IAFOR Journal of Education: Undergraduate Education

Volume 8 – Issue 3 – 2020

Service-Learning as Global Citizenship Education: Acting Locally on Global
Challenges and Concerns
Genejane M. Adarlo
Ateneo de Manila University
Philippines

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Abstract
Service-learning is a method of teaching that is increasingly used in higher education. Studies
are few though on how local placements in service-learning can bring about global citizenshipand promote social justice. Hence, this study used multi-sited ethnography to examine theteaching-learning process of service-learning to better understand the construction of civic
identity and sense of agency among students when this method of teaching was approachedwithin the larger context of social justice. Study participants included students taking part inservice-learning efforts for literacy and maternal health from Miriam College and Ateneo deManila University, respectively. Data were gathered and analyzed from observation notes
during classroom and field visits, entries from reflection journals of students, and verbatim
transcripts from semi-structured interviews of study participants. Findings suggest an explicit
and deliberate emphasis on social justice is imperative when a critical understanding of global
citizenship is expected out of service-learning. As students were guided to understand thesocio-economic and political realities of those in their respective service-learning communityand examine their previously held assumptions about poverty, these study participants began
to recognize how they continue to benefit from their privilege at the expense of themarginalized and disenfranchised. Furthermore, the relationships formed with those from thecommunity helped the students gain a sense of agency to act on the root causes of social
problems even in simple ways through their chosen discipline. These findings have theoreticaland practical contributions to growing literature on the use of service-learning for global
citizenship education.
Keywords: service-learning, global citizenship, transformative learning

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Global citizenship education has become imperative in the 21st century as the negative
repercussions of globalization have posed challenges and concerns that require collective
action and global solutions (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization[UNESCO], 2014). It aims to empower students through giving them educational opportunities
to understand global and local issues; to recognize our interconnectedness andinterdependency; to gain a sense of belongingness and solidarity; and to respond individuallyand collectively for an inclusive and sustainable world (UNESCO, 2018, 2019). Among theseeducational opportunities are real-life experiences of community involvement, which allow
students to relate with people of different backgrounds and views (UNESCO, 2017). Servicelearning is a pedagogical approach that can offer these real-life experiences of community
involvement. Bringle et al. (2017) define it as:a course or competency-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which
students (a) participate in mutually identified service activities that benefit thecommunity, (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further
understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and anenhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility (p. 10).
It is a form of experiential learning and community-embedded academic practice that can(re)connect the university to the community where global challenges and concerns have local
implications (Terry & Bohnenberger, 2007).
Service-learning has gained popularity as a method of teaching in recent decades, but it “hasbeen embraced by the academy to a much greater extent than it has been scrutinized” (Butin,
2006, p. 1). Further research is required to systematically examine what notions of citizenshipare developed and what social commitments are fostered through service-learning (Kahne etal., 2000). Gaps in knowledge also exist on how service-learning can bring about civic
outcomes (Bringle et al., 2017). There is likewise a need for qualitative research, which canprovide an in-depth understanding of the processes and outcomes of service-learning (Kahne
et al., 2000; Jones & Foste, 2017). Hence, this research study used qualitative inquiry to
examine the teaching-learning process of service-learning in order to better understand theconstruction of civic identity and sense of agency among students involved in this type ofuniversity-community engagement.
Literature Review
Not all service-learning programs are the same since this pedagogical approach widely differs
as to how it is designed and implemented. This is why there is a growing need to re-situate
service-learning towards its original intent and purpose of responding to underlying causes ofsocial injustice, rather than merely carrying it out in the context of charity (Kendall, 1990).
Depending on its intent and purpose as a form of community service embedded in students’learning, service-learning can either take on a traditional or a critical approach, which can bringabout competing notions of global citizenship.
The traditional approach to service-learning is primarily concerned with the academic learningof students, undermining the reciprocity that should take place between the university andcommunity (Chupp & Joseph, 2010). As a result, the community gets exploited in the interestof students’ learning (Bringle & Clayton, 2013). The service rendered in the community is
typically viewed as an act of charity, which often does not seek to attend to the root causes of9

IAFOR Journal of Education: Undergraduate Education

Volume 8 – Issue 3 – 2020social problems (Mitchell, 2008; Robinson, 2000). Power and privilege also tend to be
reinforced as students simply do tasks “for” the community (Ward & Wolf-Wendel, 2000).
This approach to service-learning is oriented towards a neoliberal understanding of global
citizenship wherein capitalism dominates the global and local policy scene, oppressive
structures in society are maintained, and an us-them dichotomy is perpetuated as part of efforts
for a globalization-from-above (Falk, 1997; Mitchell, 2008). It functions to secure power anddominance (Tully, 2008) given that students are apathetic to their historical reality and are
unable to acknowledge how they continue to benefit from their privilege at the expense of themarginalized and disenfranchised (Thomas & Chandrasekera, 2015). This often goes on when
students are not challenged and disrupted enough to reflect on how unjust practices have led to
the need for their service in the community (Bruce & Brown, 2010). Students, in effect, remain
constrained to take collective action for genuine social change.
In contrast, the critical or transformative approach to service-learning, as Mitchell (2008)
clarifies, seeks genuine social change by attending to structural causes of social injustice. It
aims to form students into engaged citizens by providing them meaningful and relevant
opportunities to work “with” those from the community in responding to their identified needs
and in addressing unjust structures that made them marginalized and disenfranchised(Chambers, 2009; Mitchell, 2008; Ward & Wolf-Wendel, 2000).
Such an approach to service-learning can bring about a critical understanding of global
citizenship insofar as initiatives towards a globalization-from-below approach include bottomup participation for social change (Falk, 1997; Mitchell, 2008). Critical global citizenshipentails students disrupting the status quo in society as they get to recognize social relations of
power and build authentic relationships with those from the community (Chambers, 2009;
Mitchell, 2008). This happens when “students”, as Chambers (2009) points out, “are often
challenged not only to step outside their “comfort zones” and confront some of their own
assumptions and beliefs about society and its systems but also to seek for themselves therelevance and meaning of their education and their responsibility as members of a privilegedsocial class” (p. 93). To do so requires allotting a safe space for critical reflection, which
involves examining deep-seated beliefs about diverse others and interrogating how thesecommonly held ideas and practices reinforce inequality in society (Stokamer & Clayton, 2017).
Transformative learning can take place during the teaching-learning process of service-learningwhen “assumptions or premises,” as Mezirow (1991) emphasizes, “are found to be distorting,inauthentic, or otherwise invalid” (p.6). The disorienting dilemma that follows can prompt
students to reflect on their commonly held ideas and practices, explore other possibilities andcourses of actions, and transform their perspectives and habits towards inclusivity (Mezirow,2009). Students, in turn, experience a sense of agency or the capacity to act against issues ofsocial justice (Barker, 2000).
However, most literature on transformative learning and global citizenship in service-learning
have focused on international placements of privileged students in the Global South. However,transformative opportunities for global citizenship in service-learning not only ensue in aninternational setting. Acting locally on global challenges and concerns is as influential asinternational placement in eliciting transformative learning and fostering global citizenshipduring service-learning since “experience in the local level, in particular, is foundational tounderstanding issues affecting the larger global community” (Engbert & Fox, 2011, p. 89).

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This study, therefore, aims to substantiate how local placements in critical service-learning canbring about the necessary transformative learning for critical global citizenship.
Methodology
To look at the teaching-learning process that occurs in service-learning, this study carried out
a multi-sited ethnography because prolonged fieldwork in two or more research sites allows
for educational structures, lives, and processes to be carefully examined (Pierides, 2010).
Multi-sited ethnography is not only apt in “[following] people, connections, associations, andrelationships across space,” (Falzon, 2009, pp. 1–2), but it is also appropriate for making senseof “identities in diffuse time-space” (Pierides, 2010, p. 185). Furthermore, it is suitable when
the social phenomena cannot be fully explained by studying a single site only (Falzon, 2009).
These social phenomena may include globalization-related social issues (Boccagni, 2019),
such as the need for literacy and better maternal health. Understanding these social issues fromone research site may help in gaining insights from another site through imagining how thesesites are connected and related to each other (Marcus, 1999).
After obtaining ethics approval and informed consents, students from the following servicelearning initiatives were recruited as study participants:••

Literacy campaign of Miriam College as part of classes for Moral Development and
Education as well as Theology of Social Justice and Peace for the semester of August
to December 2015;
Maternal health initiative of Ateneo de Manila University as part of classes for The
Health Professional as Administrator and A Theology of Catholic Social Vision for thesemester of May to July 2015 and August to December 2015, respectively.

Eight Early Childhood Education students from the literacy campaign and ten Health Sciences
students from the maternal health initiative were included in this study. They were in theirfourth year of undergraduate degrees at these two educational institutions. Their names were
withheld to safeguard their anonymity and ensure data confidentiality. Pseudonyms wereinstead used in reporting the findings.
The experiences of these students in service-learning were followed using participant
observation of their encounters in the classroom and service-learning placements. The literacy
campaign entailed students to go for a one-day visit at Seedling Community, which is agovernment relocation site for informal settlers from parts of the Philippines’ capital. They
carried out various activities to support the reading and writing skills as well as values
formation of indigent children in the community. The maternal health initiative, on the other
hand, necessitated students to undertake a ten-day immersion at Leyte, which is a province in
the Philippines where the healthcare system was compromised by typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
The immersion involved students assessing the operations of birthing clinics in a rural setting
and proposing recommendations for the improvement of maternal healthcare delivery amongindigents in Leyte.
During participant observation, notes were written in a fieldwork notebook (Creswell, 1994).
To make sense of these written records of events, open coding for the meanings theseobservation notes might represent was done line by line until no new meaning could be
generated. Open codes that were similar in meaning were relabeled to a code that best
characterized them. Patterns were explored and comparisons were sought to better understand11

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the social phenomena being studied. Unrelated codes were revisited, refined, and relabeled.
Related codes were thereafter organized together to create reduced categories of codes(Emerson et al., 2011; O’Reilly, 2012). Emerging themes were then identified from thesecategories of codes that were recurring (Creswell, 1994).
To gain more insights about the students’ service-learning experiences, their reflection journals
were collected after these journal entries were marked by their teachers. Narratives fromreflection journals underwent discourse analysis, which is not only helpful to understand how
identity in a given context is constructed through the use of language (Paltridge, 2008), but it
is also useful to “explore everyday situations and practices as part of larger processes and social
phenomena” (Taylor, 2013, p. 54). First, initial coding was done to sort out and organize thesenarratives. Second, patterns of language use were analyzed for consistency and differencesamong and within journal entries. Lastly, meanings were drawn based on how language
functions in a social setting such as service-learning (Gill, 2011).
To verify data gathered from participant observation and reflection journals, study participants
went through semi-structured interviews at the end of the semester. Audio-recordings of theseinterviews were transcribed word-for-word and copies of verbatim transcripts were shown to
the study participants for member checking. Narratives from these interviews were thereafter
examined using discourse analysis as specified above.
To ensure the trustworthiness of this study’s findings, prolonged fieldwork and member
checking were done so that the gathered data were closely illustrative of the social reality ofthe study participants. Furthermore, the specific context of this study was described in thisreport to inform other researchers whether the findings of this study can apply to their setting.
The use of multiple sources of data was also detailed in this report so that this audit trail canallow other researchers to replicate the steps by themselves (Maher et al., 2018). Lastly,reflexivity was observed throughout the research process to minimize biases. It involved
maintaining a reflection journal while the fieldwork was carried out, undergoing regulardebriefing from impartial peers, and being self-conscious of doing research with the study
participants instead of researching on them.
Findings
This section describes the civic identity fostered and the sense of agency enacted when social
justice is emphasized in service-learning. It also examines the teaching-learning process
involved in critical service-learning, looking into the role of critical reflection in promoting
transformative learning and bringing about a critical understanding of global citizenship.
Literacy Campaign
Miriam College is a private academic institution that has offered Catholic schooling for womensince 1926. Its higher education unit is dedicated to preparing its students “for productive andrelevant careers that serve the needs and aspirations of the Filipino people and the global
environment” (Miriam College, 2011, p. 7). It seeks to educate its students as socially
responsive individuals, who can contribute to “a just and humane society in the context of achanging global environment” (Miriam College, 2011, p. 7).
Its College of Education aims to form students into teachers, who are “engaged agents andadvocates for social change,” by adopting innovative and relevant approaches to studentcentered learning (Miriam College, 2011, p. 197). Included among these approaches are

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opportunities for service-learning that cater to the needs of underprivileged children, out-ofschool youth, and children with disabilities (Miriam College, 2020).
The literacy campaign is one of several service-learning efforts of the College of Education for
its Early Childhood Education students. In this study, it became an integral part of the classes
in Moral Development and Education as well as Theology of Social Justice and Peace so thatstudents, according to their teachers, not only understand “the role of a teacher in imparting
values to school children as they learn to read and write”, but they can also “make sense of
their immersion in the community in light of Catholic Social Teaching.”
Civic identity. During their interviews, the Early Childhood Education students expressed at
the outset how the literacy campaign, as a form of service-learning, became a practical
approach for them to help indigent children through teaching. They felt “service-learning,” asconveyed by Valerie, “allowed [them] not only to use what [they] have been learning as ateacher but also to make a difference in society”. For instance, this service-learning, asemphasized by Jade and Kayla, provided them meaningful and relevant opportunities toaddress social problems, such as the need for literacy and quality education in the country,
through teaching underprivileged students reading and writing skills as well as values
formation, among others.
This service-learning also taught the Early Childhood Education students, such as Jasmine,
Jade, Rebecca, Gabby, and Melissa how to acknowledge their privileges and, as a result, how
to be considerate of others in need. As they spent a whole day in Seedling Community, theyrealized their privileged lives were in stark contrast to the socio-economic circumstances of
those in a relocation site. So “[their] perspectives”, as stated by Melissa, “about others
changed” and “[they] became more sensitive to the needs of those living in poverty”.
Additionally, their immersion in Seedling Community not only made the Early Childhood
Education students aware of the “way of living” in relocation sites, but it compelled them toconfront the status quo in society, examine their previously held assumptions, and explore how
their privileges have contributed to the prevailing social problems. Gabby, Melissa, andRebecca, for example, found themselves questioning the socio-economic and political realitiesof people displaced in relocation sites, challenging their stereotypes and deep-seated beliefs
about poverty, and evaluating their possible roles in propagating oppressive structures insociety.
Sense of agency. Many of them, including Jasmine, felt encouraged that their brief visit in
Seedling Community was able to “give simple joys to the children there”. Because of thisheartwarming response, Rebecca, among others, realized that “they do not need to dosomething big to have a significant impact on others”. Their “small, simple acts” of teachingthese indigent children gave them a sense of agency that they can contribute to some degree tosociety. For example, teaching values formation through storytelling might seem too basic but,as pointed out by Jade, “[these children] could learn something that can be useful in the future”.
Even though their participation in this literacy campaign was short, their experiences in
Seedling Community reinforced their commitment to contribute to society through teaching.
All the Early Childhood Education students included in this study signified their intentions totake part in volunteer teaching, while Jasmine, Jade, Rebecca, Sandy, and Melissa also
entertained teaching in public schools and remote areas so that they can help improve literacy
in the countryside. Such commitment to make a difference in society, according to Kayla, was13

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brought about by their understanding that being an agent of social change “should not stopfrom the time their visit to the community ended”.
However, it was not clear whether this capacity to act and make a difference in society throughteaching would be enough to ameliorate the social conditions of marginalized anddisenfranchised as well as transform societal structures that made the residents of indigent
communities, such as Seedling Community, poor. Commitment for social change wasapparent, but there was no certainty if this commitment would be persistent and long-lasting.
Transformative learning. This semblance of critical global citizenship could be partly
attributed to the transformative learning that happened while the Early Childhood Education
students participated in this service-learning. Changes in their perspectives took place as theirexperiences in Seedling Community were different from their impressions of families living inpoverty. For instance, Melissa was taken aback that the children of Seedling Community were
hopeful about their circumstances as opposed to her belief that these children would wallow in
self-pity for being poor. Mia was likewise surprised when these children expressed theiraltruistic intentions to help the Seedling Community when they grow up:
A girl said she wanted to be a lawyer so that she can help those in their community
who get wrongly accused. There is another girl, who wanted to become an engineer
so that she can fix the houses in their community.
These Early Childhood Education students, such as Melissa, Gabby, Sandy, and others also
learned from their involvement in this service-learning on how they should “put [themselves]
first in the situation of others” rather than be quick to judge those in poverty.
To some extent, such perspective transformations came about because of the opportunities forcritical reflection given to these Early Childhood Education students. Although their teachersfor Moral Development and Education as well as Theology of Social Justice and Peace were
not able to accompany them during their one-day visit at Seedling Community due to schedule
constraints, they were guided closely by their teachers as they planned for their servicelearning. In class, they were also instructed to look back and examine their experiences inservice-learning by providing them with general prompts for reflection, which were vital totheir paper submission and class presentation by the end of the semester.
However, these students could have more opportunities to make sense of their service-learning
experiences that were inconsistent with their previously held assumptions and deep-seatedbeliefs if their teachers were present to mentor them when necessary during the literacy
campaign. The broad instructions to reflect on “significant insights to the entire experience inservice-learning” also might not be enough in supporting students to navigate through thedisorienting dilemma they experienced while in service-learning. Nevertheless, their teachers
were available for consultation within and outside the confines of the classroom to attend to
the needs and concerns of the students.
Maternal Health Initiative
Ateneo de Manila University is a private institution of Catholic Higher Education, which caters
to both men and women since it turned co-educational in 1973. Its liberal education aims toform students, who “will devote their lives to the service of others, and through the promotionof justice, serve especially those who are most in need of help, the poor, and the powerless”(Ateneo de Manila University, 2016, p. 5). It aspires to educate individuals into “leaders, who

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Volume 8 – Issue 3 – 2020are globally attuned but also deeply rooted in local needs and aspirations, especially of the poorand marginalized” (Ateneo de Manila University, 2020, p. 1).
Its Health Sciences Program seeks to “form professionals with a broad and deep understandingof health, from its foundation in sciences to its relevance in development and the effectivenessin its management” (Ateneo de Manila University, 2014, p. 297). Integrated into its curricularofferings are opportunities for service-learning wherein students are expected to becomesocially aware and socially involved as they apply theories into practice in a community setting(Ateneo de Manila University, 2013).
The maternal health initiative is one of the service-learning efforts of the Health Sciences
Program for its students. In this study, it became central to the delivery of classes for The
Health Professional as Administrator and A Theology of Catholic Social Vision so that Health
Sciences students, according to their teachers, can better understand the Philippine health caresystem by “building relationships with a marginalized community, analyzing the issues facedby the community, reflecting on those issues using Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching,and developing an action plan for journeying with the community”.
Civic identity. Similar to the Early Childhood Education students, all the Health Sciences
students included in this study appreciated their chosen discipline more as they came acrossthe many ways a health professional can contribute to society. Mae, for instance, expressed
how her “experience with the marginalized [in their immersion in Leyte] influenced [her] to
become a doctor for a bigger reason”. Rather than confining themselves inside the clinic, suchaspiration to be “a doctor with a sense of purpose,” according to Sophia, would entail them to
get involved in public health issues and concerns, such as the need for better maternal
healthcare in the country.
Ciara, among others, also learned in this service-learning how to acknowledge their privilegesand “be mindful of the people they were interacting with”. However, this would require looking
for similarities instead of emphasizing differences. For example, James pointed out that:… when we first encounter someone that we do not know, sometimes we may havethe tendency to first see what sets us apart from them. We initially see the differences
between each other, which may develop into these boundaries that we accidentallyor inadvertently create between ourselves. These boundaries somewhat distance us
from others and ultimately contributed to the awkwardness or perhaps difficulties
that we feel when we try to interact with them… These boundaries that we set up
between ourselves could actually be the root causes of these social issues.
In fact, they, as Randolph realized, “can always find some common ground [despite thedifferences] – a common ground that [they] can build upon”.
However, these opportunities to build relationships with the marginalized and disenfranchisedcommunity in Leyte did not occur at once. In contrast to the Early Childhood Education
students, who were able to establish rapport early on with the children and residents of Seedling
Community, it took a while for the Health Sciences students to step out of their comfort zone.
Fiona, for example, was initially “shy” and “did not know how to start a conversation” withthose not familiar to her. Nonetheless, they, according to Megan, were able to engage in“genuine dialogue” the longer they spent their immersion in Leyte. As they listened to thestories and became aware of the plight of the marginalized and disenfranchised, the more they

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found themselves examining their pre-conceived notions about poverty, considering how theirprivileges have taken part in perpetuating social problems, and questioning the status quo insociety.
Sense of agency. Similar to the Early Childhood Education students, James and the other
Health Sciences students were able to recognize through this maternal health initiative that they
can “help change certain systems even in the smallest way”. Ciara, for instance, felt this senseof agency or the capacity to act and make a difference by simply “listening to people’s stories”
and “giving voice to the people [at the grassroots], who are not able to voice out their concerns”.
It meant providing those at the grassroots, according to James, with “a certain hope that they
were not fully incapable of changing their situation”.
It was not certain though whether this sense of agency and commitment to social change would
be enough to address the social conditions of marginalized and disenfranchised communities
as well as challenge the oppressive structures in society. Nevertheless, they, as Rachel
observed, “were not alone [in their aspirations] as there are also other people in the healthsector, who seek for a better healthcare system in the country”.
Transformative learning. This display of critical global citizenship could be partly credited
to the transformative learning that the Health Sciences students underwent during their ten-day
immersion in Leyte. There were opportunities for perspective transformation as students
encountered dissonance between their previously held assumptions and their experiences
during service-learning. Ciara and Sophia, for example, caught themselves being “quick tojudge others” and had to remind themselves every now and then “to just be open about
everything, to hold [their] assumptions, or to hold their judgment” as they spent theirimmersion in Leyte.
However, most of their perspective transformations did not happen easily. Their teacher for
The Health Professional as Administrator, who accompanied them during the ten-day
immersion in Leyte, had to prod these students to “check themselves for personal biases”. Thisoccasional prodding to examine their preconceived notions and stereotypes of others was
initially met with resistance because, as Gabriel explained, they “did not like to be provoked
to get out of [their] comfort zone”. They felt ill at ease of being “roused” to put themselves inthe situation of others.
Nevertheless, all the Health Sciences students included in this study eventually began toappreciate the importance of critical reflection during their service-learning. Journal writing
for Erin became an opportunity for her to reflect and examine her points of view and deepseated beliefs. It also helped Sophia “to know [herself] more and to provide [her] with clarity
during moments [she] felt lost, confused, and distracted”. The specific prompts they had torespond in their journal entries also gave Ciara, among others,
the chance to process what [she] had done through the day, to think about what [she]could have done better and what [she could] learn from the experience, and, mostimportantly, to know how [she] was able to relate well with the people [she] had
encountered.
Providing them structured time to share their reflection during their immersion in Leyte also
allowed these students to learn from the insights of their peers and, in turn, enrich their own
experiences in service-learning. The presence of their teacher during the maternal health16

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initiative was likewise seen valuable (albeit belatedly) as he was available to attend to thestudents as they encountered disorienting dilemmas during service-learning. For example,“being guided [by their teacher] throughout the immersion on how to connect with others” hadbrought Sophia and other Health Sciences students “to think beyond [their] own reality and toacknowledge other people’s reality”.
Discussion
As we confront the negative repercussions of globalization-from-above, institutions of higher
education in the Philippines and elsewhere are increasingly looked upon to educate for social
justice and global citizenship (Pashby & Andreotti, 2015). It is not surprising then that
undergraduate programs, such as the curricula offered by Miriam College and Ateneo deManila University, have taken the responsibility to respond to the needs of the country and thevarious challenges of the 21st century. To do so, these curricula seek to render the educational
experiences of students more meaningful and relevant by making use of service-learning as amethod of teaching that not only can foster professional development but also civic
engagement.
As seen in this study, an explicit and deliberate emphasis on social justice is salient if a criticalunderstanding of global citizenship is expected out of service-learning. Social justice should
not only be affirmed as an institutional thrust, but it should also be evident and intentional in
the delivery of classes that use service-learning as a method of teaching. The Early Childhood
Education students and the Health Sciences students in this study were not only given thenecessary space to understand the socio-economic and political realities of indigent
communities in light of Catholic Social Teaching on social justice, but they were also offeredconcrete and tangible opportunities to intervene and act on root causes of poverty, such as thelack of literacy and the need for better maternal health. Hence, the underlying concern of thesestudents during service-learning was to change social structures and address community
conditions instead of merely focusing on their academic learning. There was an authenticity torespond to social justice issues as a form of solidarity instead of being apathetic to the social
conditions of the marginalized and disenfranchised.
Notably, the experiences of these students in service-learning made them realize that they canbe agents of change and contribute to society even in simple ways through their chosen
discipline: the Early Childhood Education students can advocate for literacy through teaching
indigent children, while the Health Sciences students can promote public health throughattending to the healthcare needs of indigent communities. This civic identity fostered among
these students is characteristically understood in the context of their chosen profession most
likely because it is one aspect “they can readily identify and have an impact upon” (Terry &Bohnenberger, 2007, p. 10). Dvir and Avissar (2014) term this in their study as “criticalprofessional identity” wherein students involved in service-learning can find an ongoing
integration between their civic identity and professional identity.
Their experiences in service-learning also taught these Early Childhood Education students and
Health Sciences students that critical global citizenship entails recognizing how they continue
to benefit from their privilege as well as being considerate of others, particularly themarginalized and disenfranchised. Rather than imposing their own set of values, they learned
to take into consideration the perspectives of those at the grassroots whom they intend to help
(Lapayese, 2003). Similar to the study participants of Jones and Abes (2004), they
demonstrated an “ongoing reflection [of the ‘self’] in relation to the ‘other’… and a focus onothers as an important aspect of their [civic] identity” (p. 153).

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Rather than simply doing tasks “for” the community and perpetuating an us-them dichotomy,
these students were able to establish authentic relationships with the community during theirservice-learning. The Early Childhood Education students were able to connect with thechildren they taught in Seedling Community, whereas the Health Sciences students were able
to eventually strike a genuine dialogue with the indigents they came across in Leyte.
Specifically, knowing about the aspirations of children in the Seedling Community andlistening to the personal stories of those in Leyte allowed these students to resonate with theplight of the marginalized and disenfranchised. As a result, they learned how to learn about thecommunity where they had their immersion (Borrero et al., 2012). They became compassionate
too as their experiences in service-learning made them develop, as described by Rashedi et al.
(2015) of compassion as, “(a) an awareness of another’s pain, perception of reality, andpsychological state; (b) a feeling of kindness; (c) a yearning to mitigate the suffering; and (d)doing what is within one’s ability to lessen another’s suffering” (p. 132).
The whole experience of being immersed in the community for their service-learning not only
made them aware of social justice issues as they witnessed and examined the socio-economic
and political realities of the marginalized and disenfranchised, but it also compelled them torespond to pressing issues in society as “an act of necessity and solidarity” (Katsarouet al.,2010, p. 138). Similar to the studies of Crabtree (1998), Jones and Abes (2004), and Mitchell(2015), such social responsiveness and sense of agency most likely stemmed from therelationships that were established between the students and those from their service-learning
community.
The unfamiliar now became familiar as the emotional bonds from these newfound relationships
helped them to eventually step out of their comfort zones, examine their previously held
assumptions about poverty, and seek out similarities instead of differences (Naudé, 2015).
Changes in students’ perspectives happened as they made sense of the discrepancies between
their preconceived notions about others and their experiences in service-learning. Thistransformative learning, according to O’Sullivan et al. (2002), “involves experiencing a deep
structural shift in basic premises of thoughts, feelings, and actions” (p. xvii) by taking part incritical reflection. As shown in this study, structured opportunities for critical reflection not
only included providing specific prompts for journal writing, but these also necessitatedcreating a safe space for students to share their insights with peers, accompanying them as they
participated in service-learning, and guiding them as they navigated through the dissonance ordisorienting dilemma they encountered.
Strikingly, resistance to transformative learning can occur when students are challenged to stepout of their comfort zones, examine their previously held assumptions, and find a common
ground with those unfamiliar to them. Mezirow (1991) calls this as an error in learning wherein
students seem to selectively perceive their reality as part of coping with the anxiety brought
about by the mismatch between their deep-seated beliefs and their experiences in servicelearning. A safe space to articulate their concerns within and outside the confines of theclassroom must, therefore, be guaranteed to students so that changes in problematic
perspectives can eventually be facilitated.
Recommendations
Commitment to social change was evident among the students in this study but whether thiscommitment would be lifelong is still unknown. A longitudinal follow up of these students will
be useful since examining aspects of service-learning in an academic term, as Dvir and Avissar

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Volume 8 – Issue 3 – 2020(2014) point out, is not enough in investigating the impact of service-learning on civic
development. Several factors can also influence civic outcomes in service-learning. Variedsocial backgrounds, differences in personality, and other situational factors can account forcivic engagement in service-learning (Einfield & Collins, 2008). Being educated according toCatholic Social Teaching can likewise affect civic development in service-learning. Additional
research should be done to explore how these factors are related to civic outcomes in servicelearning. Generalizability of reported findings can also be an issue even if this study used multisited ethnography. More studies are necessary to substantiate the presented findings in thisstudy.
Conclusion
A focus on social justice may not be intuitive in service-learning, but it can be made explicit
and deliberate particularly if a critical understanding of global citizenship is envisioned among
students. As suggested in this study, acting locally on global challenges and concerns throughservice-learning can be as powerful as international placements in educating students about
critical global citizenship. Through structured opportunities for critical reflection and close
supervision from teachers, students not only can recognize how their unearned privileges havecontributed to social problems, but they can also gain a sense of agency to act on pressing
issues in society even in simple ways through their chosen profession. The emotional bonds
formed between the students and those from their service-learning community seem crucial forpreviously held assumptions to be examined and for transformative learning to take place.
Without these authentic relationships that were built in service-learning, solidarity and bottomup participation that characterize critical global citizenship seem unlikely to occur.

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Corresponding author: Genejane M. Adarlo
Contact email: gadarlo@ateneo.edu

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