Joseph Ng, Ph.D.
Abstract
Community service is a beneficial human activity that requires readiness not only from those who perform the action but also from those who benefit from it. This study assessed the readiness for community partnerships of eighteen selected communities (barangays) in the City of Lipa in the Philippines as perceived by NSTP students of De La Salle Lipa, who were given the opportunity to accomplish beginning immersion in the said communities through their National Service Training Program (NSTP) course. A mixed-methods type of research was utilized. The conceptual model for capacity building and community readiness was used as the theoretical framework. The community readiness scale by Chilenski, Greenberg, and Feinberg were utilized as the data-gathering instrument. Additionally, a focus group discussion was conducted to explore efficacy and leadership as subscales of community readiness. Findings revealed that students perceived their partner communities to have moderate levels of community readiness in terms of such dimensions as attachment, initiative, efficacy, and community leadership. These perceptions were further enriched by the insights of selected students who took part in the FGD to assess both efficacy and leadership, where the statistical and FGD results for leadership both fell at moderate levels. In relation to the results of the study, the barangays were deemed ‘community-ready’ to foster future partnerships with the NSTP students in their initiatives to propose and implement a project for and with the community based on an assessed need or concern. Towards the end, an action plan was proposed with suggestions on how readiness of the partner communities may be enhanced specifically in terms of community efficacy and leadership.
Full Text
Keywords
Community readiness, community service, service learning, NSTP, community participation
About the Author
Dr. Joseph Angelou I. Ng is an Associate Professor at the College of Education, Arts and Sciences and College of Business, Economics, Accountancy and Management of De La Salle Lipa. He is a licensed nurse and teacher (Top 6, September 2015 National Licensure Examination for Teachers – Biological Science). He has presented research papers in international research conferences (Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, USA, Italy, London, Malaysia and Taiwan). He is regularly invited as research speaker in various trainings, conferences and seminars in CALABARZON He graduated Magna cum Laude in College, obtained a Ph.D. degree in Education in 2017, and graduated in 2021 from the Doctor of Business Administration degree as Magna Cum Laude at Batangas State University – The National Engineering University. He is a consistent valedictorian of De La Salle Lipa in Grade School, High School and College; hailed Jose Rizal Model Student of the Philippines in 2008 and a finalist of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in 2009. He is likewise a recipient of the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo National Award for Excellence in Academics and Leadership. His research interests include service learning, community development, organizational leadership and management.
ISSN: 2151-2515
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