Practitioner Scholar Community
The Practitioner-Scholar Community (PSC) is a premier educational development program of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE). Since the role of many community engagement professionals (CEPs) includes that of practitioner-scholar, and many faculty and professionals who facilitate community engagement courses and programs find themselves in “third spaces” -- the betwixt and between of theory and practice, of research and administration, of scholarly endeavors alongside program implementation, the PSC was developed to support the scholarly efforts of professionals in such third spaces. The development of practitioner-scholar capacity is an important aspect of IARSLCE, aligned with the organizational commitment to research and scholarship associated with community engagement.
Goal: The goal of this IARSLCE program is to develop the capacity of IARSLCE members in order to: 1) build their practitioner-scholar identity and 2) develop scholarly projects focused on service-learning and community engagement (SLCE) in order to support the IARSLCE mission to build the field of research and scholarship of SLCE.
Program Overview: The Practitioner-Scholar Community delivers a four (4) module, asynchronous learning opportunity for a cohort of professionals working in service-learning and community engagement that seek to build their practitioner-scholar identity and capacity.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:
Articulate their professional identity and cross-cultural context of practice within the practitioner-scholar framework;
Develop a scholarly project plan with a) research questions derived from inquiry into practice, b) methodological approaches for scholarly project(s) related to their practice, c) an action plan for implementation to scholarly dissemination
Demonstrate evidence of practices and scholarly approaches in their professional context through the development of a capstone project
Deliverables
Participants in the Practitioner-Scholar Community will emerge from this educational development opportunity with an articulated practitioner-scholar narrative and a scholarly project plan related to an area of inquiry and scholarship.
Roadmap
Participants will move through the different asynchronous modules accomplishing the tasks and assignments in one week (7 days) and then respond to cohort members' work providing feedback in the second week before moving on to the next module.
Module 1: Identifying as a Practitioner-Scholar
Module 2: Developing your Scholarly Approach
Module 3: Feedback on Scholarly Projects - Refining your Inquiry and Building your Network in the Context of Complicated, Complex Community Engagement work
Module 4: Capstone Projects: Practitioner-Scholar Professional
Testimonials
“This programme gave me a new language to identify myself and thus build my confidence as a practitioner and research in the field of SLCE. Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to hear stories of others, making me feel a lot less "alone" as service-learning research is a bit of a niche field that many don't quite fully understand. It was empowering to be in a setting with persons who 'spoke my language' of SLCE and who understood the various struggles associated. “
“The Practitioner-Scholar Community has been incredibly impactful in fostering both my personal and professional growth. Through engaging discussions and shared experiences, I've had the opportunity to learn from peers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which has expanded my understanding of the field. Moreover, this community has provided a supportive environment where I've been able to develop my identity as a community-engaged scholar and a framework for my scholarly project. By actively participating in community initiatives, applying theoretical concepts to real-world challenges, and receiving constructive feedback, I've honed my skills and cultivated a sense of purpose in making meaningful contributions to the fields of CEL and strategic communication. The Practitioner-Scholar Community has been instrumental in not only advancing my academic pursuits but also in shaping my broader sense of social responsibility and commitment to community engagement. “
“Programs like this are so vital in encouraging/supporting people to conduct community engagement and/or practitioner-oriented research. I appreciated the ability to read and reflect and then read and reflect some more - it represented a good change of pace and a re-prioritization of research as important for my current identity and work in higher education. “
Co-Facilitators
Dr. Becca Berkey has been at Northeastern University since February 2013, where she serves as the Director of Community-Engaged Teaching & Research in addition to being the Interim Director of the University Honors Program. She has more than 15 years of experience in higher education, and is an interdisciplinary learner, researcher, and educator with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Butler University, a Master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Miami University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England.
Dr Isabelle Lys is a Senior Lecturer (Bioscience) in the Australian Catholic University (ACU) School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences. She has more than 20 years of experience in higher education as an interdisciplinary project collaborator, researcher and educator. She is an ally for Aboriginal and Torres Strait student and staff, and local communities. Dr. Lys has also worked closely with ACU’s Equity team and Indigenous Higher Education Units (IHEUs) to identify and to develop new community partnerships and inclusive pathways for current and future students.
Dr. Doug Strahler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Media, and Sport Management at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (SRU). During his 15-years at SRU, he has organized a number of community-engaged learning projects for his digital media production program, as well as served as SRU's Community-Engaged Learning Faculty Fellow (2019-2020 academic year) and currently serves as a Community-Engaged Learning Associate with the Center for Community Engagement.
Dr. Rose Wedemeyer serves as Director of Education Training in the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine where she collaborates across disciplines to develop community engagement and service-learning initiatives within the surrounding communities. In this position, she also has teaching responsibilities across several courses including as small group facilitator in the Promotion & Maintenance of Health and Art & Practice of Medicine.
