**1. Introduction**

Public institutions, social organizations, schools, and families may all contribute to the development of citizens who are more aware of the importance of working toward sustainable development goals. Among these, higher education institutions play a fundamental role in educating competent professionals who can work to achieve sustainability [1,2]. Therefore, it is necessary to promote educational practices that help students become aware of the importance of exercising active and responsible citizenship that responds to the sustainability challenges of the 21st century [3]. It may be that generating a paradigm shift that addresses the students' sustainability needs, aspirations, and concerns becomes essential [4].

In this process, it is important to promote both active participation and autonomous and self-regulated learning in order for students to develop their reflective capacities. Reflection enables students to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, provide solutions to complex situations while avoiding working by trial and error, face situations of uncertainty, to reformulate knowledge, practice and, most importantly, develop critical thinking skills and transform life experiences into learning [5–8].

In the field of curriculum development, researchers have shown an increased interest in analyzing the concept of reflection in higher education [9] and in demonstrating the importance of reflective practice within the curriculum in order to develop attitudes that contribute to sustainable development [10,11]. With regard to research into extracurricular activities, recent evidence suggests

the relevance of these activities in the improvement and development of reflective skills [12–14]. However, in-depth studies exploring students' experiences of self-reflection related to extracurricular activities (ECA onwards) are much needed [14].

In recent years, universities have aimed to integrate sustainability-related curricular and extracurricular reflective learning. Related to this, this research examines the emerging role of an extracurricular volunteer activity in Tangier, Morocco for the development of reflective skills. Specifically, the objectives of this study are:


#### **2. ECA (Extracurricular activities) to Promote Reflective Learning**

Higher education is currently framed within a new conception of education geared toward sustainability. This requires the use of teaching and learning methods that motivate and make students aware of the importance of sustainable development. Such education needs to include key issues such as sustainable consumption, poverty reduction, and disaster risk [2]. It is essential to design courses that not only focus on student learning, but also contain reflective learning content that invites students to reflect on their daily learning and take action from a responsible, holistic, and forward-looking perspective [15,16].

In 1984, Kolb [8] conceptualized learning as a process of creating knowledge through the transformation of experience using the experiential learning model. Kolb proposed a cyclical learning model that consisted of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. According to the model, a cyclical process has to be completed, where experience constitutes the basis of learning and reflection. According to Kolb, learning occurs when reflection allows the individual to meaningfully learn from their own experience [17].

From this perspective, learning is less a process of knowledge acquisition, and more a process of knowledge construction in which reflective learning is paramount. This reflective practice is a dialog between thinking and doing [18–20]. Students who integrate theory and practice develop certain skills that enable better understanding of situations and the creation of independent meaning.

The term reflection has been defined in many ways. Moon [21] described it as a mental process applied in relatively complicated or unstructured situations where no obvious solution exists. Ryan and Ryan [22] argued that reflection allows students to examine what they believe and who they believe they are. Dewey [23] pointed out that reflection originates in a state of doubt or perplexity and, therefore, is an act of search and inquiry to find material to remove doubt and ge<sup>t</sup> rid of perplexity. For this reason, we defend that the reflective process usually begins in destabilizing and confusing situations. In these situations, instead of acting according to trial and error, a situation is interpreted and understood through questioning and research. In addition, reflection allows for the possibility of being aware of one's own actions, and learning from and improving those actions [24].

In relation to the moment of reflection, Schön [18] pointed out that there are two important temporal aspects: reflection-in-action (within experience) and reflection-on-action (after experience). The first refers to the reflection carried out as the action occurs. The second gives meaning to an experience after it has occurred. Such reflection can occur in two stages of the experiential learning model: in the reflective observation stage, when an experience is given meaning, and in abstract conceptualization, when concepts or hypotheses are generated [25].

Reflection, therefore, can be defined as engaging in a cognitive process in order to learn from experiences [6,16,23] and can be conducted through individual inquiry or in collaboration with others. Regarding individual reflective learning, instruments such as portfolios [20] or reflective journals [26] are used, where levels of reflection can be evaluated through forms of narrative. In these instruments, the quality of reflection varies according to the learner's ability to ask the relevant questions that will lead to learning [27].

Regarding reflective learning in collaboration with others, this can involve either interaction with peers or with a specialized instructor who guides the process. Socio-cultural theory conceives learning as a process of joint construction that occurs in the course of interaction [28]. In this regard, dialog is an essential moment of encounter, allowing for the construction of shared meanings from experience [29]. Among other methods, it can be carried out through seminars [30], online forums [31], or focus groups [32].

In this type of reflective learning, communication, cooperation, and feedback between instructors and peers play a fundamental role. Students, when interacting with others, promote reflective processes that help them to better understand themselves, their needs and problems as well as their personal strengths and limitations. In addition, these processes enable students to identify sources and means of coping with personal conflicts, challenges, and uncertainties [6]. For this process to succeed, the creation of a climate, based on mutual trust and positive bonds, is essential in order to provide security to the participating students [27].

Reflection is a process that requires stimulation, reinforcement, supervision, and training [23]. Therefore, the role of the educational instructor is fundamental when generating reflective learning [10,33]. The instructor, through dialog and the creation of a climate of mutual trust, should create a learning environment where students feel comfortable in expressing their thoughts [34] and reflecting on their actions [18]. The instructor is responsible for introducing, developing, and nurturing reflective learning [33]. Peer interactions also play an important role in the learning process. Sharing reflections, feelings, ideas, and experiences with others is a fundamental step in giving meaning to the learning process and student experience [17,35], and ultimately creating reflective processes where the points of view of others are assimilated, exchanged, and analyzed [36].

In the past two decades, a large body of scholarly literature has been published dealing with the importance of reflective learning in curricular disciplines related to education [24], health [26], social work [35], and business [34].

These studies have mostly been limited to the curricular field. However, there is increasing interest in the potential for ECA to promote reflection. ECA are defined as voluntary activities that take place outside the class schedule [37], which complement curricular training [38] and contribute to the students' personal [39], professional [40], and social [41] development. These activities are classified into sporting, cultural, solidarity, spiritual and artistic activities, and student clubs [41–43].

ECAs stand out for their ability to create spaces for the development of conflict resolution skills [44–46] and critical thinking and reflection on ethical values [12,14,47]. Indeed, Schripsema et al. [13] concluded that students who participated in ECA had better reflective skills than those who were not involved in such activities. In addition, [14] argued that participation in ECA facilitated reflection and allowed students to obtain the maximum out of that extracurricular experience.
