Understanding lecturers’ Engagement in Service Learning: Insights from Vietnamese Higher Education

ABSTRACT

The Vietnamese government has prioritized transformative reforms in higher education to enhance the quality of human resources, with the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework (VQF) serving as a cornerstone of these efforts. The VQF outlines the expected knowledge, skills, and social responsibility for graduates, driving necessary changes in teaching practices to align with these desired graduate attributes. Service-learning, which integrates the application of academic knowledge with the cultivation of social responsibility, presents a promising approach to innovating pedagogical practices in Vietnamese universities. This qualitative study investigates factors influencing lecturers’ engagement in implementing service-learning within the context of Vietnamese higher education. The findings identify key barriers, such as limited institutional support and workload constraints, alongside motivators like professional development opportunities and improved student outcomes. Addressing these barriers while leveraging the identified motivators is crucial for fostering lecturer engagement in service-learning. By doing so, service-learning can significantly contribute to the holistic development of graduates and align with Vietnams broader educational reform goals.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14724718

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