Posted by traubjg on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 in Community Engagement, Events, Faculty, graduate students, News, Service-Learning.

The CFT is proud to continue its programming for faculty and graduate students interested in community engagement pedagogies (often called service learning), with a year-long discussion group or learning community.  As former Vanderbilt faculty Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles once stated, service learning is “a form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students…seek to achieve real objectives for the community.”  The goal of this learning community is to explore the history, opportunities, and challenges associated with community engagement pedagogy, and to help participants develop or hone their courses.  The discussions will include dialogue about critical pedagogical readings, teaching concerns, and practical strategies for improving our practices.

Among the topics covered will be…

• History, theory, and critiques of service learning
• Developing ethical and effective partnerships
• Supporting rigorous and efficient student projects
• Assessing student learning and community impact
• Managing one’s career while engaging with community

The group is open to faculty and graduate students and will meet five times during the academic year.  Ideally, participants will attend regularly to support one another and to develop different components of courses or teaching skills addressed across the meetings.

In the Fall, the group will meet September 25th (10:00am-12:00pm), October 30th (12:00-2:00pm), and December 4th (10:00am-12:00pm) at the Center for Teaching.

If you are interested in participating, please register for the discussions here.