The effects of community engaged learning and teaching on instructors involved in academic service learning : learning through community service

While there is abundant literature about the outcomes of academic service learning for students, there is much less attention paid to outcomes for academics who are teaching community-engaged subjects. Pribbenow (2005) argues that “generally, service learning led many faculty to be more meaningfully engaged in and committed to teaching” (2005:27) as well as to other aspects of their academic life. This paper explores similar effects on instructors teaching academic service learning through Learning through Community Service (LCS) at the University of Western Sydney (UWS). The data being discussed in this paper focuses on the restructuring of instructors’ pedagogical approaches in their LCS strands; alterations in instructor’s relationships with their students and in their knowledge about their students; and changes in instructor’s orientation to teaching. Data are based on a series of semi-structured, open-ended interviews completed with the 10 instructors who have taught LCS strands.