For the first time, the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) has awarded a book in Spanish as publication of the year. The award, presented last week in the United States during the association’s annual conference, honoured a compilation of international contributions edited by Juan García-Gutiérrez and Marta Ruiz-Corbella, from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in Spain, and published by Narcea.
María Rosa Tapia, coordinator of the Uniservitate programme (CLAYSS), received the award on behalf of the compilers. She is one of the authors of Aprendizaje-servicio virtual. Marco teórico y propuestas de acción innovadoras [E-Service-Learning. Theoretical Framework and Innovative Proposals for Action], the award-winning book.
The book includes ten chapters written by 25 authors, including Maria Rosa Tapia and Andres Peregalli, the coordinators of the Uniservitate programme, and Maria Cinque (LUMSA, Italy), one of the members of the Academic Sounding Board for this CLAYSS programme.
Tapia and Peregalli, alongside Luis Arocha and María Alejandra Batista, authored a chapter dedicated to digital technologies in the international development of service-learning and to Uniservitate’s reflection and research on the institutionalization and spiritual dimension of service-learning in Catholic higher education institutions. In the prologue, the editors García-Gutiérrez and Ruiz-Corbella commend this contribution and the very existence of the Uniservitate programme, affirming that it is “a modality that, by its characteristics, is called to strengthen the internationality of service-learning projects”.
The IARSLCE Board highlighted that “the book offers an innovative and insightful perspective on e-service-learning, addressing crucial issues such as effective project implementation, result assessment and the connection between academic learning and social engagement, as well as different examples of institutionalization”.
Receiving the award on behalf of Juan García Gutiérrez and Marta Ruiz Corbella, María Rosa Tapia commented that the work is inspired by great service-learning scholars such as Lorraine McIllach (Makilat), Nieves Tapia, Andrew Furco and Robert Bringle. She also stated that, including voices beyond the English-speaking world, the book aims to systemize what has already been done on e-service-learning in various parts of the globe.
The IARSLCE Conference was held at the University of San Diego, California (USA) from 2nd to 4th October. It addressed the ‘Intersections’ between local, national and global issues related to service-learning practice, background and experiences and aimed at optimizing its contributions to the present and future educational context.
