Using Community Partnerships to Create Critical Service Learning: The Case of Mar Vista Gardens

Abstract

This article discusses how community partnerships can be used to facilitate critical service-learning opportunities aimed at social change and political advocacy while creating reciprocal gains for all parties. First, a brief literature review discusses the growth of community-campus partnerships and service-learning activities within academic institutions. It summarizes the differences between the traditional charity service-learning approach and the critical service-learning approach. Then, the case of the Mar Vista housing development is introduced. The case involved local college students in a community development course partnering with high school students from a local housing project in Los Angeles. Working together, the two groups of students surveyed community residents in the housing development as part of joint learning activity. The case demonstrates how long-term relationships with community partners can promote service-learning opportunities that teach students important instrumental skills about social change while also helping them to reexamine their assumptions and increase their awareness of community issues.