Working for the good of the community is the best way to contribute to one’s own personal growth, as numerous experiences of service learning around the world demonstrate (e.g.:[4]). It is on these foundations that the pedagogical proposal of Service-Learning is based. Service-Learning (SL) is part of the broad body of teaching methodologies, which enhances the development of innovative teaching dynamics that operationalize the relationship between theory and practice in a symbiotic way, bringing learning processes and service actions closer to the community [2]. This methodology is integrated into the academic curriculum, simultaneously satisfying social and knowledge needs, facilitating the learning of course contents and the development of personal and professional skills (Rodriguez-Gallego, 2014), seeking to offer students contextualized learning experiences, based on authentic and real situations, in their communities. Thus, the community is used as a resource for learning to make students realize the broader value and usefulness of academic lessons provided by traditional disciplines [1], but also benefits from the knowledge that universities provide to. In the scope of service-learning experiences, several trends exist, since more secular perspectives to highly spiritual experiences, in which service is more than an application toward a situation but a way to enacting a sense of purpose and care toward marginalized people in the limits of its human dignity. In this paper, we explore an experience of service learning, discussing its boundaries and applications in the scope of Ignatian pedagogy.

Author: Catarina Vieira da Silva

Published in: Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE-2023)

• Date of Conference: 24-26 October, 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/IICE.2023.10.0014
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-68-6
• Conference Location: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland