TY - GEN T1 - “I want them to feel heard. I want their voices to be agents of change”: Exploring a Community-Engaged Partnership Focused on Critical Service-Learning T2 - Partnership Focused on Critical Service-Learning AU - Soslau, Elizabeth AU - Gartland, Sara AB - This study explored the successes and informative challenges of a partnership forged between an elementary school, a university, and a nonprofit educational agency. The purpose of the partnership was to research the implementation of a yearlong critical service-learning framework in third and fifth grades. Teachers were engaged in a series of professional development sessions and workshops to learn how to enact My VOICE, a pedagogical approach that leverages student voices to develop a community-based service project that addresses a student-identified social issue. Using qualitative approaches, we systematically gathered teachers’ perspectives and recorded the apparent strengths and weaknesses of the partnership. We posit suggestions for strengthening the partnership and highlight the benefits of critical pedagogies that can be impactful for all children. KW - partnership KW - service learning KW - in-service teacher learning KW - student voice KW - professional development PY - 2022 PB - unav JO - Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship N1 -

Acknowledgements:

We thank Liz Farley-Ripple, director of Partnerships in Public Education; Chrystalla Mouza, director of the School of Education; Rosalie Rolón-Dow, associate director of the Center for the Study of Diversity; and Christine Gorowara, interim director at the Delaware Center for Teacher Education (all at the University of Delaware) for their financial and professional support of this project. We send gratitude to Need in Deed, especially to Kyra Atterbury and Pam Prell. We also appreciate Dr. Kathleen Riley of West Chester University as a critical thought partner. She helped inform our literature review and our figure development. Most importantly, we thank the teachers, students, and school-based administrators who made this project possible. Due to promises of confidentiality, we cannot name these brilliant individuals, but we heartily extend our love and thanksgiving to our partners at “Emily Elementary School.”

IS - 2 VL - 13 ER -