Transforming perspectives : service learning and global citizenship education in the Philippines

Abstract

Service learning is a pedagogical approach that has gained popularity in recent decades among institutions of higher education. It is a credit-bearing experiential learning whereby students are asked to respond to identified community needs through practical application of course content and to make sense of these experiences through the process of reflection. At its best, this community-embedded academic practice can provide meaningful, relevant, and structured opportunities for global citizenship education. However, additional research is needed to examine what civic identity and sense of agency get to develop in service learning. Studies are also few on the teaching-learning process of service learning. There are likewise limited studies that consider the perspectives of different participants of service learning even if the essence of this pedagogical approach is based on mutual recognition and reciprocity among the students, faculty, and community. Hence, this study aimed to (1) examine the civic identity fostered when service learning is used as a pedagogical approach for personal and social transformation; (2) look into the sense of agency enacted through service learning; (3) evaluate the teaching-learning process involved as to how personal transformation (changed agents) can turn into social transformation (agents of change in society). Using multi-sited ethnography as a method of inquiry, study participants were from students, faculty-in-charge, and communities of the following course subjects: (1) Moral Development and Education and (2) Theology of Social Justice and Peace as part of the service learning program in education of Miriam College; (1) The Health Professional as an Administrator and (2) A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision as part of the service learning program in health of Ateneo de Manila. Data were gathered and analyzed from observation notes during classroom and field visits, narratives from reflective journals of students, and transcripts from semi-structured interviews of study participants. Findings suggest that service learning, particularly if critical or change-oriented in approach, could foster a civic identity, which is authentic to respond in solidarity for social change. This is because such a service learning could bring about a sense of agency when students, faculty, and members of the community are given meaningful, relevant, and structured opportunities to concretely act on pressing issues in society. Furthermore, personal transformation could turn into social transformation in such a service learning when the perspectives of others are considered through teaching-learning opportunities for reflection and mentoring. However, these findings may not be generalizable even though this study was carried out as a multi-sited ethnography. Other factors may have also contributed to the civic development characterized in the above service learning programs. Nonetheless, these findings have theoretical and practical implications for educational research and practice as they can offer valuable insights on the usefulness of service learning for global citizenship education.