SU hosts 8th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning
Scholars, practitioners, and faculty members from thirty-seven colleges and universities across the Asia-Pacific region joined the 8th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning hosted virtually by Silliman University (SU). This year’s conference theme is “Community Engagement at the Intersection of Research and Extension” with the sub-themes “Service-Learning and Classroom Instruction,” “Service-Learning and Research,” and “Service-Learning and Community Outreach.”
“The theme of the 1st [virtual] Asia-Pacific Regional [Service-Learning] Conference, ‘Community Engagement at the Intersection of Research and Extension,’ explores the interphase between research and extension in Service-Learning. Research and extension could be in the emerging framework for Service-Learning as informed by experiences and new perspectives of more recent studies and research,” said Dr. Earl Jude Paul L. Cleope, SU vice-president for Academic Affairs, as he opened the two-day virtual conference.
Dr. Maria Lourdes E. Ursos, SU Office of Community Engagement and Service-Learning director, said during the closing ceremony of the conference’s first day: “This year’s virtual conference is a platform to deepen the discourses on Service-Learning while also exploring its new understandings and meanings of the current times.”
The first plenary session featured different views of Service-Learning in different Asian regions. Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, SU president, represented Southeast Asia; Dr. Mercy Pushphalata, United Board for Christian Higher Education consultant, represented South Asia; while Dr. Mikiko Nishimura, International Christian University (Japan) Service-Learning Center director, represented East Asia. Dr. Carol Ma, Singapore University of Social Sciences associate fellow and Gerontology Programmes head, moderated the first session.
It was followed by a breakout roundtable meeting with participants from Southeast, South, and East Asia. Participants shared best practices done in their institutions.
The first parallel session on “Service-Learning and Classroom Instruction” opened with twelve paper presentations. The second parallel session on “Service-Learning and Community Service” also opened with twelve paper presentations.
The conference’s second day continued with a parallel session on “Service-Learning and Research” with sixteen paper presentations.
Dr. Robert Shumer, Metropolitan State University/the University of Minnesota (USA) also presented his new book “Food for Thought: Service-Learning Research in Asia” with Dr. Sophia Law of Lingnan University (Hong Kong) and Dr. Christian Octarino of Duta Wacana Christian University (Indonesia).
Dr. Enrique G. Oracion, SU Research and Development Center director, said in his closing message: “[It] is our hope that we learned a lot from the sharing of our experiences and research results in Service-Learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic for this pedagogy to grow and be sustained for promoting Whole Person Education.”
(Prepared by Novee E. Maestrecampo Jr., assistant to the director at the SU Office of Community Engagement and Service-Learning)
