Service Learning: A brief introduction

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“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”  - Dr. Jose Rizal.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn" - Benjamin  Franklin

The two classical clichés above are the main inspiration for instigating service learning initiatives in my own little way. Globalization highlights global citizenship, which further challenges the education sector to strike the balance between character building for nation building and moral formation for social accountability. The nationwide implementation of the senior high school across the country further, on the other hand, poses the challenge to the basic education sector to develop among the learners the 21^st century skills to prepare them for a working environment and opportunities whose rules and expectations have not been defined yet. Within this perspective, we can consider that as society evolves so are the nature of the learners and therefore educators must adapt strategies that address their emerging needs, including being a more active participant in the global community. In today’s era when teaching and learning are designed based on standards rather than short-term objectives, it is imperative to also innovate practices to encourage commitment to social concerns – a difficult task in a society characterized by consumerism and competition. 

           Service learning provides the bridge between academic development and civic responsibilities. As what former US senator and astronaut John Glenn has said, “By its very definition, civic responsibility means taking a healthy role in the life of one’s community, state and nation. That means that classroom lessons should be complemented by work outside the classroom. Service learning does just that, tying community service to academic lessons.” Therefore the challenge how to address the ethical, social values and virtues, as Kenan (2009) has pointed out, not only for educators but for everyone who is interested in the education of next generations.  

In the traditional value infusion in the life sciences, environmental advocacy and health concerns are the predominant themes. However, biology is now considered an interdisciplinary area whose practical applications encompass almost all of human endeavors. My goal is not really to talk about SL as if I really understand it but to sell the idea that we can make a difference and something good out of SL. I do hopes to promote the centrality of biology’s role in today’s world through service learning. At the same time, through service learning, engaging in biological studies could provide a wider perspective that biology, as a career and field of expertise, is not limited to the medicine or health allied courses and research work. The objectives of my succeeding posts would be (1) to clarify the definition of service learning (SL), how it differs from community outreach, (2) to elucidate the benefits of applying SL as a teaching approach, as an interdisciplinary course or as a capstone project, (3) to suggest ways how to incorporate SL in biology subjects in high school, and (4) to justify how SL enable the teaching of biology to address the NGSS science and engineering practices and the 21^st century skills.