Service-Learning in Asia

Service-learning is a form of experiential education that combines academic study with community service. Learning occurs as students work with others through applying their academic knowledge to community needs and at the same time, reflecting on their experience and the real-world relevance of their skills. Service-Learning in Asia: Curricular Models and Practices describes the development of service-learning in Asia around three themes: service-learning and indigenous traditions; service-learning and social justice education; and service-learning and multicultural education.

The essays in this collection are multi-disciplinary, ranging from the field of social work to business. The discussions are also comprehensive, covering every dimension of service-learning from curricular designs to learning outcome assessment.

Jun Xing is a professor and chair of ethnic studies at Oregon State University. His previous publications include Baptized in the Fire of Revolution (1996), Asian America through the Lens (1998), Reversing the Lens (2003), Teaching for Change (2006), and Seeing Color (2007). Carol Hok Ka Ma is assistant director of the Office of Service-Learning and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at Lingnan University, Hong Kong.

“What are the implications of re-theorizing ‘service-learning’ in the Asian context—an area that encompasses some 60 percent of the world’s population? Xing, Ma, and their colleagues delineate a new pedagogy that will enhance service, civic engagement, and participatory democracy in local contexts even as students and their teachers grapple with the miasmas of the global political economy.” —Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, The George and Sakaye Aratani Endowed Chair, Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

“This book is a major gift to scholars and educators, across Asia and elsewhere, who are concerned with educating students about the region’s diverse cultures and traditions, its social and economic disparities, and the joys and challenges of cross-national, collaborative community service.” —Timothy K. Staunton, Director, Stanford Overseas Studies in Cape Town