The resources below are intended to assist faculty in approaching service-learning from a social change orientation, work to redistribute power and develop authentic relationships with community partnerships.

Critical Service-Learning

Critical service-learning pedagogy fosters a critical consciousness, allowing students to combine action and reflection in classroom and community to examine both the historical precedents of the social problems addressed in their service placements and the impact of their personal action/inaction in maintaining and transforming those problems. Ultimately, critical service-learning can be differentiated from traditional service-learning by developing an explicit focus on social justice issues and centering community needs.

Intercultural Competence & Cultural Humility

Our knowledge, skills and attitudes about cultures and people different from us requires us to identify, interrogate and act to reshape unequal power dynamics in our relationships with others.

Power & Privilege

In teaching students involved service-learning, the challenge is to provide a learning experience that addresses power inequities between student and served. How do we teach students to recognize axes of privilege, be critical of their roles, and be sensitive to the multiple dimensions of power relations among and between server and served?