Educating For Social Impact: An Exploration Of The Pathways Of Public Service And Civic Engagement Framework

The central challenge of social impact education within higher education is the lack of a shared framework to unify language and practice across an institution. One framework gaining popularity among Community Engagement Professionals (CEPs) is the Pathways of Public Service and Civic Engagement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how the Pathways framework supports CEPs in their ability to educate students for social impact and engaged citizenship. Twelve CEPs participated in this study and data were collected via semi-structured interviews and a participant questionnaire. Five themes and three sub-themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) Frames and organizes the work; Creating a shared language, (2) Expands access and perspectives on community engagement; Justifying paths that might not otherwise be acceptable and making community engagement accessible to a broader audience, (3) Prompts reflective learning, (4) Provides insights to student interests, and (5) Comes with a network of Resources & Support. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher concluded that the Pathways Framework is useful in unifying the language and practice of social impact across an institution. Implications, recommendations, and suggestions for future research are also presented.

Author dc:creator

• Sedlacek Lee, Renee

• Social Impact Education
• service-learning
• social innovation

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2092/2272

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:escholarshare.drake.edu:2092/2272