Promoting Positive Development Among Disadvantaged Primary School Students Through a Service-Learning Project

Purpose Service learning (SL) is a recognized experiential pedagogy that offers reciprocal benefits, yet most research focuses on service providers. This study examined the benefits for disadvantaged children who were service recipients in an SL course. Methods We used a single-group pretest–posttest design and a matched sample of 216 Grade 3 students (49.54% girls, mean age = 9.34 ± 0.62 years). Results Repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance revealed significant improvements in academic development ( F = 20.92, p < .001, η p 2 = .233), positive generic attributes ( F = 6.03, p < .001, η p 2 = .248), and well-being ( F = 10.39, p < .001, η p 2 = .089), along with significant decreases in mental health issues ( F = 6.01, p < .001, η p 2 = .079). Boys and girls showed comparable favorable changes. Conclusions These findings support SL's effectiveness in promoting positive development among disadvantaged children, highlighting SL as a promising strategy for enhancing children's holistic development.