How Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation Can Enhance Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Community-engaged teaching and learning (CETL) is an educational approach heralded as fostering student learning and social responsibility. However, prior research has noted the absence of consideration for the “community” component of this approach, including whether there is mutual benefit in the relationship between institutions and their community partners, and the extent to which the community has voice or power in the process and outcomes of CETL. To address this issue, we introduce a process-oriented framework based on theory that should help to advance best practices and scholarship in CETL: Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of Citizen Participation. We then “test” this framework adapted for CETL by using it to assess examples of current practice of community participation in CETL, as evidenced in a purposeful cross-section of cases published in business and management education literature. Our findings suggest the Ladder provides meaningful differentiation among various forms of CETL and can offer effective guidance for achieving partnerships with mutual benefit, voice, and empowerment, and for identifying approaches that could limit community engagement in CETL. In this context, the framework can guide instructors to reflect on their practices and to explore what greater involvement of community partners in CETL may mean.