Expert perspectives on the service design learning model
Advancing teaching and learning by practicing and implementing service design solutions for Concordia students
Interview with experts, Martin Gonthier and Emiliano Guevara speaking about their teaching and learning experience while auditing Marketing 451 (Winter semester, 2025)
What is your impression of the service based learning model this course offers?
“This is like way larger than I was expecting. I was thinking maybe I’d just be sitting back, relaxing and listening, going to a history course and just getting a monologue from the teacher. But no, she was something else. I even told her, your approach is really not conventional, well, that I was used to and I know I hadn't been in school in many years. So for me, it was a shock. And then I started reading her book. In the beginning, I was like, what the heck is this? And then as I was reading it, I was starting to make links with what she was trying to communicate. And then I said, oh my gosh, this is something of importance. It's bigger, much bigger than what the course outline is.”
“She really cares and she finds what she's teaching very important for the future. So I was seeing the transformation of the class in front of my eyes. I was like, wow, these guys are really learning. But they're learning skills that are not really in the course outline per se. They're learning skills that are going to serve them during their academic life. But in the real world, what they're learning is going to be very beneficial for them. And for me, it's the first class that I've seen where there's a unity, there's a camaraderie, there is communication, there's respect amongst each other. There's stuff that you don't really see in boardrooms and in classrooms and this is something that we do need for functional organizations to be able to see, to have people actually working together and communicating.
Martin Gonthier, Senior Non-Credit Program
(Audited Marketing 451, Winter 2025)
“I think students go into the class because they want to understand the current state of the service economy and Platform-as-a-Service. That's kind of what they’re trying to get into. And I believe it can feel disorienting at first when they realize that the class is not actually about deploying platform solutions but about going deeper – understanding the reason and purpose of Service at its most integral level.”
“The environment in the class is very dynamic. You have to be awake, you have to act, you need trust and not fear—which is really cool. But outside the classroom, the workload is heavy, and I think that’s okay. We need to take into consideration that this is a 400-level class, right?”
“This is something I think Michèle really cares about in her method is: are you truly understanding? I’ve seen her spend two entire classes trying to get a single concept into students’ minds. As in: we’re not moving forward unless you understand what these three words mean. That feels like one of the pillars of her school of thought—the need for deep understanding, being honest about the knowledge you generate, being responsible for it, and also knowing how to implement it critically. So that’s one pillar: deep understanding. Another pillar would be critical thinking. She’s big on critical thinking. I’m yet not entirely sure students develop critical thinking skills in the full sense though, because that usually requires theory, history, and engaging with complex power relationships to truly embrace its complexity. But she aims for that—towards embracing complexity, fighting stupidity, fighting flatness, and such. It often feels like a philosophy class applied to business. Kind of a philosophy of Service. It’s more relational. Almost like relational aesthetics.”
Emiliano Guevara, BA, Communication and Cultural Studies
(Audited Marketing 451, Winter 2025)
Why is this course and the study of service based experiential learning so important?
“I think what she gives as a course should have other students from other faculties, having to participate in the course. Mandatory for like engineers for example, for HR and so on and so forth because this humanistic approach is not just a marketing issue, it's actually an organizational issue and it's a social structure issue. And the gap is becoming bigger and bigger as we evolve, as with this new generation using AI, for an example. It's creating these huge holes, huge gaps. And that's what kind of makes it feel good, that she's actually eliminating that gap. She's trying to say, listen, let's talk, let's discuss, let's put away your phones, let's understand where we're coming from, understand where everyone comes from and what they've lived, and understand the situation and empathy and so on and so forth like that”.
“I would be involving many different students so that they develop the humanistic approach, the service dominant approach, you know, and breaking those barriers down.”
“This whole humanistic approach of getting that synergy of the class together, it's transforming.”
“You can get lost in what's going on today, especially with social media and the way we're basically pigeonholed based on our consumption.”
“I think that awakening is the first word that comes to mind. She wakes people up… what’s the situation, what real?”
“Then she asks to think about yourself, and that’s hard to do. When you start thinking about yourself you starting thinking also how does that impact others. And that's how you kind of look at marketing because you always see you want to have an impact on someone else, right? But if you don't understand where you're coming from, right, then you don't understand how it has an impact on someone else. And I think that's another element that comes up. She pulls you outside your comfort zone, like a mile out of there, and this is good because that's how you learn. Especially in the performance stuff that you're doing. It's not a theater class. These are people who are studying business, but in business, you've got to sell your salad. You have to do your pitch, your marketing pitch, or your pitch to the board of directors, or to a customer, or to employees, you have to pitch it. Well, you're getting some experience in how to do that. And it'll be very valuable for them, after their academic years.”
“I just think the transformation of the class, it just happened. I think it was a first or second presentation I said, where did these guys come from? It wasn't the same students three weeks ago. It was just a transformation.”
Martin Gonthier, Senior Non-Credit Program
(Audited Marketing 451, Winter 2025)
“The course, I would call the course an introduction to the logic—or even the philosophy—of Service. It’s an introduction to humanistic service thinking. The course is great. Michèle doesn’t present service design as something trendy or new; rather as something that has been growing from international best practices and research; she’s drawing from top institutions in Europe, MIT, and the likes. I don’t think students fully realize yet that this (field) is something that’s coming next, and an actual practice that’s been developing in Europe for about fifteen years.”
“Basically, what I’m trying to do in the course is study the method and its potential applications—almost evaluating it. I’m interested in instructional design as well, possibly in the arts, and I’m also a marketing student. So for me, it’s very interesting. Now I can tell you more about the method itself.”
“I would say movement and realness are the two things Michèle embodies in the classroom. You rarely encounter a class that moves—and by movement I mean movement of ideas, of people, of energy: dynamic, dynamic, dynamic.”
“And Michèle stands behind everything she says, intensely, and that’s very admirable. I call it realness. And of course, as with most of the best teachers—I think, best are those who know their stuff, are proud of it, can defend it, and can engage in constructive arguments with students. That’s how, you know, dialectics happen. For me, these are the kinds of things that enhance the ‘theatrical production’ mode of the classroom in a constructive, dynamic, and fresh experiential learning modality. And I think that freshness is something very important right now, across all curriculums and fields.”
“And here, in every class, you leave with something—a whole set of ideas to think about. It’s overwhelming, it’s direct, it’s in your face. It puts you in vulnerable situations at times. And because of the deeply collaborative nature of the course, every decision has to be negotiated with your classmates. That can be frustrating, and it’s definitely an often overlooked - though highly valuable - leadership skill.”
“Those relational dynamics, I feel, are very important because they’re refreshing and really hard to find.”
“I will say it’s an introduction to humanistic critical thinking, to empathetic, relational fundamentals for service marketing. That’s kind of how it works. I’m big on professors who are authentic.”
Emiliano Guevara, BA, Communication and Cultural Studies
(Audited Marketing 451, Winter 2025)