New challenges for a geopolitics of knowledge. The european higher education area and the service-learning methodology as a case in point

Abstract

The transformations and new challenges faced by modern society are also evident in the educational field in different cultures. The emergence of a European Higher Education Area has greatly contributed to a new perspective of the teaching-learning process, with effects on the planning level, teaching practice(s) and hegemonic models. Our main aim here is to develop a project based on the Service-Learning methodology which can be implemented with a social purpose, starting at the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Galician capital city, on the assumption that it is indeed a tool of social utility towards cultural inclusion in various pedagogical spheres. Among the most relevant conclusions, we emphasize the importance of social commitment based on university experiences and, in this connection, we aim at changing social perception of training at a Faculty of Philology.