Facilitating service-learning through competencies associated with relational pedagogy: a personal reflection

Abstract

Service-learning is identified as a high-impact teaching practice as it aids the development of business knowledge, human skills and civic responsibility amongst students. In spite of the benefits of servicelearning, there are few studies that indicate the relational competencies of faculty members used to facilitate service-learning. This study shows how four relational competencies associated with relational pedagogy: care, interpersonal communication, an attentive presence and trust, facilitated service-learning amongst undergraduate students. Data for this study were drawn from personal reflections of teacher-student interactions during a service-learning course in change management. Findings show that although the demonstration of relational competencies associated with relational pedagogy created a conducive learning space that enabled students to gain practical knowledge, not all students in the study welcomed this approach. Based on the findings of this study, this article provides suggestions to educators in higher education engaged in servicelearning and directions for further research.

Teaching During War in Ukraine: Service-Learning as a Tool for Facilitating Student Learning and Engagement During Times of Uncertainty and Crisis

“…Taking Dean Opatska’s reflections and coupling them with the lessons learned from faculty who have used service-learning in other crisis contexts, one theme that consistently emerges is the importance of facilitating connection . To foster this connection, faculty members should reflect upon and work to develop competencies associated with relational pedagogy, which include care, interpersonal communication, attentive presence, and trust (Chika-James, 2020). These connections help us to bridge the gap between student and teacher, creating an inclusive, almost circular, space in which students are encouraged to explore their actual and potential selves (Aspelin, 2014; Gergen, 2009).…”

“…With the aim of addressing real-world problems and needs, faculty who integrate service-learning projects into their courses need to design their project to be “adaptable to circumstance” in order to be uniquely “effective during times of uncertainty or turmoil” (Burton & Winter, 2021, p. 8). Tied to flexibility is an awareness that service-learning projects can be much more demanding in terms of time, energy, emotion, and the organizational and relational support required for students and community partners than traditional classroom-based learning (Chika-James, 2020; J. R. Cooper, 2014; Kenworthy-U’Ren & Peterson, 2005).…”