Students, Faculty from HK, Japan, Myanmar on Campus for Service-Learning

The Institute of Service-Learning hosts a group of five students and three teachers from three countries for two separate service-learning programs running June 30 to July 27.

There are four students from the International Christian University in Tokyo and a student form Chung Chi College in Hong Kong who are on campus for their regular service-learning program as part of their respective academic requirements.

Under a separate engagement with the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, three faculty members from Dagon University in Yangon, Myanmar are also in Silliman for service-learning covering the same period.

The students have been assigned to different partner communities of Silliman where they gain hands-on experience in working with community members on issues ranging from livelihood, child care, gender welfare and development to rural development. The students will also stay with hosts families to have a better grasp of Filipino culture and way of life. Throughout the program, they will undergo periodic reflection sessions where they openly discuss their observations, realizations and insights.

For the Burmese faculty, their program in Silliman is geared towards capacity building, training them in the effective adoption of service-learning as a teaching pedagogy. They will have separate sessions with professors in Silliman on the integration of service-learning into the academic curriculum, its institutionalization in the operations of the University, and the tools that could be used in evaluating the extent to which service-learning has made an impact on both community and the students.

Service-learning is one of the strengths of Silliman. Every year, the University receives students from universities in Japan, India, Korea, Thailand, Germany and the United States.