Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025-8
Cultivating Shared and Contextual Learning and Teaching: Reflections on an Immersive and Collaborative Approach to Journeying with Students in Los Angeles
In the wake of the global pandemic, polarization, displacement, and increased social isolation, people are seeking shared, practical, accessible, and integrated learning. A methodology of collaborative teaching and communal learning in place helps students to find connection (to each other, God, and place), cultivate hope, and partner with God's presence in the city. This article provides insights from shared learning, collaborative teaching, and journeying in Los Angeles through an urban immersion course we have co-taught since 2010.
HaydenD. (1997). The power of place: Urban landscapes as public history. MIT Press.
2.
HeltzelP. (2012). Resurrection city: A theology of improvisation. Eerdmans.
3.
LeongD. (2017). Race and place: How urban geography shapes the journey to reconciliation. IVP.
4.
MyersB. (2011). Walking with the poor: Principles and practices of transformational development. Orbis Books.
5.
NatarajanL.ShortM.(eds) (2023). Engaged urban pedagogy: Participatory practices in planning and place-making. University College London Press.
6.
SheldrakeP. (2001). Spaces for the sacred: Place, memory, and identity. Johns Hopkins University Press.
7.
SheldrakeP. (2014). The spiritual city: Theology, spirituality, and the urban. Wiley-Blackwell.
8.
TutuD. (2004). God has a dream: A vision of hope for our time. Doubleday.
9.
U.S. Surgeon General. (2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. U.S. Surgeon General Advisory Report.
