Creating Our Identities in Service-Learning and Community Engagement (PB)

A volume in Advances in Service-Learning ResearchSeries Editor Shelley H. Billig RMC Research Corporation DenverIn this volume in the IAP series on Advances in Service-Learning Research top researchers presentrecent work studying aspects of program development student and community outcomes and future researchdirections in the field of service-learning and community engagement. These chapters selected through arigorous peer review process are based on presentations made at the annual meeting of the InternationalResearch Conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement held in October 2008 in NewOrleans.This volume features efforts in research and practice to support and expand service-learning and engaged scholarship in both K-12 andhigher education. Models of effective partnerships between institutions of higher education and their community partners are developed in chapterslooking at relationships between campus and community in terms of partnership identity or in terms of shared understanding by campus andcommunity partners. Outcomes for K-12 and college students engaged in service learning are the focus of several studies. The impact of high-qualityservice-learning on K-12 student achievement and school-related behaviors is described. Racial identity theory provides a useful frame forunderstanding developing student conceptualizations while another chapter emphasizes aspects of self-exploration and relationship building as basesfor gains in student attitudes and skills. In a final section chapters deal with service-learning and community engagement as a coherent research fieldwith a distinct identity reviewing current work and proposing directions for future research.