Results the 19th International Service-learning Conference
The 19th International Service-learning Conference was held on August 25th and 26th 2016 in the Catholic University Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Organized by CLAYSS, the Latin American Center for Service Learning, with the support of the Organization of American States (OEI) and the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Argentina, as well as the participation of our REDIBAS allies (the Iberoamerican Service-learning Network), it was attended by over 600 participants, 145 of which came from 19 countries in Latin America, Europe (with significant participation of allies in Eastern Europe), Africa and Asia.
This year the conference began with the presentation of Prof. María Nieves Tapia "Service learning as a pedagogical innovation", noting that institutions that develop service-learning projects are teaching for "the necessary knowledge for the century XXI" that today many claim but cannot find how to implement. The video of the presentation can be found here, and the presentation can be downloaded here.
The panel "service learning international experience" was attended by Gerardo Borggio (Technical School UTU Pedro Blanes Viale Mercedes, Soriano, Uruguay), Edina Malkić (Director, MINE, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Alida Van Dyk and Cuzette Du Plessis (University of Fort Hare, South Africa), Stephen Chan Chi Fai (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Fabricio Cesar Torres (Javeriana University in Cali, Colombia).
In the plenary "Public Policies for the Promotion of Service-Learning", presented Rosita Inés Angelo (Director of Education of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay), Oscar Sanchez and Gustavo Schujman (Incitar Program, Bogotá, Colombia), Fernando de Almeida, (Secretary of Education of Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Max Gulmanelli (Secretary of Educational Management, Argentina Republic).
In the panel “Solidarity Schools Presidential Award winning experiences 2015” presented Lorelei Villega, School No. 4-055 "Priest Constantino Spagnolo", Junin, Mendoza, along with a student; Maria Luisa Pemberton, School No. 7708 (ex 791) - Prison Unit No. 14, Esquel, Chubut, and William David Martinez Cabrera and a student of the High School of Art No.49, Tilcara, Jujuy, who closed the panel with an emotional sample of the music and original instruments that the school helps to preserve and upgrade.
In her commentary on the panel, Inés Aguerrondo expressed the need to transform the school with educational projects that look to the community, "Without projects there are no competencies: isolated learing is no longer possible, it is necessary to interact with reality, there knowledge is not fragmented. A teacher or a course project should be the leaven for service-learning to transform the school ... let service-learning flag show the future"
The first day, concurrent sessions focused on the development of service-learning projects at different educational levels and social organizations, and on the second day the focus was in various disciplines and topics associated with solidarity educational projects. All presentations (in Spanish) can be downloaded here. The videos of the plenary presentations (in Spanish) are being uploaded to our YouTube channel.