Service learning

Wilson’s project deals with developing a sense of citizenship among students by combining volunteer work at local secondary schools in The Hague and research into multicultural education in The Hague.

‘For my Leiden Teachers’ Academy project I am going to develop a new “service learning” curriculum. Service learning is a pedagogical strategy that combines valuable servitude to the community with academic education. The goals are:

• Teaching social responsibility;
• Strengthening communities;
• Exchanging social and academic sources and expertise. Teachers, students and local partners of Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) collaborate to achieve clearly defined goals that benefit the society as a whole, and also contribute to the development of individual skills, and a better collective understanding of social issues in The Hague. Creatively addressing universal challenges in our own city gives us an extra opportunity to spread our motto: ‘Building Knowledge for a Better World.’

Academic Theory in Practice

In our trial course, which started in February 2015, a group of twenty students worked as tutors or educational assistants at two local secondary schools. At the same time, they were studying the politics and history of public administration, immigration and education policy in The Hague. By being directly involved in providing a service, assisting with reflection and performing independent research as well as writing about it, students develop concrete interpersonal and educational skills. They learn to put academic theory into practice, and gain an understanding of, and a feel for the broader community  in which they live. They also discuss, and at times struggle with the question of what it means to be a concerned citizen. They had the opportunity to become conscious of the ‘valorisation’ of academic education. At the same time, secondary school teachers and students benefit from the energy, involvement and the international perspective that LUC students bring into the classroom. With the help of the Johan De Witt College and St. Paul College, as well as the municipality of The Hague, this was an exciting adventure. We intend to build on this experience and broaden it to other themes in the coming years.

Progress of the project

Our students have done volunteer work at local secondary schools combined with academic research on multicultural education in The Hague. The student’s participation had to be explicitly mutually profitable for both the student and city. The underlying philosophy was that the theme of the broad BA Global Challenges was reflected on a micro-level in the multicultural society of The Hague. After a successful pilot in 2015, Wilson’s course has become a permanent element of LUC’s Global Citizenship curriculum. It is now linked to other social activities led by students in the city of The Hague.

More information

Ann Wilson (Campus The Hague, Leiden University College The Hague)

'It is great to be a part of the new Leiden Teachers’ Academy. I look forward to exchanging ideas and best practices with colleagues who are equally driven to achieve excellence in education as I am.’

‘As a teacher at LUC, the international honours college of Leiden University, I can let students benefit from my experience in small-scale, intensive teaching groups within the interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences programme that focuses on Global Challenges.’

‘I am particularly interested in developing powerful advisory structures for research in the bachelor’s and master’s stages, and in setting up educational projects in which university staff members and students can have a fruitful collaboration with partners from outside the university.’