to student leaders and learn valuable insights about the student perspective and experience, and then will engage in a design challenge with student thought partners.
Module 4 - Building Better Systems: Mindsets and Approaches for Deep and Authentic Engagement
Overview:
In this module, we will explore how to frame and anchor our service learning experiences and programs in sustainable ways that allow for all stakeholders to acknowledge the discomfort that arises from the challenges facing humans and our planet. We will use the Triple Well-Being framework to go beyond the SDGs in processing that discomfort and working towards active, critical hope. How we design our experiences and programs will impact the opportunities students have to think, reflect and connect with others, and the value we place on pausing in order to engage in purposeful, informed, and sustainable action. When we elevate listening and deep learning as essentials for systems change, our service/action/community engagement will be transformed.
Two weeks after the workshop, we will facilitate a group check-in and coaching call to deepen application of strategies, ideas and resources from the workshop, and to reflect on progress, share insights, and discuss questions related to the curriculum design of service learning experiences. This call will serve as a valuable platform for ongoing support, collaboration and learning from and with peers who attended the workshop. Participants will also have the opportunity to join an online community of service learning educators to engage in ongoing dialogue and networking.
Speaker's Biography
Name
LeeAnne Lavender
Learn More About LeeAnne
www.leeannelavender.com
LeeAnne's LinkedIn
Career
Educational Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, International Educator, and Writer
Read LeeAnne's Biography
LeeAnne is an educational consultant, coach and facilitator for international educators. She specializes in storytelling, digital storytelling, service learning and global citizenship, and she loves partnering with schools and teachers to create learning experiences that have impact and lead to deep learning and service as action. She has been an international educator for 20 years and is working on a book for educators called Stories For Good: Storytelling Strategies for Deep Learning and Active Global Citizenship Across All Disciplines.
In addition to working independently as a consultant and coach and offering a range of online courses for educators, LeeAnne is also the Service Learning Program Coordinator for the Association of International Schools in Africa and a storyteller for Inspire Citizens and PeerSphere.
Recommended Hotels
The Dorsett
Address: 800 Hua Mu Road, Pudong new District, Shanghai
Phone Number: +86 21 3852 2222
Email: shirley.wang@dorsetthotels.com
Prices: 600 RMB, Twin bed, including one or two breakfast.
Note: Bus provided by host school. Free laundry and dry clean provided by hotel. 15-20 available rooms.
The Kerry
Address: 1388 Huamu Road, 世纪公园 Pudong
Prices: No preferential rates secured.
Note: Bus provided by host school.
Host School
Yew Chung International School (YCIS) Shanghai Pudong is a leading international school providing a unique blend of Eastern and Western educational approaches through our distinctive Co-Principal and Co-Teaching models. Our school offers a comprehensive international curriculum for students from ages 1-18, fostering global mindedness while maintaining strong connections to Chinese language and culture. YCIS Shanghai Pudong is accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS), ensuring high educational standards across our Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary sections. We are proud of our extremely successful IB Diploma Programme, which prepares our students for entry into top, best-fit universities worldwide. Our diverse and supportive learning community prepares students to be global citizens with the knowledge, skills, and character to succeed in an ever-changing world. At YCIS Pudong, we all belong!
Address: ECE Centre, Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (Pudong) Regency Park Campus, 1817 Huamu Road, Shanghai
Andy Clapperton
Western Co-Principal
Sissy Chen
Chinese Co-Principal
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Refund Policies
If notice of cancellation re the registered participant/sponsor is received:
- 30+ days pre-event: 80% of fee is refundable
- 15-29 days pre-event: 40% of fee is refundable
- Less than 15 days pre-event: no refund
Online PD Programs - No refund will be granted re participants commencing an online PD program and withdrawing part way through. Course material fees (re DiSC surveys, book fees, etc) are not refundable once access is granted.
Refund Due To PD Event CancellationIn the event of cancellation of a conference, workshop or online PD program, we will fully refund the registration or sponsorship fee(s) paid. However, we will be unable to refund any travel, visa or accommodation expenses incurred or course material fees where access has been granted.