Parallel Session I - Room 1

Research Paper

Session Chair: Vishalache Balakrishnan, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

The Order of Malta and ACU Community Hub: Aligning Mission and Method to achieve Impact [3424]
Matthew Pink, Annalore Vandierendonck and Jennifer Tredinnick
Australian Catholic University

Abstract 

Through a mission-aligned partnership, the Order of Malta and Australian Catholic University (ACU) have partnered in a staged and assets-based approach to work with the Darebin community, Melbourne, Australia, to develop a mobile community hub and transform opportunities for learning and connection. The present paper reports on the development of the community hub and how an initial 6-month period of research and relationship development without formal activity led to authentic and assets-based community engagement and the success of the initiative. From 2022 to the present day, the community hub has grown from a single community café to a Read-to-Learn program for school-aged children, a second community café, and a cooking and connection program that addresses nutrition and food insecurity. We argue that through taking an assets-based and inductive approach to community partnership, activity can be better targeted to community desires, the partnership is more agile to develop and advance, and in time, university faculty and resources can be harnessed to the greatest effect. Such an approach to community partnership however must be supported by appropriate institutional structures.

Keywords: University-Community Engagement, Assets-Based Community Development, Community Partnership, Service-Learning

Thematic Area(s): 1. Community Engagement, Partnership, and Entrepreneurship

Integrating Service-Learning at the Meso-Level: The Case of Ateneo de Manila University’s SOCSC13 and NSTP12 Courses [6014]
Kevin Christopher Go, Mark Anthony Abenir and Helena Roxanne Indigne
Ateneo de Manila University

Abstract

Higher education institutions have been leveraging service-learning (SL) to enhance the effectiveness of sustainable development education within their curriculum and pedagogical practices. However, the institutionalization and application of SL are often limited to single, isolated classes. Contrary to this trend, the Ateneo de Manila University implements a unique application of SL by integrating its SOCSC13 and NSTP12 courses, providing students with discipline-specific service activities required in their third year of study. Through a descriptive case study, this paper examines how integrating these courses creates an institutionalized SL experience at the meso-level of undergraduate education and administration. We demonstrate the outcomes of this integration for students and discuss how this model can serve as a replicable framework for other universities seeking to institutionalize SL.

Keywords: Service-learning, institutional model, sustainable development, undergraduate learning, course development

Thematic Area(s): 1. Community Engagement, Partnership, and Entrepreneurship & 8. Service-Learning Cases: Institutional Model