Sharing the belief that education should give students the space and opportunities to explore the roles they wish to play in society, Dr Ngai and Dr Chan began collaborating in 2006. They have since been outstanding in facilitating students’ transformative learning and promoting Service-Learning as an institutional strategy for developing students into responsible professionals and global citizens.

Described fittingly as “transformers” themselves, Dr Ngai and Dr Chan have fostered and advanced the practice of academic Service-Learning, which has transformed PolyU students’ learning experience. They have formed multicultural student teams, partnered with local NGOs and organized student-exchange programmes. More remarkably, they have piloted an innovative “global Service-Learning classroom” in which PolyU students and overseas peers can attend the same lectures and develop project objectives through video conferences before implementing their projects together at the service location.

Transformation also occurs in students’ mindsets. Esther Leung, a student majoring in Geomatics, reported that, “apart from benefitting the needy, we, as service providers, learn a lot more and understand ourselves better through serving”. Jacky Chan, another student majoring in Enterprise Information Systems, said that “in the past, I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur, give my parents a better living. But now, I want to use my wealth to help more people in need. If everyone is willing to take one step further, the love and hope can be spread out”.

Apart from fostering students’ personal development, Dr Ngai and Dr Chan have spared no effort in expanding the coverage of their service projects, from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to Cambodia, Myanmar, Rwanda and Kyrgyzstan. Their efforts to internationlise the Service-Learning experience and cultivate students’ sense of global citizenship and cultural awareness are particularly noteworthy.

At the system-wide level, Dr Ngai and Dr Chan have demonstrated their visionary leadership in helping PolyU management to conceptualise Service-Learning as an institutional teaching-and-learning strategy for achieving a complete education experience.

The success of Service-Learning at PolyU, however, is not wholly attributable to individuals. Dr Ngai and Dr Chan’s dedication has inspired many University members to engage in Service-Learning. The pair hope that more students can benefit from this life-change experience, and that more teachers will experience the power of taking students into challenging environments and feel the joy of watching them transform as they benefit the community. ♦

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