Doing+difference+differently+-++The+role+and+relevancy+of+race+in+service+learning+and+community+engagement

**IARSLCE Early Career Award** **Doing difference differently: The role and relevancy of race in** **service learning and community engagement** Tania D. Mitchell, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Service Learning, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University [tanmitch@stanford.edu]



**Keywords:** Critical service learning, race, racism, difference, pedagogy, civic identity  **Track:** Student development and learning through service-learning and community engagement  **Format:** Conversation hour  **Date and time:** Friday 2:00 – 3:10 **Location:** Salon 8  **Summary:** Gilbride-Brown (2011) suggests that our understanding of service-learning is limited “because of the infrequency with which race is considered in the research” (p. 34). Recent work by Mitchell & Donahue (2009) and Gilbride-Brown (2011) explore how service-learning experiences are different for white students and students of color. However, we rarely center issues of race in the pedagogy and practice of service-learning.  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 160%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 180%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">This session invites participants to discuss a new research project the author is conceptualizing, including exploring the role of potential theoretical frameworks and possibilities for research design. The overarching goal of the session is to create a conversation about service-learning practice and research with a focus on issues of race and ethnicity. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">As we (and our students) engage with community problems, the inequalities they encounter “are a logical and predictable result of a racialized society in which discussions of race and racism continue to be muted and marginalized” (Ladson Billings & Tate, 1995, p. 47). Understanding how race has shaped the need for service in our society can serve to spur students’ identity formation, understanding of issues of difference, and critical examination of positionality in relationship to the community served (Gorski, 2011). In addition, centering this understanding can direct our work in community to challenge unequal power relationships and practice authentic engagement across differences.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Whether examining our own identities and experiences or questioning ways that race and racism operate systemically to determine the experiences of people “in need,” service-learning is a racialized experience. We will question the heightened awareness of race in the community coupled with the assumed race neutrality of the classroom that dominates the discourse on service-learning practice and research. We’ll explore critical race theory and other theorizing regarding racial identity to consider pedagogical implications for service-learning and methodological opportunities for service-learning research.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">**References:** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G. & Thomas, K. (1995) Introduction. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, and K. Thomas (Eds.) //Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement// (pp. xiii-xxxii). New York, NY: The New Press.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Gilbride-Brown, J. (2011). Moving beyond the dominant: Service-learning as a culturally relevant pedagogy. In T. Stewart & N. Webster (Eds.) //Exploring cultural dynamics and tensions within service-learning// (pp. 27-44). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Gorski, P. C. (2011). Foreword. In T. Stewart & N. Webster (Eds.) //Exploring cultural dynamics and tensions within service-learning// (pp. ix-xiii). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Ladson Billings, G. & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. //Teachers College Record, 97//(1). 47-68.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Mitchell, T.D. & Donahue, D.M. (2009) "I do more service in this class than I ever do at my site": Paying attention to the reflections of students of color in service-learning. In J. Strait & M. Lima (Eds.). //The future of service-learning: New solutions for sustaining and improving practice// (pp. 172-190). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Moya, P. M. L. & Markus, H. R. (2010). Doing race: An introduction. In P. M. L. Moya & H. R. Markus (Eds.). //Doing race: 21 essays for the 21st century// (pp. 1-102). New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Company.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Peller, G. (1995) Race Conciousness. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, and K. Thomas (Eds.) //Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement// (pp. 127-158). New York, NY: The New Press.

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