Abstract
Service-learning in the educational sector has shown increased impact on student lifelong learning and institutional commitment to the community over the past decade. Universities in the Philippines provide various service-learning programs for their partner communities, to address students’ understanding of real-life community needs. However, there has been little study on students’ service-learning in geriatric institutions. This article first discusses higher education in the Philippines, noting the impact of the National Service Training Program on institutions’ programs. It then describes how one university, the University of Santo Tomas, has responded to this policy framework with the development of community programs that also meet its goals for social transformation. One particular program is examined – a service-learning program involving college students and a geriatric institution in Manila. Early qualitative feedback provides an understanding of college students’ perceptions of the elderly and the service-learning implemented by the university. It also offers a strong foundation for continuing to improve the current service-learning program. From this study an 8-loop model has been developed for future evaluations of the service-learning program in this geriatric institution.
 Keywordsservice-learning, elderly, geriatric institution, Philippines higher education
Highlights
Service-learning was coined in the 1970s and has been promoted in the curricula by various educational scholars
Informing the development of service-learning and other community-engaged programs at Filipino universities is the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001, which was established by virtue of Republic Act 9163
The following observations were identified: students generally enjoyed the activities with the elderly; stereotypical thinking about elderly people was minimised; students understood that learning the needs of the elders is important; students learned of the importance of family relationships for elders; and they learnt to value the contributions of the elderly to the family and society
Summary
DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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