Facilitating service‐learning for the first time with advanced graduate students: a mentoring perspective

This article is an examination of the author’s experiences facilitating service‐learning for the first time in a learning community of an advanced graduate course. The purpose of this paper is to share insights about this process, so that faculty who are considering the implementation of a service‐learning pedagogy in similar courses might understand the challenges and ultimately experience success in their endeavors. Using a self‐reflective case study approach, this paper provides a general description of the course goals and activities as well as a detailed description of how service‐learning was implemented during the course from a mentoring perspective. The course topic – ecological approaches to working with children and families – was taught through the early childhood program in a College of Education. Students and professor worked collaboratively over the course of ten weeks to establish a relationship with the community partner (a private preschool), assess their needs (through a questionnaire) a...