Academic Course-based Service-learning for “21st Century Citizenship”: A Case of Introduction to Multicultural Studies

Abstract

An increasing number of Japanese colleges and universities have introduced service-learning (SL) courses as a part of their active learning program. To put it simply, service-leaning is an educational program that facilitates students to participate in community service activities so as to apply acquired knowledge in their service, and gain new perspectives on their academic learning. While woven into rigorous discipline-based academic courses at the majority of universities in the United States, many SL courses in Japanese universities are offered as voluntary service courses or as a part of career education courses having a tenuous link with regular academic courses and their coursework. Thus, many students who engage in SL activities seem to halt at verbalizing their tasks and at superficial impressions of their service experiences. Amid heightening calls for rigorous academic assessment and quality assurance of baccalaureate degrees, the author argues that Japanese universities should introduce academic course-based SL programs that require students to understand concepts and theories through readings and discussions on assigned readings while participating in service activities. In this paper, the author discusses prospects and challenges of implementing academic course-based SL in Japanese schools based on a case of Introduction to Multicultural Studies course.