Service-learning
SPIRITUALITY & RESEARCH TEAM
Service-learning (SL) can make a specific pedagogical contribution to Catholic Higher Education Institutions (CHEIs), helping them to articulate their social outreach and spiritual identity with academic activities, offering innovative ways to achieve a “hands, head and heart” education, as demonstrated by research and experiences developed by CHEIs.The general research and reflection objective of the UNISERVITATE Programme is to understand the contributions of the spiritual dimension of SL to the identity and mission of the CHEIs, considering diverse multicultural contexts. Under this statement it is hoped to contribute to the building of strong links between spiritual reflection, pastoral activities, learning, teaching and research.
The question of reflection and research that UNISERVITATE seeks to answer can be summarized as follows: What is the contribution of the spiritual dimension of SL to the mission and identity of CHEIs at the global level, in diverse multicultural contexts? This virtual space is a place to exchange news, materials and documents, as well as academic articles and other valuable research resources. The aim is to form a community that builds and exchanges knowledge, reflecting on and researching the spiritual dimension of SL at CHEIs.
First call for Small Grants for Research Projects on Service-Learning (SL) in Catholic Higher Education.
For the first time, Uniservitate opens the first call for Small Grants for Research Projects requests for implementation during 2023-2024, related to the objectives set by the Program.
With a 70,000 euros budget, globally distributed, each one of the regional hubs will manage these resources according to the requests received and evaluated by a scientific committee, in order to support research about service-learning in Catholic Higher Education.
The call is open for all the researchers that meet the requirements and for those who present projects alined with these objectives. Regional hubs will set deadlines according to the university schedule.
Research proposals should focus in some of the following topics:
- The spiritual dimension of SL
- SL contribution to CHEIs mission and identity
- SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
- Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Winners of the First Call for Small Research Grants on Service-Learning
The hubs that constitute the Uniservitate programme for service-learning in catholic higher education institutions participated in the call for small research grants to be implemented during 2023-2024. In this first edition, we had a budget of 70,000 euros distributed globally, with each of the 7 Uniservitate regional hubs managing funds according to the requests received and evaluated by a scientific committee to support research on service-learning. 33 small research grants were delivered to projects from 28 universities in 18 countries on five continents
The proposed research areas were: 1) The spiritual dimension of SL; 2) the contribution of service-learning to the mission and identity of Catholic Higher Education Institutions; 3) SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of Catholic Higher Education Institutions;4) Evidence of SL impact towards a holistic education.
We congratulate those selected by the jury appointed for each hub and encourage them to continue working on expanding resources to research on service-learning.