NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2

Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto

SERVI
CE-
……..LEARNING
OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………………………..

At the end the chapter, the student will be able to:

LEARN
1. Understand how service-learning leads to effective community intervention and active participation;
2. Recognize the different strategies applied or adopted in community services and intervention; and

ING
3. Appreciate the spirit behind service-learning and community involvement.

……..OVERVIEW………………………………………………………………………………………………
….

This chapter deals with the guidelines and procedures of community service-learning. It integrates meaningful
community service and reflection to enrich the students’ learning experience and social development.

……..LECTURE…………………………………………………………………………………………….
………

Service-learning provides students the opportunity to work with others, gain valuable insights, and acquire
different skills. Through varied community projects, they can apply what they have been taught in class by
formulating appropriate solutions to the problems they encounter in their chosen communities.

An enrollees of NSTP-CWTS 2, students can use the insights that they gain in the classroom and provide
solutions to real-life problems in the community. They become bona fide members of their assigned
communities as they render service and perform acts like the following:

1. Analyze the effect of natural disasters and use a kit to gather important items during disaster preparation.
Elementary students can design and distribute these kits to the members of the community.
2. High school students can closely monitor the effects of poor nutrition and lack of exercise by organizing
health-related activities, concoct nutrition recipes, and putting up fruits and vegetables stands in the
schools in the community.
3. To eliminate invasive aquatic species, biology majors can study the complexity and diversity of
wetlands. Streams can also be monitored and the results presented to the class.
4. University students can help struggling local non-profit organizations cope with difficult economic
conditions. Students who are enrolled in communication-related courses can provide varied public
relations services with community partners, develop press kits and provide assistance in holding events.

Characteristics of Service-learning

The common characteristics of service-learning include the following:

1. It brings good, substantial, and practical results for the participants.

2. It promotes cooperation rather that competition where the skills associated with teamwork and active
community involvement are developed.
3. It gives appropriate rather than simplified solutions to problems seriously affect the community.
4. It provides real-life experiences wherein students gain knowledge from a particular community
engagement activity rather than from a textbook. Through these direct experiences, service-learning

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto
offers great opportunities for students to develop their critical thinking skills and learn how to identify
relevant and emerging issues in community settings.
5. It gives students a deeper understanding of concepts and real-life situations in the community through
immediately observable results.
6. Through an immediate understanding of a situation in the community, service learning becomes a more
significant experience for students leading to their emotional and social development and cognitive
learning.

Service-learning is NOT:

1. An episodic volunteer program

2. An add-on-course to an existing school or college curriculum
3. Logging a set of community service hours in order to graduate
4. Compensatory service assigned as a form of punishment by the courts or by school administrations
5. Only for high school or college students
6. One-sided, that is, beneficial only to the students or the community

The distinctive element of service-learning is that it enhances the community through the service provided,
and also results in the educational improvement of the students and the other people providing the service.
Service-learning is rapidly growing and becoming popular because of its powerful impact on people and their
development. It is a dynamic process, through which the students’ personal and social growth are tightly
interwoven into their academic and cognitive advancement. According to Eyler and Giles (1999), the service-
learning model enhances understanding and leads to more effective action.

Service-learning Theory

Service-learning is a form of experiential education wherein learning occurs through cycles of action and
reflection. Students work with others in applying what they have learned in class to solve community problems
while, at the same, reflecting upon their experiences as they seek to attain their goals for the community and a
deeper understanding and skills for themselves (Eyler and Giles, 1999).

Legal Bases of Service-learning

Service-learning is based on RA 8292, also known as the Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997. This
law reiterates Section 2 (1)of Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution by declaring that the “policy of the state is to
establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs
of the people and the society.” This policy can be attained through the HEI’s trilogy of functions – academics
(teaching and learning), research and extension (community service) – and their keeping in mind of their legal
responsibility to act as effective agents of change and development.

HEIs on Service-learning

One of the trifocal functions of the university is community extension. According to Tariman (2007), its duty
to the youth is to make them literate and functional, so they can make good decisions regarding the problems
affecting their health, families, and duties and responsibilities to the community. They should be provided with
opportunities for cooperative undertakings affecting the welfare of the entire community, so they can develop
into young men and women who look upon their own interests in terms of the welfare of others.

Benefits of Service-learning

Service-learning has potential benefits to the students, faculty and community.

Students in service-learning classes can be benefit academically, professionally, and personally. They will:

1. Increase their understanding of the class topic

2. Gain firsthand experience (possibly leading to a future internship or job)
REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT
Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto
3. Question or defend values and beliefs
4. Have the opportunity to act on values and beliefs
5. Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills
6. Increase their knowledge of diverse cultures and communities
7. Learn more about social issues and their causes
8. Improve their ability to handle difficult situations
9. Be open to change and become more flexible
10. Develop or enhance their skills, especially in the areas of communication, collaboration, and leadership
11. Test out the skills, interests, and values required in a potential career path and learn more about their
field of interest
12. Connect with professionals and community members who will also learn from the service-learning
program
13. Grow a professional network of people, whom they can contact later for career growth
14. Be encouraged in joining public service or social organizations

There are personal and professional benefits that faculty members can derive from integrating service-learning
into the courses they handle. Their decision to teach SPL classes can:

1. Promote interactive teaching as well as reciprocal learning between them and their students
2. Provide new concepts and subjects that will enrich the class
3. Open up new areas of concern for research
4. Motivate their students to engage in active learning and be exposed to varied teaching styles
5. Enable their students to learn more and further develop themselves
6. Increase enrollment by giving the proper motivation to highly engaged and active students
7. Enhance the leadership potential of their students
8. Expose their students to networking with active faculty members in other disciplines
9. Promote quality relationships between them and the members of the community or the institution; this
will facilitate collaborative endeavors.
10. Offer firsthand information or concepts and opportunities for community involvement; this will help
them understand and resolve issues.

Community partners involved in service-learning can:

1. Receive additional human resource assistance that can expedite the achievement of organizational goals
2. Inspire a higher level of enthusiasm, perspective and energy
3. Improve the organization’s pool of volunteers; students engaged in service-learning will boost their own
morale; this will lead them to share their experiences with their classmates and friends
4. Enhance public awareness regarding significant issues confronting the community
5. Ensure future support for the organization
6. Make students well informed regarding issues in the community; community partners can also enlighten
them regarding common misconceptions
7. Prepare the youth of today, particularly students, to become tomorrow’s responsible community leaders
8. Establish strong networks with partners in other organizations and agencies
9. Gain access to the other resources of the university and strengthen collaborative ties with its faculty
members, students and staff.

Guidelines and Procedures

A. PREPARATORY STAGE
Faculty members interested in conducting service-learning must see to it that the service0learning
program (SLP) is indicated in the syllabus.
1. The students and faculty members are both responsible for the selection of the community or
institution.
REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT
Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto
2. The faculty member must submit a letter of intent to the college dean through the chairman or the
head of SLP.
3. The faculty member will write a letter of intent and request for permission to conduct a SLP to the
selected community or institution
4. The students who will join the SLP must secure a waiver from the office of student affairs (OSA) to
be signed by their parents or guardians.

B. IMPLEMENTATION STAGE
1. The students and the supervising faculty member of the SLP are required to wear the prescribed
school identification card (ID) and college T-shirt and observe decorum while in the community or
institution.
2. The students and faculty member on the SLP shall cover their perspective transportation,
communication, and meal expenses during the period.
3. The faculty member or the assigned group leaders shall take responsibility for all communications
and coordination with the partner community or institution in relation to the SLP.
4. The college dean or the head of the program will conduct spot monitoring or follow-up of students
involved in the SLP to determine the actual and current status of the program.
5. In case the faculty member in-charge will be absent, he/she must inform and ask permission from the
college dean to find another faculty member as substitute to supervise the students.

C. POST-ACTIVITY EVALUATION STAGE

1. The students must submit a narrative report with pictorial documentation and reflection paper to the
faculty member. The report must be hardbound, follow the required format, and submitted fifteen
days (15) after the SLP activity.
2. The faculty member will evaluate student’s narrative report using the assessment tool that is
designed for this activity. The performance of the students will be evaluated using the same rubrics.
The two evaluation results will be added and then divided by two. Its average will be the grade of the
SLP student, representing ten percent (10%) of the total computed grade for the term.
3. The college/university through the chairman or head of the program must conduct an exit conference
with the community or institution beneficiaries/leaders to assess the service-learning program (SLP)
implemented.
4. A certificate of SLP completion shall be issued by the college/university upon the written request of
the faculty member in charge.
5. The college/university shall issue a certificate of appreciation to the cooperating community or
institution upon the completion of the service-learning activities.

……..CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………………………………..
.

Service-learning is applied in a wide variety of settings, including schools, universities, and community- and
faith-based organizations. It can involve a group of students, a classroom, or an entire school. Students build
character and become active participants as they work with others in their school and community in various
service projects designed for the development of education, public safety, and the environment.

Service-learning provides an important service to the community. Students develop an understanding of actual
social, political, economic, and environmental issues in their assigned communities.

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto

…….APPLICATION……………………………………………………………………………………………

Name ________________________________________________Course and Level _________________

Facilitator _____________________________________________Date _____________________________

A. Relate the following questions to real-life situations and write your answers on the space below.

1. What public awareness campaigns are needed to resolve the issues and problems in your
community?

2. If you were given the chance to organize students to participate in a three-year strategic planning for
a service-learning program, how would you lead your team?

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto

…….REFLECTION……………………………………………………………………………………………

Name ________________________________________________Course and Level _________________

Facilitator _____________________________________________Date _____________________________

A. Write your reflection on the space provided.

1. What real-life experiences have you gained after a particular community engagement?

2. In what ways have your experiences significantly developed your cognitive learning?

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto
…….EXERCISE 2……………………………………………………………………………………………

Name ________________________________________________Course and Level _________________

Facilitator _____________________________________________Date _____________________________

A. On the space provided, discuss substantially the following topics:

1. A scenario in which students apply what they have learned in the classroom to the SLP.

2. The importance for students to know the basis in law of the SLP.

B. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Write the letter that corresponds to the correct answer on the space provided.

_____1. It is a form of experiential education.

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT
Guro sa Filipino
 NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto
a. Service-learning
b. Comparative-learning
c. Participatory-learning
d. Cooperative-learning

_____2. It is also known as the Higher Education Act of 1997.

a. RA 9161
b. RA 8262
c. RA 6165
d. RA 6175

_____3. It is a form of experiential education wherein learning occurs through cycles of action and reflection.
Students work with others and apply what they have learned in class to the community.

a. Service-learning
b. Aesthetic-learning
c. Cooperative-learning
d. Individual-learning

_____4. Securing ___________ from the office of the student affairs is necessary. It must be signed by the
student’s parents or guardians as a part of the protocol in program implementation.

a. Program
b. Activities
c. Syllabus
d. Waiver

_____5. This activity combines service and learning objectives. It aims to transform the lives of both the
recipients and the providers of the service.

a. Service-learning
b. Aesthetic-learning
c. Cooperative-learning
d. Individual-learning

C. TRUE or FALSE. Write T if the statement is correct and F if it is not.

_____1. Students and faculty members involved in SLP are required to wear the prescribed school ID and
college T-shirt while in the community.

_____2. The college/university shall issue a certificate of appreciation to the cooperating community upon the
completion of the service-learning activities.

_____3. Partnerships and other successful relationships and connections can be developed while participating in
community service.

_____4. In the implementation of the program, students and faculty members should be realistic when assessing
the limitations of the community and the school.

_____5. Students can develop or enhance their skills, especially in the areas of communication, collaboration,
and leadership in implementing the program.

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino
NSTP 2 – NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
Dr. Herminigildo S. Villasoto

REXSON D. TAGUBA, LPT

Guro sa Filipino