Benefits and challenges in integrating service-learning of social sciences subject in higher education

Tóm tắt

Service-Learning (SL) is an educational approach integrating learning through experiences with community service. Several higher education institutions in Vietnam are gradually adopting this approach in recent years, although SL has been widely applied in the Western education system since the 1990s. By doing a narrative literature review, this paper aims to clarify the benefits and challenges of embedding SL in training social science subjects in high education, especially regarding mechanisms to promote participation among relevant stakeholders, including lecturers, communities and students. Through the analysis, the benefits of SL are well-equipping students with the basic knowledge of the subjects, methodology and commitment to civic responsibility. Service-Learning allows educational institutions and lecturers to enhance efficacy, effectiveness and performing social responsibility. Community members directly benefit from SL projects. Some challenges in applying SL include the need for clarity in distinguishing between volunteer work, internships and SL, resulting in the inaccurate assessment of the roles and the concerns of different stakeholders in SL. Regarding participation, there are two main challenges. The first challenge concerns organising work and effective communication between the community, universities and students. The second is about stakeholder engagement and their actual performance in SL cooperation. This paper proposes setting up an SL department as a facilitator for supporting lecturers, connecting relevant departments in the University and connecting the University with the community.