Service-Learning in Asia: Curricular Models and Practices

9 - International Service-learning: A Singapore Experience

There is a need to look again at what we are educating for and to create learning environments which are attentive to students’ and teachers’ attitudes and which maximize the potential for learning despite individual differences . . . A major component of such learning environments must be opportunities for not only abstract but also experiential learning; that is, learning in which the learner is directly in touch with the realities being studied rather than simply reading about, hearing about, or talking about these realities. — Joint statement of the Association for Experiential Education, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, and the National Society of Internships and Experiential Education (Kendall, 1990, 3) If we were to examine with candor how well traditional study abroad programs fulfill our stated idealistic goals for developing international/intercultural knowledge and understanding, would we find congruence between rhetoric and reality? Or would we admit that, in many cases at least, the program represents a transplanted home campus environment, classroom-based, lecture-oriented, Euro-centered, with little direct and intentional use of the experience of the other country or culture as the curriculum? — Howard A. Berry (1985, 24) Singapore education has emphasized the importance of promoting experiential education, community service, and enrichment activities such as research and a career-related work stint. While great effort has been made to engage youths in community service, it places little emphasis on learning from the experiences gained. On the other hand, as a part of experiential education, service-learning endeavors to combine both service and knowledge, placing an emphasis on learning commensurate with service. According to Howard Berry International Service-learning: A Singapore Experience Dennis Lee 9 Dennis Lee 128 (1988, 3), service-learning is “the union of public and Community Service with structured Intentional Learning.” Service-learning differs from community service in three ways. First, service-learning programs explicitly foster participants’ learning about the larger social issues behind the human needs to which they are responding. This includes understanding the historical, sociological, cultural, and political contexts of the need or issue being addressed. Service-learning programs may have several types of learning goals in this reflective component—intellectual, civil, ethical, moral, cross-cultural, career, and personal. However, the needs of the host community, rather than of the learning goals, come first in defining the service, and the community defines those needs. An international servicelearning experience might help youth see issues from a global perspective. This is helpful for developing the skills and awareness needed for responsible global citizenship. Thus, the “community” in the definition of international service-learning programs can refer to the local neighbourhood as well as state, national, or international communities. International service-learning programs build structures (e.g., pre-service preparation, seminars, group discussions, journals, readings, debriefs) that actively support participants to learn from their service experiences. The second factor that distinguishes service-learning from community service is an emphasis on reciprocity. Reciprocity is the exchange of giving and receiving between the “server” and the person or group being served. Servicelearning avoids the traditionally paternalistic, one-way approach to service in which one person or group has the resources, which they share charitably or voluntarily with the person or group that lacks resources. In service-learning, those being served control the service provided. The needs of the community determine what the service tasks will be. It is this reciprocity that creates a sense of mutual responsibility and respect between individuals in the servicelearning exchange, which avoids the ever-present pitfall of paternalism disguised under the name of service. Do those served grow as persons; do they become healthier, wiser, freer, and more autonomous, or further deprived? The aim of the participants’ service should be the collaborative development and empowerment of those served. It is this form of exchange that fosters a sense of responsibility between participants and is a building block for them to show esteem for one another. Third, in service-learning, all are learners and have significant control over what is learned. The learning needs of the participants must be negotiated and well matched with the needs of the host organization. The critical task is making sure that services rendered are not overwhelmed by the learning tasks. Often, unplanned learning will occur that will challenge value assumptions and require International Service-learning 129 thoughtful reflection and sharing with others. This third factor emphasizes that every participant in a service-learning program is a learner...