The Future of Community Service-Learning in Canada

Abstract

Anchored by the question of what is needed for community service-learning (CSL) to continue to grow in Canada, this paper proposes three principles for effective campus-community engagement (CCE): 1) communities need to feel ownership of community-campus partnerships; 2) post-secondary institutions need to make the route to engagement clearer and easier to navigate for their communities; and 3) post-secondary institutions need to ensure infrastructure to support students, staff, faculty, and community involved in CCE. Aspiring toward better futures for CSL in this country, the author offers possible solutions for and approaches to CCE based on her observations, reflections, knowledge, and experience as former Director of the Canadian Alliance for Community Service-Learning (CACSL).