Student Development in Theory and Practice

Abstract

At the root of much of our institutions’ commitments to engaging students in their communities—through volunteering, service-learning, community-based research, internships, and other forms—is an implicit understanding as well as evidence of the power of this engagement for students’ learning. High-quality community engagement is responsive to students’ intellectual as well as the affective and behavioral development while also effective at equipping students to understand and be responsive to needs in the larger community. Hence, providing opportunities for students to emerge as leaders, alongside college faculty and staff, empowers them to move beyond self-focused education models into community engagement. Such opportunities likewise develop students so that they can transform from consumers of information to participants and contributors of knowledge and skills to the larger community, as part of the educational as well as community change process. This chapter will contribute to the emerging dialogue about creating developmentally sensitive structures for college student engagement within community contexts. By providing a review of psychological theory and research, the authors aim to support practitioners of community-engaged learning to be better able to support students in embracing, developing, and sustaining an identity that places a high value on community engagement as a student and often translates into engagement in the years beyond.