Welcome
Welcome! The Partnership Pedagogy toolkit provides faculty and other curious parties with information about how and why to do community-engaged learning and participatory action research, with an emphasis on social justice, economic dignity, and empowered communities.
How to Use This Toolkit
This toolkit was designed to serve faculty needs at any level from “just getting started” to “experienced but wanting to keep growing.” It is designed so that you can read as you might read a book, moving from section to section through the whole site, or you can select from the various sections that interest you specifically.
The “Definitions and Research Base” section defines community-engaged learning, participatory action research or “PAR,” and service learning, as well as suggestions for how to think through and plan for some of the common challenges associated with this kind of teaching and research.
The “Ethics and Methodologies” section discusses some of the important issues and sticking points that can arise in working with community partners and with marginalized or vulnerable people, as well as in doing this kind of work with students. It also gives a brief overview of concepts, such as “trauma-informed,” as an approach that may prove fruitful in thinking about, designing, and doing research and teaching in service to communities and the goals of social justice.
From there, the “Teaching Resources” section provides ideas and resources to further your work in this area. “Project Ideas and Examples” recommends projects that fit well within this kind of learning, along with examples of various types and depths. The “Learning Goals” section includes some draft learning goals that you can adapt and modify for your course planning and “Other Resources” highlights available support resources available from the UO and others. This section is meant to both inspire you with what’s possible while providing concrete examples and recommendations you can build from.
“The “About section” provides information on the background behind the development of this toolkit, as well as its connections to the Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice (PNW Just Futures Institute or JFI) and its support for the University of Oregon Sustainability Fellows Program.
This toolkit is considered a living resource, and this program a vital experiment. As such, constructive, productive feedback and ideas for improvement are welcome. The creators hope you find this a useful resource toward a shared goal of co-creating a just and sustainable world.