Social Theories and Service-Learning: Towards Building an Integrated Service-Learning Sociological Framework

Abstract

This theoretical paper anchors Service-Learning (S-L) in three broad sociological theories. From there, discussions on the actual implementation of S-L based on these theories are explained to build an integrated S-L sociological framework. Four S-L modalities of community engagement, namely: transactional, transitional, transformational, and transcendental with their corresponding respective levels of community participation, namely: consultative tokenism, placation, partnerships, and citizen control are identified. The application of such a coherent framework is discussed in the context of community impact and S-L practices nowadays.