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The role of service-learning in the International Baccalaureate: a scoping review, 2014–2024
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The role of service-learning in the International Baccalaureate: a scoping review, 2014–2024

Dianne Gamage, Susan Ledger, Kathleen Smithers and Lyn Karstadt
Social sciences & humanities open, Vol.12, 102088
2025
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CC BY V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

International Baccalaureate Scoping review Service-learning
The International Baccalaureate's (IB) mission centres on intercultural understanding and respect that fosters global citizenship. One strategy used to enact this mission across the IB programmes is service-learning, from Action in the Primary Years Programme to Service as Action in the Middle Years Programme to Creativity, Activity and Service in the Diploma and Career-related Programmes. After setting out to understand how philosophy shapes and defines service-learning within the Asian IB context, a scoping review found scant literature in this area. Instead, it captured tensions between the ideological aims of service-learning and IB action locally. And rather than shared interpretations of the service-learning concept and its consistent implementation across the IB programmes, the review found that understandings are shaped by a combination of IB philosophy and values, school structure, teachers' lived experiences, and cultural contexts. These tensions and the absence of a universal definition of service-learning suggest that the IB mission may not be fully realised and Western-centric normalisation in the enactment of service-learning is evident. Research is needed to determine if the IB mission can deliver on its goals of international-mindedness and global citizenship, through service-learning. Such research could lead to IB programme refinement and bring clarity to how teachers can navigate inherent tensions in delivering service learning in local contexts.

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