International education, service-learning, and community-based global learning programs are robust with potential. They can positively impact communities, grow civil society networks, and have transformative effects for students who become more globally aware and more engaged in global civil society – at home and abroad. Yet such programs are also packed with peril. Clear evidence indicates that poor forms of such programming have negative impacts on vulnerable persons, including medical patients and children, while cementing stereotypes and reinforcing patterns of privilege and exclusion. These dangers can be mitigated, however, through collaborative planning, design, and evaluation that advances mutually beneficial community partnerships, critically reflective practice, thoughtful facilitation, and creative use of resources. Drawing on research and insights from several academic disciplines and community partner perspectives, along with the authors’ decades of applied, community-based development and education experience, they present a model of community-based global learning that clearly espouses an equitable balance between learning methodology and a community development philosophy.Emphasizing the key drivers of community-driven learning and service, cultural humility and exchange, seeking global citizenship, continuous and diverse forms of critically reflective practice, and ongoing attention to power and privilege, this book constitutes a guide to course or program design that takes into account the unpredictable and dynamic character of domestic and international community-based global learning experiences, the varying characteristics of destination communities, and a framework through which to integrate any discipline or collaborative project. Readers will appreciate the numerous toolboxes and reflective exercises to help them think through the creation of independent programming or courses that support targeted learning and community-driven development. The book ultimately moves beyond course and program design to explore how to integrate these objectives and values in the wider curriculum and throughout formal and informal community-based learning partnerships.

Toward Community-Based Learning provides an essential and comprehensive view of community-based learning in the U.S.A., India, and China. It explores the foundations, development, research, and pedagogical practices available to educators, researchers, and administrators interested in building community-based relationships.

Community-based research (CBR) refers to collaborative investigation by academics and non-academic community members that fosters positive change on a local level. Despite recent trends toward engaged scholarship, few publications demonstrate how to effectively integrate CBR into academic course work or take advantage of its potential for achieving community change. Community-Based Research: Teaching for Community Impact fills these gaps by providing: * An overview of language and methods used by professionals engaged in CBR* A framework for orienting CBR toward concrete community outcomes* Effective ways to integrate CBR into course content, student-driven projects, and initiatives spanning disciplines, curricula, campuses and countries* Lessons learned in working toward positive outcomes for students and in communitiesThis text is designed for faculty, graduate students, service-learning and other engaged learning and scholarship practitioners, alliance members, special interest groups, and organizations that desire to strengthen student learning and utilize research for improvement in their communities.

This compact, accessibly written text prepares students for their experience of community-based learning. It is designed for students to read and reflect on independently or to foster discussion in class on their motivations and dispositions toward community engagement and service learning. It prepares students to work with diverse individuals, groups, and organizations that may be outside their prior experience. Faculty can use the book as a tool to deepen the educational experience of the course and enrich community engagement. This text is a guide to what's involved in community-engaged learning, from understanding the pervasiveness of social, economic and environmental problems, to learning about how individuals and organizations in communities work to overcome them. Students will discover through a process of reflection how service connects to personal development and the content of their courses, builds their ability to engage with people different from themselves, and develops new life skills, all in the context of working with communities to overcome systemic injustice. Critical questions woven into each chapter prompt students to reflect on ideas and perspectives about social justice, community development, and their role in fostering them. The book concludes with case studies of students who have experienced the transformative power of community-engaged learning. The stories illustrate common themes inherent in the student experience, including listening to understand, challenging stereotypes, learning the nature of their role, and seeing the world through a new lens. A special feature of this book is the embedded QR codes that provide access, as students read the text, to online resources, and original and public videos that explore particular themes or perspectives more deeply. The authors also include text directed to faculty to provide ideas about framing their community-engaged course and integrating the book.

To fully prepare K-12 students for life and career, connect with your community! A successful community-based learning program is a triple win—for students, schools, and the entire community. Curriculum becomes more meaningful and relevant, students are more engaged, and schools and districts benefit from new advocates. Authors Prast and Viegut show how to move beyond guest speakers and field trips to creating a vibrant program that promotes academic achievement and future career skills. In this second acclaimed book in The Clarity Series, readers will learn how to Forge rewarding partnerships with local partners, from major employers to small businesses and community groups Implement a high-quality, sustainable initiative that bridges disciplines Recognize and overcome barriers to effectiveness Apply best practices from today’s most-effective programs Turn to this helpful guide to tap the limitless opportunities and potential offered by community-based learning. "Community-based learning, as described in this series, just might be the missing piece we are looking for on our competency-based, personalized learning quest for our students. If we can bring this work together—if we can connect them to their passion (personalize), move them along when they are ready (competency-based) and ground them in real life experience (community-based), perhaps we can truly give them the roots and the wings we have only been theorizing about for fifty years." —Dr. Sandra Dop, Program Consultant Iowa Department of Education

This project answers the question, "How can community-based learning programs be integrated into large, public schools?" In addition to a review of existing research on the subject, four data gathering strategies were used to answer this question. I gathered and analyzed data on a representative school. I interviewed educators and public school administrators for guidance with logistics and procedures. I surveyed students and parents to better understand their perspectives on education and on community-based learning. Finally, I conducted action research in my classroom by leading my students through a community-based learning unit. The result of this research is a proposal, designed for submission to Cascade High School in Everett, Washington, that would pilot a community-based program within the school's existing educational structure.