"Reconceptualizing Faculty Development in Service-Learning/Community Engagement firmly establishes the community engagement field as one that is boundary spanning and inclusive and integrative of multiple stakeholders. Different approaches to the development of faculty, community engagement professionals, and community leaders are highlighted in this text in a useful and accessible format that allows readers to identify lessons, challenges, and new directions for practice. I appreciated the infusion of multiple institution types and the varied resources and strategies that structure educational development for community engaged work.The text invites all of us who care about this work to be attentive to our journeys in the field, reflective about our practice, honest about our shortcomings, and committed to our values.The chapters do a good job of building on and engaging with each other in a way that will make this a valuable and timely resource for the field."
Tania D. Mitchell, College of Education and Human Development
University of Minnesota
"Berkey and colleagues offer an exquisite exploration of faculty development and the more comprehensive form of educational development within SLCE initiatives. Beginning with a foundation to the topic that ought to be requisite reading for community engagement professionals, the editors then offer an array of issue-based essays and case studies that present poignant histories, concerns, contexts, and practices of educational development in SLCE. The text is analytically rigorous, conceptually rich, and rife with examples that range from comprehensive initiatives to everyday practices, from resource-intensive to budget neutral. This is a true resource for those of us who work with faculty to advance SLCE on campuses and in communities."
Lina Dostilio, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Community Engagement
University of Pittsburgh
From the Foreword:
Lets hope that the ideas and suggestions offered by the authors of these chapters gain wide circulation and use in our colleges and universities. It would be wonderful to see these many, possible benefits come to widespread fruition!
L. Dee Fink
University of Oklahoma (Retired); author of Creating Significant Learning Experiences
"Within the framework of service learning, partnerships are essential to the success of merging faculty and community goals. In the text, Reconceptualizing Faculty Development in Service-Learning/Community Engagement, the authors provide various perspectives on how service-learning professionals can, as the title suggests, re-conceptualize the way in which they engage faculty for service-learning initiatives. As parts of a bike work together to enable the rider to continue to reach their destination, the text presents a holistic framework for students, faculty, administrators, community partners, and service-learning professionals to reach the goal of professional educational and community development.
This book is useful for a wide range of populations to include faculty seeking to integrate service-learning in their courses, service-learning professionals, community partners, and other on-campus supports. The vocabulary is accessible to these audiences, and the vignettes allow for a personable reading experience for scholars, practitioners, and community members. One major strength of the book are the inclusion of charts, graphs, and graphic organizers. The featured case studies that are further presented in the text are conveniently placed after the Table of Contents in a chart that includes institutions, key takeaways, and transferable tools and ideas. Additionally, throughout the text, conceptual frameworks, threshold concepts, and transformative models are examples of how the written text is visually represented which can be useful for understanding newly presented concepts or concepts for modeling."
Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement