Philippine E-Journals

Students’ Voices: Reflections in A Service-Learning Setting

Lorna A. Billanes

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

This is a one-sided inquiry into the impact of service-learning, using reflection papers as the sole evaluation tool to measure students’ attitude and responses. One semester’s worth of post-activity reflection papers of students who implemented the project in Krus na Ligas Elementary School were analyzed, using thematic analysis. Recurring themes were noted in the students’ written output: greater commitment to social action; cognizance of service learning’s true objectives; and awareness that choice of future career suits the program’s objectives. The study argues that students’ reflection papers have value beyond being merely a record of students’ experiences, and should be tapped as an immense source of data for those involved in mapping out future directions of service-learning. The findings also suggest that because service-learning allows participants to see real-life social issues other than poverty, a possible thrust worth pursuing is the expansion of the school’s pool of partner communities to embrace other marginalized sectors.