A guide for Service Learning Institutionalization of a career

Through SL, students improve their performance in knowledge, skills, pabilities, abilities, attitudes and values, while acting as citizens committed to theenvironment inwhich they interact. This methodology conciliates in common objectives the learning approach of the formal education sector with the social action approach of the informal sector. And in SL practices, educational institutions actively collaborate with organizations of the social milieu. In short, Service Learning is an original combination of two elements: experience based learning and community service. The novelty lies in the interweaving of these two elements, not in the mere presence of each of them, which are widely known in formal and informal education. Regarding the structure and content of this Guide, it is doubly divided into 4 stages: Stage I: beginning of institutionalization; Stage ii: diagnostic; stage iii: design and implementation proposal, and Stage iv: implementation and assessment. Andwe say doubly since the index of contents shows these Stages twice: the first of them provides the theoretical bases and contents that will allow us to adequately address the second part of the text: Practical tools for SL institutionalization in a career. Without being experts on the subject, we believe that this sequence guarantees a sustained and efficient progress, whichwill allow thosewhomake use of this Guide to fulfill the objectives it pursues. On the other hand, it is important tomention some relevant points to consider in order to better contextualize this Guide. Perhaps the most important is that it, insomeway, responds to thePope’s call tous as aUniversidadCatólica to dialogue with the communities, to learn from them, and to strive for quality teaching at the service of solving the problems of the country. Furthermore, incorporating SL into a course and curricular program guarantees that, in addition to students developing a public/social commitment, they have a quality, challenging,

and in-context learning experience with a lot of learning at stake, in order to generate an authentic learning experience, immersed in a reality and seeking deep and lasting learning. An additional element to be mentioned is the value of institutionalization (model with stages and concrete actions to incorporate SL into the curriculum) offered by the Guide, as well as the possibility of adapting the model to the characteristics of the academic unit. In addition, institutionalization ensures that all graduates go through SL courses and develop other skills specific to the nature of each career. In this sense, it is expected that all UC students will have and approve at least 3 experiences of SL courses, given the value that SL has in the formationof theUCgraduate and its relationship with the distinctive mark and integral formation. In summary, SL is a great opportunity to demonstrate from the classroom the public commitment of students to experience real problems; and we have no doubt that this Guide for the institutionalization of Service Learning of a career will be a fundamental support for the achievement of the objective of this initiative, which is now in its 14th year of development and committed work.

Ignacio Sánchez D. RECTOR UC

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