What can Teacher Education Programs Learn from Community Organizations? Honouring the Perspectives of Community in a Critical Service-Learning Partnership

Date
2017
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Abstract
This critical ethnographic case study examined the perspectives of community organization staff that were involved in a community-driven service-learning partnership entitled, the Service-Learning Program for Pre-service Teachers (SLPPST). The study aimed to understand the perceived impact of the SLPPST for community organization partners (and the communities they serve) to honour and learn from a perspective that is often overlooked in service-learning literature, as well as to support teacher education programs in implementing effective, collaborative, and reciprocal service-learning programs. Drawing from critical pedagogy and implementation science, this study revealed that community-led service-learning partnerships, when designed, implemented, and evaluated through an anti-oppressive lens, can contribute to the long-term goals of community organizations. An analysis of in-depth interviews with community organization staff, researchers’ observations during site visits, and minutes from SLPPST meetings led to the development of a critical service-learning model – the WECARE model – that can help to strengthen teacher education programs’ ability to facilitate more equitable outcomes among partners of critical service-learning programs.
Description
Keywords
Education--Curriculum and Instruction, Education--Higher, Education--Teacher Training
Citation
Lee, L. (2017). What can Teacher Education Programs Learn from Community Organizations? Honouring the Perspectives of Community in a Critical Service-Learning Partnership (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28687