In this reflection, using the work of Ellen Cushman and Paula Mathieu as a framework from which to extend, I explore how my positionality as a graduate student affected my experience wading into community-engaged literacy work. Specifically, I reflect on my time with a nonprofit organization that provides no-cost legal support and safety planning…

This essay describes a service-learning course designed with heart-centered pedagogy. Authors examine the relationship between individual and society in service learning and discuss the rationale and processes involved in curricular design to suggest an alternative approach to community engagement. Understanding service learning as going beyond…

This article presents an attempt to examine my own service-learning practices through the use of the conceptual tools of Michel Foucault, in particular his notions of governmentality and power. The article views the development of service-learning in South Africa and our current practices as operating within a regime of truth, and it considers…

During semester-long courses in inclusive methods and beginning reading instruction, pre-service teacher candidates participate in weekly tutoring sessions with elementary students in grades K-5. We outline principles identified for effective service-learning and describe how to embed them to integrate community service. We discuss…

This article contributes to a long-standing conversation about the implementation of service-learning by proposing an updated revision for the 21st century: critically engaged civic learning (CECL). The term service-learning is problematic as it invokes inequitable power dynamics that inherently privilege one group over another, with more…

Background: The theory and practice divide is a persistent conundrum in teacher education. Moreover, foundation phase literacy teacher education is no exception because such graduates are expected to acquire knowledge and skills to address the challenges of the classroom. Objectives: This article focuses on the application of an integrated…

This article explores a course-linked service-learning project that facilitated social-problem focused dialogues between students and men who were incarcerated in a prison. Student reflections were life-changing; listening with both their hearts and minds enhanced student learning, increasing empathy, fueling a sense of advocacy, and fostering a…

Drawing on three years of partnership with residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, I discuss some of the insights and challenges of working toward a critical community engagement that is antiracist, anti-colonial, and "place-engaged" (Siemers et al., 2015). I specifically reflect on how the bridging of academic practice…

This essay examines the relationship of philosophical pragmatism to the practice of reflection in service-learning. Service-learning theory and practice often elides over or ignores entirely the principles of inquiry as developed by Dewey. The exercise of reflective thought requires that educators create a situation of discomfort for learners, and…

The article adds to a growing conversation that recognizes and supports young children's civic capabilities, positioning them as citizens-now and not simply citizens in the future. They detail how three different classrooms sought to work with children to engage in social action on behalf of their broader community. This response wonders alongside…

This article describes the process of developing a pilot learning community at East Tennessee State University, focusing on the collaboration of academic and student affairs administrators. Exploring how the literature on the integration of high impact practices, namely learning communities, service-learning, and domestic travel study informed our…

This chapter explores how community engagement creates opportunities to facilitate meaningful discussions about issues including: the nature and sources of power; who benefits and who is silenced by service and leadership efforts; which community actions result in change rather than charity; and how to developmentally sequence reflective practice.

A key aim of encouraging law students to participate in student pro bono, a form of experiential learning in legal education, is to develop their commitment to volunteer lawyering after graduation. This paper examines student pro bono in legal education in Australia and the United States. A critical review of the current approaches to student pro…

There is growing awareness of the importance of dispositional attributes to effective performance, both during college and in the workplace. In this paper, we examine multiple facets of dispositional learning such as fluid intelligence and interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies, and explain why participation in well-designed high-impact…

A commitment to voluntary service that benefits others was reinforced for students who authored an e-book on service as a class project in a senior business course. The immersive experience of writing short essays that focused on service shifted students' motivations toward service and solidified their intentions to continue with service after…