Service-Learning and Moral Identity: a study based on the Theory of Organizing Models of Thinking
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1344/RIDAS2023.15.1Keywords:
moral identity, moral values, service-learningAbstract
Many authors point to the construction of moral values as an important contribution to service-learning. However, there is little empirical research on whether and how this occurs, primarily in longitudinal and qualitative studies. In this article, value construction is understood as a process of integrating moral content into self-representation, which can constitute a moral identity. This article explores whether and how young people's participation in service-learning projects favours the integration of moral content into their self-representations. Using a qualitative and longitudinal approach, the research was conducted with 19 young females, protagonists of two service-learning projects developed as part of the high school curriculum in a school in Sao Paolo (Brazil). The data collection instrument consisted of an open-ended questionnaire, answered before and after the projects, and the data were analysed based on the Theory of Organizing Models of Thought. Eighteen of the 19 research participants extended or changed the integration of moral content into their representations of themselves. Of these, 13 mentioned the service-learning project in their self-representations, and 8 mobilised new moral content related to the project. The results show that by involving young people in socio-moral actions, service-learning projects can favour integrating moral content into their representations of themselves, constituting an important tool for constructing moral identity.
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