Integration of Service-Learning Theory and Social Capital Theory in Volunteering Work for Sustainable Development: A Study of the Role of Education Curricula in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Based on the ideas of service-learning theory and social capital theory, the study examines the role that educational programmes play in encouraging students to engage in volunteer work for sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. A total of 251 usable responses were gathered through an online survey. The conceptual framework for the study was established to analyse direct and indirect impacts. The study used partial-least-squares–structural equation modelling to estimate the inter-construct correlations that exist among the postulated variables and ran bootstrapping to examine the potential for causality in the research hypotheses. The impact of service work for sustainable development is broken down into two categories: service learning and social capital. The study has demonstrated that the antecedents of social capital theory, such as norms and values (β = 0.0293) and social support (β = 0.0001), exert a strong and positive influence on volunteering work in Saudi Arabia, whereas the antecedents of service-learning theory, such as service activities (β = 0.2288), learning outcomes (β = 0.9879), social ties/connections (β = 0.1167) and community engagement (β = 0.1601), have little or nothing to do with influencing volunteering work. This indicates that for volunteering to become accepted by society, policymakers need to give volunteers work that is rewarding by nature and focused on norms and values (NV) and social support (SS). The authors of this article propose a new strategy for managing knowledge in future volunteer activities due to the dearth of empirical research on the integration of service-learning theory and social capital theory in volunteering for sustainable development.