Service Learning: Fostering a Cycle of Caring in Our Gifted Youth

Service learning, a method of instruction that combines learning with service to the community, can foster mutual respect and caring between gifted students and their communities. Using examples from various service learning experiences conducted by young gifted adolescents, the authors relate how service learning can be instrumental in infusing the qualities of caring in gifted youth. A K-12 best-practice model for service learning that incorporates the Creative Problem Solving process, the cognitive apprenticeship model, cooperative learning, reflection, and celebration is described.