Research in the Service of Co-Learning: Sustainability and Community Engagement

This research, conducted with an introductory sociology class at the University of British Columbia during the 2001-2002 academic year, explored community service-learning as a pedagogy and philosophy. The theoretical focus of this paper is Nancy Fraser's (1997) criticisms of Jurgen Habermas' (1992) bourgeois liberal model of the public sphere. We analyzed the class experiences with community service that emerged from students' contributions to a database of community organizations, concept maps, and a student-driven course evaluation. The outcomes of this research include a description of potentially useful course strategies and a narrative of a unique type of community-service learning. (Contains 3 notes and 2 tables.)