Whom Benefits? Building a Critical Service-Learning Model

As a best practice, community-engaged courses should benefit students, community, and faculty through centering the needs and goals of each entity. Ensuring reciprocity and centering sustainable authentic relationships requires great care, intention, time, and a clear strategy to execute. We describe how our intercollegiate and co-instructed Introduction to Sociology courses utilized a critical service-learning model to create authentic, sustainable, and reciprocal relationships between students, community, and university. Drawing from high-impact practices, we saw reciprocity in our learning communities where the partner organization and members benefited, students learned firsthand about a social issue, and the university committed to a community partner. Using case study methodology, we analyzed the experience of students within the course, interactions with each other, and our partner’s reflections. From this experience, we provide recommended practices for educators interested in employing critical service learning focused on authentic relationships and students as agents of social change.