Service Learning to foster orientation teaching

Abstract

Starting from the perspective of orienting teaching, this paper explores the relationship between guidance practices and Service Learning (SL), taken to be an educational approach that places students at the heart of the learning process. By making use of critical reflection throughout the entire procedure, this approach fosters meaningful learning and allows the students involved to become aware of the skills and interests required to build up perspectives and horizons of meaning. It thus serves as an orienting and guiding educational path stemming from the students' own experiences and going beyond the mere transmissive dimension of knowledge, in line with the recognized educational value of orientation (Ministero dell'Istruzione e del Merito, 2022).