Centering Black Voices in the “Whitest of White” Spaces: Dismantling Racial Injustice in Service Learning

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 4:55 pm
  In Roundtable Session: They Didn't Know We Were Seeds: An Exploration of School, Community, and Family Efforts to Raise Critical Consciousness (Table 2)

Abstract

Service-learning is considered a positive pedagogical tool that improves students’ commitment to volunteerism, conceptions of prejudice, and greater world outlook. However, there are serious pedagogical considerations to note as current service-learning models often reify racial norms and privilege. Largely missing in current discourse on service-learning are the experiences from communities of color. This phenomenological study explores the ways in which Black women’s narratives have been displaced from service-learning discourse. Using critical race structuralism as a theoretical lens, this research investigates the ways in which educational practices and policies deconstruct stigmas about privilege, racism, and bias. The findings suggest service and leadership are inextricable components of service-learning discourse for women of color.

Authors

• Tamera D. Moore, Charleston Southern University

• Marcia J. Watson-Vandiver, Towson University

• Deneen S. Dixon-Payne, Towson University

• Annette Teasdell, Clark Atlanta University

• Greg Wiggan, University of North Carolina - Charlotte