Conference Agenda

In light of ongoing global transformation processes and increasing societal polarization, higher education is challenged to strengthen students’ civic responsibility and democratic competences. Service-learning offers a promising pedagogical approach by linking experiential, action-oriented learning with meaningful community engagement (Bringle & Clayton, 2012). Reflection, alongside real-world experience and reciprocity with community partners, is considered a core element in fostering such learning processes (Godfrey, Illes & Berry, 2005).

Based on the example of a service-learning module in a vocational teacher education program, the study focuses on how structured reflection supports students‘ competency development and civic attitudes. Using a formative reflection portfolio, the study addresses the following research questions:

- How do students perceive their own performance and competency development at different stages of the service learning process??

- How does students' attitude toward civil society change over the course of the semester?

The positive impact of service-learning on willingness to engage, attitudes toward social engagement, and self-efficacy has been empirically confirmed in several studies (Gerholz & Losch 2015; Slepcevic-Zach & Fernandez, 2021). Reflection is intended to enable students to consciously perceive and systematically analyze their actions (Godfrey, Illes & Berry, 2005). The goal is for students to recognize the connection between project work and their study program and to understand the development of their attitudes toward societal challenges.

In the module, the concept of reflection is implemented through a reflection portfolio consisting of guided initial, interim, and final reflections during the semester. This approach adopts a process-analytical perspective to address the research questions. Reflection prompts address both project-related experiences and students’ perceived roles within civil society. The data consist of reflection portfolios from two cohorts (n = 26), which are analyzed using content-structuring qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2018).

Preliminary findings indicate that at the beginning of the semester, students primarily focus on task-related aspects of their projects and often express uncertainty regarding their roles. Over time, reflections increasingly shift toward broader civic perspectives. In the final reflections, students demonstrate a more differentiated understanding of civil society and report changes in their self-perception as socially engaged actors. The study contributes to the empirical understanding of how reflection processes in service-learning can support the development of civic attitudes and democratic competences in teacher education. It highlights the importance of structured, longitudinal reflection formats for fostering transformative learning processes.