Catholic universities: Learning through community service

Top photo: The CLAYSS team and participants of the Solidarity Service Learning International Conference, August 2019, Universidad Católica Argentina.

Service-learning involves students in experiential service projects alongside their educational activities. For example, architecture students at the University of Córdoba, Argentina, helped to design and build social housing in a poor neighborhood. By defining and organising themselves around this pedagogy, Catholic universities empower students to engage as agents of social change and at the same time strengthen the social relevance of the Church. Many Catholic higher education institutions (CHEIs) are now calling for expert faculty training and capacity building to embed service-learning effectively in their teaching.

Porticus longstanding partner, CLAYSS, equips these institutions with the digital resources, training courses and experiences they need through its Uniservitate programme. It helps some 200 CHEIs all over the world adopt quality service-learning. CLAYSS set up Uniservitate to promote service-learning globally, bringing together institutions from the Global South and Global North on an equal footing in a growing worldwide network.

Richard Brosse, Porticus Programme Manager Vital Catholic Thought, adds: “Service learning is an ideal way of translating Catholic universities’ mission into practice. These universities do not only aim to develop intellectual capabilities but also ‘the heart and hands’ of their students.”  

As well as by providing funding, Porticus is supporting the Uniservitate programme with active involvement in the monitoring and evaluation of the programme’s design, the selection of universities for support and the selection process for the Uniservitate Award 2022.

Porticus Partner: CLAYSS

Photos courtesy of CLAYSS.