Abstract

Trainers from the Oregon Commission on Volunteer Action and Service wanted a more fun and effective way to teach AmeriCorps rules during orientation of new members. With that goal in mind, Kathleen Joy, the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission on Volunteer Action and Service wrote a song called, "This Work is our Work! We are AmeriCorps! (Disallowed Activities Blues)". The song has been used in trainings in Oregon and American Samoa since 2000.

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Issue

New AmeriCorps members receive an orientation during which AmeriCorps rules, regulations, and "disallowed activities" are shared. Trainers from the Oregon Commission on Volunteer Action and Service wanted a more creative way to instill this knowledge, instead of merely reading the list of rules to new members.

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Action

Knowing that a basic tenet of adult learning theory is that the more hands-on and engaging a learning activity is, the more likely the learner is to retain the information, trainers developed a new learning activity. Instead of merely reciting the rules, regulations, and disallowed activities for new AmeriCorps members, Kathleen Joy, the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission on Volunteer Action and Service, wrote a song called, "This Work is our Work! We are AmeriCorps! (Disallowed Activities Blues)." The lyrics are sung to the familiar tune of "This Land is Your Land." See the "Source Document" section for the lyrics to the song.

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Context

This training activity has been used during orientation of new AmeriCorps members in Oregon and American Samoa.

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Citation

Disclaimer:

"This Land is Your Land," words and music by Woody Guthrie. ©1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI) Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). The Effective Practices Collection is a non-profit project funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service. No commercial gains will be generated by the contents of this website.

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Outcome

The Oregon Commission on Volunteer Action and Service reports that members actually have fun learning about the rules and "disallowed activities," something the Commission had never seen before they used this song to share the information. The training song has also been used in workshops on training as an example to emphasize developing training activities that are creative and engaging.

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Evidence

Those who have used the song as a teaching tool report that training participants remember the activity, which is a good indication they have learned something from it. Trainers report that members remember the song (and hence the rules) months and even years later.

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Posted On

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For More Information

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Source Documents

Related Practices

• Demonstrating the goals of AmeriCorps service

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