Edi o ial: Se ice Lea ning,
Educa ional Inno a ion and Social
T ans o ma ion
Robe G. B ingle
1
*, Miguel A. San os Rego
2
and Bibiana Reguei o
2
1
Indiana Uni e si y Pu due Uni e si y Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, Uni ed S a es,
2
Uni e si y o San iago de Compos ela,
San iago de Compos ela, Spain
Keywo ds: se ice-lea ning, esea ch, communi y engagemen , schola ship, eflec ion
Edi o ial on he Resea ch Topic
Se ice Lea ning, Educa ional Inno a ion and Social T ans o ma ion
O igina ing in No h Ame ican and expanding a ound he wo ld, se ice-lea ning is a pedagogy ha
deepens educa ional ou comes and is aligned wi h social ac ion. G ounded in he p inciples o ac i e and
expe ien ial lea ning a icula ed by Dewey, Lewin, and Piage , among o he s (Kolb, 2015), se ice-
lea ning ad oca es o a mo e comp ehensi e educa ion o s uden s ha includes no only academic
lea ning bu also ci ic lea ning and pe sonal g ow h. In addi ion, i encompasses es ablishing ecip ocal
ela ionships wi h communi ies o he benefi o hei esiden s and o ganiza ions.
Al hough he ex an li e a u e cu en ly sugges s ha se ice-lea ning gi es new meaning o he
lea ning o compe ences and is a aluable ool in achie ing hem, he e a e s ill many challenges ha a ise
o all agen s in ol ed in he p ocess (e.g., esiden s, social en i ies, uni e si ies, ins uc o s, s uden s).
Schola ship and esea ch ha e his o ically been wo undamen al ac i i ies ha ha e shaped se ice-
lea ning, bu he e a e s ill many ensions, con as s, and challenges ha ha e o be esol ed.
Se ice-lea ning is in en ionally ocused on s uden de elopmen and communi y imp o emen ,
si ua ing i as a pedagogical s a egy wi h he po en ial o bo h educa ional inno a ion and social
ans o ma ion. In addi ion, jus as se ice-lea ning also in ol es con inuous eflec ion ha allows
connec ions be ween lea ning and ac ion in communi y se ings, schola ship and esea ch on se ice-
lea ning p o ides oppo uni ies o schola s o eflec on and ad ance he heo y and p ac ice o se ice-
lea ning.
This special issue o F on ie s in Educa ion is one example o p o iding an oppo uni y o schola s o
con ibu e o he de elopmen o se ice-lea ning. The en ies a e di e se in e ms o ins i u ional
con ex s, na ional se ings, and heo e ical/disciplina y o ien a ions. Mos o he manusc ip s, like he field
in gene al, epo ed esea ch ocused on s uden ou comes in se ice-lea ning. These manusc ip s co e ed
s uden ou comes ac oss academic lea ning, ca ee s and p o essional p epa a ion, ci ic and democ a ic
o ien a ions o socie y, s uden iden i y, and pe sonal g ow h. The b ead h o hese opics illus a es he
po en ial o se ice-lea ning o con ibu e o di e en ypes o lea ning, hus en iching he educa ional
expe iences o s uden s.
Se e al o he a icles cap u ed mul idisciplina y o ien a ions o se ice-lea ning and o he s con ibu ed
unique heo e ical analyses o se ice-lea ning. Two a icles examined echnology-based se ice-lea ning
(eS-L), a pa icula ly imely opic because he CoVid pandemic esul ed in many se ice-lea ning cou ses
being con e ed in o eS-L cou ses. The in eg a ion o echnology has he po en ial o imp o e all se ice-
lea ning in he u u e and o p ac i ione s o e-examine how eflec ion can be suppo ed by echnology, he
na u e o echnology-based ci ili y and ci ic skills, and echnology-suppo ed ela ionships. Thus, he
e sa ili y o se ice-lea ning as explo ed in hese a icles sugges ed addi ional ways in which se ice-lea ning
can enhance i s e ficacy and esul in change in he uni e si y cu iculum.
Edi ed and e iewed by:
S efinee Pinnega ,
B igham Young Uni e si y,
Uni ed S a es
*Co espondence:
Robe G. B ingle
[email p o ec ed]
Special y sec ion:
This a icle was submi ed o
Teache Educa ion,
a sec ion o he jou nal
F on ie s in Educa ion
Recei ed: 19 No embe 2021
Accep ed: 09 Decembe 2021
Published: 05 Janua y 2022
Ci a ion:
B ingle RG, San os Rego MA and
Reguei o B (2022) Edi o ial: Se ice
Lea ning, Educa ional Inno a ion and
Social T ans o ma ion.
F on . Educ. 6:818660.
doi: 10.3389/ educ.2021.818660
F on ie s in Educa ion | www. on ie sin.o g Janua y 2022 | Volume 6 | A icle 8186601
EDITORIAL
published: 05 Janua y 2022
doi: 10.3389/ educ.2021.818660
The schola ship epo ed in his issue can ad ance
unde s anding o he p ocesses o op imal cou se design,
implemen a ion, and e alua ion as ins uc o s and s uden s
wo k wi h communi y pa ne s o each meaning ul ou comes.
As such, se ice-lea ning has he po en ial o change wo k on
campus beyond a single cou se, an isola ed p ac i ione , and a
specific communi y-based ac i i y. Se ice-lea ning can be an
agen o change mo e b oadly in he uni e si y cu iculum, in he
p o essional li es o academic s a and ins uc o s, in he
ela ionships ha suppo se ice-lea ning, in he li es o
s uden s, and in he democ a ic p ocesses o he campus and
communi ies (Sal ma sh e al., 2009). In his way, se ice-lea ning
becomes a significan con ibu o o defining, efining, and
edefining he public pu poses o ins i u ions o highe
educa ion and hei ela ionships o local, na ional, egional,
and global communi ies ha a e inc easingly di e se. S a egic
ins i u ional suppo will be needed o build upon he exis ing
p ac ice and schola ship cu en ly exis ing a ound he wo ld. Ou
hope is ha he con en s o his special issue will con ibu e o he
momen um ha cu en ly exis s o analyze and expand se ice-
lea ning and will ans o m ins i u ions and hei p ac ice o be
mo e engaged, mo e democ a ic, and mo e humane in he u u e.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
All au ho s lis ed ha e made a subs an ial, di ec , and in ellec ual
con ibu ion o he wo k and app o ed i o publica ion.
REFERENCES
Kolb, D. A. (2015). Expe ien ial Lea ning: Expe ience as he Sou ce o Lea ning and
De elopmen . 2nd. Ed. Saddle Ri e , NJ: Pea son Educa ion.
Sal ma sh, J., Ha ley, M., and Clay on, P. H. (2009). Democ a ic Engagemen
Whi e Pape . Bos on, MA, New England Resou ce Cen e o Highe Educa ion.
Conflic o In e es : The au ho s decla e ha he esea ch was conduc ed in he
absence o any comme cial o financial ela ionships ha could be cons ued as a
po en ial conflic o in e es .
Publishe ’s No e: All claims exp essed in his a icle a e solely hose o he au ho s and
do no necessa ily ep esen hose o hei a filia ed o ganiza ions, o hose o he publishe ,
he edi o s and he e iewe s. Any p oduc ha may be e alua ed in his a icle, o claim
ha may be made by i s manu ac u e , is no gua an eed o endo sed by he publishe .
Copy igh © 2022 B ingle, San os Rego and Reguei o. This is an open-access a icle
dis ibu edunde he e mso heC ea i eCommonsA ibu ionLicense(CCBY).The
use, dis ibu ion o ep oduc ion in o he o ums is pe mi ed, p o ided he o iginal
au ho (s) and he copy igh owne (s) a e c edi ed and ha he o iginal publica ion in his
jou nal is ci ed, in acco dance wi h accep ed academic p ac ice. No use, dis ibu ion o
ep oduc ion is pe mi ed which does no comply wi h hese e ms.
F on ie s in Educa ion | www. on ie sin.o g Janua y 2022 | Volume 6 | A icle 8186602
B ingle e al. Edi o ial: Se ice-lea ning and Educa ional Inno a ion