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MORAL MEANINGS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AT PAÑÑĀSĀSTRA UNIVERSITY OF CAMBODIA DISSERTATION Presented to the Graduate Council of Texas State University-San Marcos in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of PHILOSOPHY by Monirith Ly, B.Ed., M.Ed. San Marcos, Texas August 2013 MORAL MEANINGS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AT PAÑÑĀSĀSTRA UNIVERSITY OF CAMBODIA Committee Members Approved: ______________________________ Ann K. Brooks, Chair ______________________________ Jovita M. Ross-Gordon ______________________________ Paul B. Stewart ______________________________ Leah M. Renold ______________________________ Wayne E. Wright Approved: ______________________________ J. Michael Willoughby Dean of the Graduate College COPYRIGHT by Monirith Ly 2013 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Monirith Ly, refuse permission to copy in excess of the “Fair Use” exemption without my written permission. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my father-in-law, Dr. Sona Pen, for his prum-vihear-thor (the sublime attitudes of goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity) to everyone around him, especially the family. May his soul rest in peace. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep respect and gratitude to Dr. Kol Pheng and Dr. Chea San Chanthan for permitting me to conduct research on community service learning at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (PUC). I would also like to thank the non-governmental organizations for their permission of my observation of PUC students at their sites. I am very grateful to all my research participants, many of whom not only tolerated long interviews but also provided me with important documents to facilitate my data collection. I am thankful to Dr. Ann Brooks and Dr. Wayne Wright for idea of studying service-learning while I was trying to settle on a dissertation topic. As my dissertation chair, Dr. Brooks always provided the encouragement and suggestions that helped me improve my writing. I would also like to thank Dr. Jovita Ross-Gordon, Dr. Trae Stewart, Dr. Wright, and Dr. Leah Renold for their feedback and questions, which contributed to my dissertation improvement. I appreciate the time the committee spent reviewing my work and actively engaged me in discussion during my defense. I would like to thank Sr. Luise Ahrens and my friend Dr. Soveacha Ros for their encouragement on my dissertation progress. I cannot thank Dr. Brooks enough for her contribution to my academic success. I am grateful for the opportunity to work as her Research Assistant and improve my research skills. She has kindly and patiently supervised, taught, advised, and mentored vi me. She has helped me overcome academic and life challenges as a Ph.D. student at Texas State University-San Marcos. I would not have earned this degree without the assistantships, stipend, and scholarships from Texas State. Therefore, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Ph.D. program, the C.L.A.S. department, the College of Education, and the Graduate College. I am fortunate to have a family highly supportive of my education. I really appreciate the love, sacrifice, support, and happiness provided by my beloved wife, Pen Sophara. When I worked too hard, she told me to take a break or exercise. When I felt discouraged, she raised my morale. She took care of me more than herself. She made my life meaningful and complete. Also, our two children give us love and joy. We are very thankful to our parents for supporting us and the children financially and otherwise. We appreciate the visits, electronically and in person, by our sisters and brothers. This manuscript was submitted on June 05, 2013. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 Researcher Background ...............................................................................1 Background to the Study ..............................................................................2 Problem Statement .......................................................................................7 Rationale for the Study ..............................................................................10 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................10 Research Questions ....................................................................................10 Definition of Terms....................................................................................11 Significance of the Study ...........................................................................13 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................14 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................16 Service-Learning Literature .......................................................................17 Moral Development Theories ....................................................................25 Buddhist Ethics ..........................................................................................26 Cambodian Moral Values ..........................................................................32 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................34 III. METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................35 Epistemology and Theoretical Perspective ................................................35 Research Design.........................................................................................36 Justification and Quality Standards ...........................................................41 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................42 viii IV. COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AT PAÑÑĀSĀSTRA UNIVERSITY OF CAMBODIA ....................................................................................................44 Context of Community Service Learning at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia ...................................................................................................44 PUC Educators’ Visions in Supporting and Implementing Community Service Learning ........................................................................................47 Implementation: Community Study Trip (CST) versus Community Service Learning Program (CSLP) ............................................................57 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................65 V. MORAL MEANINGS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING TO VOLUNTEERS .....................................................................................................67 New Understanding ...................................................................................67 New Attitudes toward Others.....................................................................68 New Views of Role in Society ...................................................................70 New Behaviors and Actions.......................................................................73 Chapter Summary ......................................................................................85 VI. EXPERIENCES THAT FACILITATED VOLUNTEERS’ MORAL MEANING-MAKING ...........................................................................................86 Volunteers’ Learning Process ....................................................................86 Community-Volunteer Interactions ...........................................................92 Educational Drama.....................................................................................94 Professor-Generated Symbolic Actions ....................................................97 Volunteer-Generated Symbolic Actions ................................................101 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................102 VII. INTERPRETATION ....................................................................................103 Moral and Civic Purposes of Service-Learning .......................................103 Moral Development .................................................................................111 Service-Learning and Cambodia’s Educational Policy ...........................117 Education and Learning through Community Drama ..............................118 Spirituality and Symbolism in Service-Learning .....................................121