A history of the University of Cincinnati’s Service-Learning program.

The University of Cincinnati’s most distinguished and respected colleges are busy tearing down walls and breaking out of their “silos.” These colleges understand that students who cross disciplinary borders to work and train cooperatively learn more and are better prepared for employment after they leave the university. The goal of this book is to further break higher education out of its silo, proving that a university that nurtures symbiotic partnerships between students, faculty, and the greater community in which the university is rooted, is stronger for it.

This book highlights the complex evolution of the University of Cincinnati’s Service-Learning program, particularly its connection to the historic Cooperative Education movement in Cincinnati, which was founded in 1906. This action-oriented book solicits lived experiences and stories from a variety of campus and community stakeholders, which are then analyzed through the theory of structuration. Sharp’s work contributes to the development of structuration theory by detailing key watershed moments that have underscored the evolution of the University of Cincinnati’s service-learning program. This work has important implications for other service-learning programs, for the field of education leadership, and for the literature on campus-community organizing.

The first reference book to introduce the concept and development of service-learning in China, Service-Learning as a New Paradigm in Higher Education of China provides a full picture of the infusion of service-learning into the Chinese educational system and describes this new teaching experience using case studies, empirical data, and educational and institutional policies within Chinese context. The text demonstrates how students learn outside the classroom through service-learning with valuable feedback and reflection from faculty members and fellow students about the meaning of education in China. Though service-learning was initially developed in the United States, the concept is rooted in Chinese literatures and values. This book will help readers understand how service-learning is being used as a pedagogy with Chinese values and philosophy in Chinese education, filling a niche within the worldwide literature of service-learning.
 

Service-Learning: What Every ESL Teacher Needs to Know gives practical information on implementing service-learning in the field of TESOL. Service-learning⁠—"the accomplishment of tasks that meet genuine human needs in combination with conscious educational growth"⁠—has developed into a pedagogical approach that incorporates student learning and reflection with curricular concepts while partnering with community organizations. Following an overview of service-learning in the field of TESOL, this text includes sections on incorporating service-learning in an ESL course, finding appropriate community partnerships, making decisions about culture- and language-based lessons, assessing students, and making the experience meaningful. Also included are four specific strategies to help readers make the case for service-learning to administrators. 

Working in community is critical to several fields. Working en comunidad focuses on service-learning and Latina/o/e communities within a variety of institutional contexts. It provides a practical framework grounded in theoretical approaches that center Latina/o/e experiences as foundational to understanding how to prepare students to work in the community and en comunidad.

The volume tackles three major themes: ethical approaches to working with Latina/o/e communities within language courses and beyond; preparing Latina/o/e students for working with their own communities in different environments; and ensuring equitable practices and building relationships that are mutually beneficial for students and community members. The editors forward two central arguments: (1) Equitable community engagement in higher education is a reflective and reciprocal process that develops empathy and personal and professional growth in students; and (2) service-learning is most transformative when it explicitly guides students and the community to build cultural humility and recognize Latina/o/e experiences and agency as foundational to the learning process.

Many of the contributors and editors are Latina/o/e-identified scholars, practitioners, and researchers, who lend a rich body of experience and a personal dedication to this work. They present distinct approaches and geographies, as well as range of institutions, to offer a wide scope of engaged work that builds on the concept of comunidad to advance a critical new conceptual framework of equitable education and racial justice.

Contributors
Stacey Alex
Elena Foulis
Christina García
Catherine Komisaruk
Kelly Lowther Pereira    
Glenn Martínez
María Luisa Parra-Velasco