INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING OBJECTIVE FOR SERVICE-LEARNING CURRICULA: NEUROBIOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATIONS OF HELPING OTHERS

Abstract

Introduction: Service-Learning (SL), also known as community-based learning, is an innovative pedagogical practice that combines services addressing the needs of the community with learning opportunities offered to students, in the context of their civic development and participation. Due to the instrumental and innovative nature of the SL in targeting both the socio-professional development of students and the community needs, there is an increased interest for the implementation of SL programs in higher education institutions. Recent analysis of the of the readiness and awareness toward SL practices at Babes-Bolyai University (BBU), which is the largest state universities in Romania, indicate an expressed need of the academic personnel toward SL training programs. A SL training curricula is currently being tested at BBU within an Erasmus + project (www.slihe.eu), with promising results in terms of the interest toward SL implementation of the first generation of trained academic members. The qualitative analysis of the post-SL training reflections indicate the need to include an interdisciplinary learning objective (LO) in the existing structure of the program, addressing the neurobiological and evolutionary explanations of the benefits of helping others. Objective: The aim of this paper is to perform a systematic analysis of the literature in order to outline an interdisciplinary LO to be included in the existing SL training curricula for academic personnel, that could facilitate not only a better understanding of the benefits of the community-oriented pedagogy, but also the motivation for social participation. Method: A systematic review protocol was used, following the procedures described in the literature. The reviewed articles were selected from the ISI Web of Knowledge, ProQuest and ScienceDirect, based on the searching keywords: “neurobiology of helping”, “evolutionary mechanism of volunteering”, “benefits of volunteering”, “benefits of SL”. A number of 14 articles were included in the final analysis. Results: Following the qualitative literature analysis, the proposed LO refers to the interdisciplinary approach to the mechanisms behind helping others in the context of SL – from neurobiology to behavior. The content of the LO is placed within the frame of the human tendency to help others in need, which has been subject to trans-, inter- and multidisciplinary studies of the mechanisms and adaptive significance of human prosocial behavior. A key target for analysis of the neurobiological underpinnings of community-oriented activities is the endogenous opioid system (EOS), focussing on the research-informed effects of helping others on the mental and physical health of the helpers. The LO introduces the idea of the EOS as a potential mediator of community-oriented activities, with special attention on the structured type of volunteering, which is an important component of the SL strategy. Evidence of the congruence between EOS involvement in social group behavior and social bonding and the role of these phenomena in community-oriented volunteerism is reviewed. Models and empirical evidence of the mechanisms and adaptive value of helping unrelated others are discussed and integrated in the context of community-oriented pedagogy, including the mammalian caregiving system, the neurobiological model of prosocial behavior, synchrony promoting social bonding, and stress-driven motivation of prosocial action in immediate needs.