9: Exploring University and Community-Based Partnerships Within a Preservice Education Course

This chapter examines the challenges and opportunities for a service-learning teacher preparation course that partners with local school districts and community organizations. Contextualizing across three issues: integrating students’ community placement experiences within other aspects of the course, handling the transition from course components being online in 2020 to shifting back to in-person experiences during subsequent years, and the increasing focus on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion topics discussed in higher education and K-12 environments, the three authors, representing the perspectives of a course teaching assistant, the placement coordinator, and the faculty instructor, detail course challenges and opportunities for critical service-learning courses in teacher preparation programs.