Book review: Ruiz-Corbella, M. & García-Gutiérrez, J. (Eds.) (2023). Aprendizaje-servicio: escenarios de aprendizajes éticos y cívicos [Service learning: Scenarios for ethical and civic learning]. Narcea. 239 pp.

Reseña bibliográfica: Ruiz-Corbella, M. y García-Gutiérrez, J. (Eds.) (2023). Aprendizaje-servicio: escenarios de aprendizajes éticos y cívicos. Narcea. 239 pp.

Paula Álvarez-Urda

DOI

10.22550/2174-0909.4403

Abstract

The university of the 21st century must adapt to changing times and bolster its impact on and commitment to all levels of life. Achieving this requires the effective introduction of teaching innovation methodologies that offer accessible, profitable, ongoing learning opportunities that are put into practice in the social sphere. It is on this point that service learning (SL) comes into play, an educational focus in which knowledge is exchanged that acquired through its direct application in specific projects with the aim of offering a positive service to a particular community. It is a clearly engaged methodology, and its implementation appears to be more than appropriate for modernising the function of the university towards a more digital and globalised society, which faces many challenges. The book Aprendizaje-servicio: escenarios de aprendizaje éticos y cívicos, edited by Ruiz-Corbella and García-Gutiérrez, sets out numerous applications, possibilities, resources, and factors to take into account in order to ensure that SL has a positive social impact. This book has twelve chapters, equally divided into three sections. More than thirty authors from universities all over Spain were involved in writing it. Furthermore, before the themed sections, the editors provide introductions that describe the key points of the book, giving a clear context and identifying multiple possibilities for SL in the university sphere as well as its social impact. The first section sets out the definition and aims of SL from an ethical and reflexive focus. The second section focuses on the didactic possibilities for ethical and civic values through SL, as well as questioning its viability, challenges, and limits. Finally, the third section addresses methodological scenarios centred on SL considering other approaches, skills, branches of knowledge, and technological resources. The first chapter notes the important role of the university for training future professionals in civic values that are participatory and committed to social well-being. This role must be manifest in the academic pathway, and implementing SL is fundamental for doing so. This is because it is a methodology that allows direct collaboration with the community through learning and the constant interchange of experiences, and it also favours the capacity to solve problems, creativity, and interdisciplinarity through participating actively with different people. Therefore, this shows that SL offers unrivalled opportunities for developing an ethical conscience in university students, the impact of which is reflected in their future professional and social choices. The second chapter underlines the transformative power of SL, bolstered by a clear reflexive component that results from putting this methodology into practice in real social scenarios. The inclusion of a range of aspects that enable empathic, evaluative, and transversal reflection is considered indispensable when implementing SL projects. The first is tutorial action, comprising proper guidance for university students. The next aspect is the need to provide spaces that allow individual reflection according to people’s lived experiences. This is accompanied by collective reflection between peers to reinforce the epistemological and emotional component derived from its implementation. Finally, it is important to mention reflection with other groups of participants who are not usually present in other methodologies, such as for example the members of the specific community with which the project has been carried out, as a means of guaranteeing a negotiated, critical, committed, and above all reflexive, practice. The third chapter addresses ethics seen from care and emphasises the prevailing need in SL to provide the proper treatment for the specific community in which it is applied. This chapter examines in depth clear experiences and cases that show the importance of considering care when implementing SL for its efficacy, quality, and better comprehension of the context. Consequently, SL goes beyond creating spaces that foster knowledge exchange to favour a particular community, as it also allows the presence of attitudes that regard care as a foundational support to consider. Chapter four focuses on synthesising some of the challenges that concern the citizens of the 21st century, such as climate change and social exclusion. Implementing SL is essential to address them, especially in the university domain. This methodology allows students to reflect their social commitment in different dimensions and moments in their lives through ethics, reflection, and innovation. Therefore, SL must be a key factor for reinforcing the functions of the university and a civic education linked to scenarios that favour solutions to contemporary social problems. In the second section, chapter five centres on guaranteeing respect as a cornerstone of any possible implementation of SL. It is vital to consider all of the social variables at play in each context, given that some of the participants can feel morally harmed by particular situations deriving from SL owing to their beliefs, circumstances, or vulnerability. In any case, it is also apparent that carrying out such a precise analysis of the variables at play is difficult owing to the lack of available time, which is limited by the structure of most university programmes. Consequently, SL must guarantee respect for all of the participants, but so doing requires the university to act in a socially and morally responsible way. Chapter six considers SL as a methodology that must be applied and guided successfully through dialogue between the different agents involved. As such, the aim of creating ethical principles in students is met by a methodology that allows for an easy link with politics, the community of practice, the space for dialogue, interdisciplinarity, and changes in the role of the teacher. That is to say, dialogue is a key element in the implementation of SL owing to SL’s multicultural, reflexive, and socially committed nature, and so its absence results in a poor and inappropriate implementation. Chapter seven sets out the need to elaborate a code of ethics for common action for all university actors who attempt to implement SL in their professional practice. This not only achieves greater coherence and synchronicity, but it also resolves the ethical-pedagogical problems of SL. These cases are linked to the activist (and not educational) inclination, innovative conceptions of it (instead of prioritising its basic elements), and the divide between theory and practice. Therefore, creating an ethical code as a reference point is vital to resolve these problems and reinforce civic engagement linked to university students. Chapter eight identifies situations in which there are deficiencies in ethical and civic principles when organising an SL project, which could be detrimental for university students who do not have prior training in certain aspects. It underlines that the ethical foundation is the fundamental element in the implementation of any SL project. In this case, teachers play a leading role when developing the proposal that the students will then put into practice. Therefore, once the teaching foundation has been correctly laid, good actions and intentions will lead the SL methodology to a good end. Chapter nine links SL to another complementary methodology at a university level: the living lab. While the aims of the former relate to offering a social service, the latter is linked to research. Therefore, implementing both approaches at the university level favours students’ commitment to research projects that consider the social sphere in greater depth from an ethical, just, and participatory perspective. Furthermore, this merging favours the development of skills such as building solutions and a moral conscience, aimed at facing the challenges of the 21st century. Chapter ten describes an experience linked to the application of SL at the Universidad Jaume I. As a result, it argues that SL is an undisputed methodology that acts as a springboard for developing civic skills to achieve a fairer society. However, its application is often limited by shortcomings and weaknesses in the institutional and legislative framework. In consequence, it is vital to reconfigure the university to favour the implementation of SL and take advantage of all of the social advantages that it offers. Chapter eleven sets out a clear evolution in the inclusion of SL for developing soft skills and transdisciplinarity through humanistic thinking, which derives from applying this methodology in qualifications aimed at scientific fields, such as engineering. This pathway is set out in three periods: one before the Bologna Plan; another after it; and a third in which SL is of special relevance. This application has benefited students on science programmes in various areas, from personal and moral growth to linking their applied knowledge to social improvement. Finally, chapter twelve considers the possibility of integrating emerging technologies to improve the capacities of SL. The recent growth of artificial intelligence (AI) poses many challenges and questions for this methodology, but this does not mean that using it is inappropriate. On the contrary, this chapter argues that AI is a resource that facilitates personalised, transformational, evaluative, and participatory strategies. In any case, more research is needed that considers the possible advantages of pairing SL and technology to achieve the critical, transformational, and reflexive development of a more just and civic society. This is a book that undoubtedly encompasses multiple dimensions and applications of SL, through a reflective and critical analysis that seeks to inform the reader of the need for it to be included in all university and professional settings. This way, universities will modernise their functions and strengthen their social commitment, adapting to the challenges and demands that characterise a more intercultural, globalised, and digital world. The book does this through complementary chapters that are correctly articulated, argued, and guided, with a clear and comprehensible language aimed at all readers interested in the applications of SL in the university setting. It is, therefore, an especially recommendable text for social educators, university teachers, students, and any professionals who seek ways to implement active methodologies for social improvement.

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Álvarez-Urda, P. (2025). Ruiz-Corbella, M. y García-Gutiérrez, J. (Eds.) (2023). Aprendizaje-servicio: escenarios de aprendizajes éticos y cívicos [Service learning: Scenarios for ethical and civic learning]. Narcea. 239 pp.. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 83(290), 261-270. https://doi.org/10.22550/2174-0909.4403