Participatory processes in service-learning

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The present study focuses on the participative processes (typologies, levels, conditions, etc.) of university students that take part in service-learning projects. The general objective of the study is to analyze the participatory processes of university students that take part in service-learning activities. METHOD. To achieve this goal, a qualitative methodology has been followed. The informants have been students, teachers and representatives of social entities. In-depth interviews (with teachers and representatives of social entities) and discussion groups (with students) were used as information gathering sources. A Content analysis of the collected information was conducted as well as the triangulation of the techniques and the informants. RESULTS. The results and the discussion have been organized around the following dimensions and subdimensions: ways of understanding participation; levels of participation (simple participation, consultative participation, projective participation, meta-participation); factors influencing student participation (characteristics of students, characteristics of projects, lack of institutional support, understanding of the methodology, time/distance, follow-up, involvement of others and type of studies). Among all the results, it is worth noting that the majority of students are involved —albeit from different levels and moments— in the selected service-learning projects. DISCUSSION. In regard to the discussion, the theoretical contributions emphasize ways to increase and improve the participation of students in the projects from the perspective of reciprocity taking into account the transforming nature of the projects.