The spiritual dimension, effect on students, institutionalization and networking are the four aspects of service-learning experiences in Catholic higher education that have already begun to be investigated by the global leaders who make up the Uniservitate Academic Sounding Board.
Sparked by the invitation of the Uniservitate Coordination, the research projects began to take shape at the beginning of the year. Working groups were formed following each individual’s preferences, and the proposals were strengthened and enriched through dialogue with peers in the monthly meetings of the Board.
Four lines of research have been identified for future project development. Beyond their conclusions, these projects could last up to two years and be the seed for others in the future.
The first group aims to measure the effect of service-learning on students, the change in their behaviour as professionals, how they approach challenges in their communities or workplaces, their spirituality and, among other aspects, their awareness of social justice concerns, their commitment and citizenship. For this purpose, professors, students, graduates, and community partners involved in service-learning projects will take part in surveys.
A second group will deal with the spiritual dimension in implementing service-learning projects in higher education in Ibero-American countries and its possible replication in other contexts and regions. They will seek to approach different concepts related to this topic, identify the dimensions involved in concrete experiences and develop the methodology to address spirituality in higher education institutions.
A third group will analyze the possibility of establishing a network like Uniservitate, considering the diverse territories where it developed and its evolution into a global community. It will address the historical journey of the network in its first stage, between 2019 and 2022, and the processes that led to the co-production of knowledge related to service-learning implementation.
Meanwhile, the fourth group will study the service-learning institutionalization processes to identify which factors favour it —and which ones obstruct or delay it— and how they intervene in the different dynamics set in motion.
Although members of the Academic Sounding Board lead the four groups, professionals and students from the hubs are invited to participate in the research. This objective of generating synergy and shared visions is already a reality in the case of the group that will explore the spiritual dimension. Two theologians from the Universidad Católica de Chile have joined this team as collaborators with projects selected by Uniservitate in 2023 to receive one of the Small Research Funds.
The Uniservitate coordinators emphasize that these lines of research are the core of the programme, whose initial objective was and is to produce knowledge on spirituality and the service-learning institutionalization in Catholic higher education. Nieves Tapia, founder and director of CLAYSS, said: ‘These are some of the questions we are asking ourselves as Uniservitate and one of the most original contributions we are making not only to the service-learning but to higher education as a whole’.