Strengthening School-University-Community Partnerships Within a Teacher Education Service-Learning Course

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Impact Through Collaboration: Reimagining School Partnerships with Higher Ed and Communities

Abstract

The goal of this project was to identify effective collaboration strategies between higher-education institutions and community organizations engaging in service-learning courses as part of a teacher education program. Recognizing the high impact that service-learning courses can have on students as an experiential learning practice, our course and this research are guided by critical service-learning pedagogy (Mitchell, 2008). Using an exploratory action research approach, we analyzed a series of focus group discussions with community partners and analyzed these discussions through thematic analysis. We found three themes from our community partners: 1. They requested clarity to better understand the course goals, 2. They emphasized recognizing and responding to student needs, and 3. They stressed the importance of building relationships.

Authors

• Curtis Mason, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Elizabeth Coder, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Cara Gutzmer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign