Community-based Transformational Learning: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into Student Experiences and Challenges

Rooted in the work of community – school collaborations, this text focuses on connecting the rigors of the classroom with the ambiguity of lived community experience. Community-Based Transformational Learning (CBTL) draws on the increasing evidence that course-learning conducted in an applied, community setting, can positively transform students’ professional and personal identity and creates new ways of thinking and working in university courses and pre-professional experiences. To illustrate the different ways to successfully implement community-based learning, examples are provided of experiences integrated in courses across multiple disciplines across an American university whose mission is focused on teaching. Topics covered include refugee and immigration transition issues, incarceration and health needs with international examples of community experiences from Jamaica, Korea and Belize. Qualitative and quantitative data depict how these experiences impact students and each chapter presents how community engagement has been established as an effective approach in the different disciplines, including computer science and sports management. The authors demonstrate how CBTL experiences can be transformative when students are provided a chance to connect the academic commitment to community aims, but also provides suggestions for overcoming challenges and pit-falls in developing these experiences.

Christian Winterbottom is Associate Professor at the University of North Florida, USA.

Paul Ashwin is Professor of Higher Education at Lancaster University, UK.

Jody S. Nicholson is Associate Professor at the University of North Florida, USA.

Manja Klemencic is Associate Senior Lecturer on Sociology and General Education in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, USA and Visiting Professor of Higher Education at Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is Co-Editor of the book series Understanding Student Experiences in Higher Education (Bloomsbury), Co-Editor of Higher Education Dynamics and Joint Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Higher Education.

F. Dan Richard is Directorof the Office of Faculty Enhancement and Associate Professor at the University of North Florida, USA.