Can Service Learning foster a Civic Responsibility by VET-students? – Empirical results of a explorative, process-oriented pilot study

One aim in Vocational Education and Training (VET) is to foster students’ competencies for future working fields as well as a personal development regarding their future role in the society. With this in mind, service learning represents a suitable way to reach these aims in VET. In service learning, students participate in a service activity that meets a community need, while reflection on this activity in turn fosters a deeper understanding of the academic content and develops students’ values and attitudes towards civic responsibility. Nevertheless, the effects of service learning in VET-schools have not been examined in research so far. Therefore, the following study presents empirical results of an explorative, process-oriented pilot study on what situations in service learning stimulate VET students to think about civic responsibility. In result, three situation types are revealed: ‘getting insights into volunteering activities’, ‘working on the service project’ and ‘awareness about civic engagement’