Community-based Transformational Learning in Early Childhood Settings: Integrating Experiences of Teachers, Students, and the Community

This comprehensive, research-based resource illuminates the challenges and benefits of integrating community-based transformational learning (CBTL) experiences of teachers, students, and the community in early childhood settings. Balancing historical context with theoretical underpinnings, ongoing research, and current practice, this multi-authored volume demystifies the praxeology of CBTL. It uses annotated case studies to explore the importance of considering contextual factors (i.e., cultural practices, community health and demographics, and student level) that may influence what early-years students gain from CBTL experiences, and it encourages a community dialogue that is both challenging and affirming to support students' confidence in their own capacity to make a better world for all people. As the first CBTL book specific to early childhood settings, it is key reading for future teachers. It is also of great interest to current educators, administrators, and community organizers who want to help center CBTL as a vital part of early childhood curriculum.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Community-Based Transformational Learning in Early Childhood Settings: Integrating Experiences of Teachers, Students, and the Community Section 1: Defining Community-Based Transformational Learning 1. Theories of Community-Based Transformational Learning: Is CBTL the Next Step in Service-Learning or Is It Returning Service-Learning to Its Roots? 2. CRE Evaluator Education as an Ethical Form of Critical Service-Learning 3. Everyone is a Hero/Shero 4. Community-Based Learning: Integrating STEM into a Reggio Emilia-Inspired Classroom Section 2: Contextual Factors to Consider for Implementation and Success in Community-Based Transformational Learning 5. Supporting the Community through Early Childhood Teachers Playing Together in The Summer Teacher Play Lab 6. Integrating STEM and Service-Learning into a Classroom 7. Teacher Inquiry CoPs as a Catalyst for Change in the Classroom and Beyond 8. Embedding Character Education into an Early Childhood Classroom through Service-Learning Section 3: Participant Voices 9. Oral History as a Community-Based Transformational Learning Experience in an Early Childhood Teacher Education Program 10. Educator Voices: Reflections of an Early Childhood Faculty 11. Student Voice: Reflections from a Student Perspective of a Course-Embedded Service-Learning Project 12. Transformative Learning through Global Community Engagement: A Reflection on Self-Discovery, Collaborative Professional Learning, and the Meaning of Whole Child Education Index