Nurturing service leaders through service learning for university students

To promote the service leadership qualities in university students, a 3-credit service learning subject entitled “Service Leadership through Serving Children and Families with Special Needs” was developed at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In this subject, students are expected to learn, practice, and reflect on the essential qualities of effective service leaders through the process of developing service programs and implementing service to adolescents, children and families. A total of 145 students participated in this subject across two semesters in the 2013-14 academic year. In this paper, the subject is introduced and subjective outcome evaluation results and feedback on students from agencies are presented. The evaluation findings showed that the students benefited from the subject. Student reflections and implications on the nurturing of service leaders through service learning will also be discussed.