Student experiences of service learning through a community outreach project

ABSTRACT

This article explores the challenges experienced and value derived by human resource management students at the Nelson Mandela University, South Africa from participating in a community service project. The study is descriptive and qualitative in nature, providing a thematic and narrative summary of student experiences in a community service project as presented in portfolios of evidence. The study reveals that community service projects are a valuable tool for students to experience real life, practise desired graduate attributes and other competencies nurtured in the classroom, and deepen their socio-economic awareness. For academics they provide insight into student experiences and highlights areas in which students need support, guidance, or mentoring in a service-learning project of this nature.

KEYWORDS:

• Civil society – NGOs, Participation
• Social sector – Education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Michelle Mey is Director of the School of Industrial Psychology and Human Resource Management at Nelson Mandela University. She began her career at Spoornet as a generalist in human resources. She has lectured and trained in all aspects of human resources and has worked in the field of human resource management and, more specifically, training and development for 20 years. She has presented and published research papers at a local, national, and international level.

Amanda Werner is Head of Department: Human Resource Management at Nelson Mandela University. Her main teaching areas include organisational behaviour, and organisational change and development. She is editor and co-author of text books in human resource management, organisational behaviour and industrial psychology. She has presented and published research papers at national and international level.

Bridget de Villiers is a lecturer in the Department of Human Resource Management at Nelson Mandela University. Prior to commencing her career with the NMU she worked in both the private and public sector within the fields of human resource management and industrial relations. She has presented and published research at a national level.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the 2015–2016 Nelson Mandela University Engagement Advancement Fund (EAF).