Transforming Teaching: Service-Learning’s Impact on Faculty

Abstract

Service-learning has become widespread in universities worldwide, implying an increased number of involved faculty. Many studies document service-learning’s impact on students, but only a handful of exploratory studies examine impact on faculty. We offer a focused investigation of positive and negative impacts of service-learning on faculty from an Asian context, based on interviews with 24 faculty members from diverse academic disciplines in a university in Hong Kong. Phenomenological methods are used to summarize the essences of firsthand experiences. Participants’ valenced views about service-learning’s impact are categorized as dominant positive, mixed, and negative stances. Service-learning contributed to faculty teaching, civic-mindedness, person/values, professional development, and research. Findings suggest that service-learning involvement can benefit more diverse faculty than previously identified. Service-learning is recommended as a strategy for faculty development, and as a means for universities to fulfill their social responsibility and contribute to sustainable development goals outlined by the United Nations.