Service Learning: Perspectives and Applications

The world of education has thrown open a plethora of opportunities for youngsters to get skilled, gain employment, and move ahead in life. At the same time, to a certain extent, it has failed to address issues concerning society and mankind in general. There is very little human touch and humane approach in the way in which professionals go about doing their work. This kind of mechanical interaction would do very little to solve the problems of mankind, to say the least. This book talks about incorporating certain elements of human approach in the education process itself. The term service learning talks of imparting education with a human touch added to it. It discusses community interface with a purpose. Skills learnt in an institution do not necessarily inculcate human values in a student. A more human touch needs to be adopted, if institutional education has to be made meaningful and also beneficial to thousands in society. This book points out the difference between a particular pedagogy and the most conventional method adopted in the higher echelons of learning-internship. The beauty of this concept lies in its utility to disciplines as varied as engineering to medicine to humanities. It is expected to benefit academicians and visionaries who would like to bring in a human element while imparting education. It shows the power of sensitivity in interacting with people in day-to-day life. (author)