Notes From the Field: Brokering Service Learning Between a Rural Community and Large Undergraduate Class: Insights From a Case Study

Abstract

This article describes a service-learning partnership between a first-year Environmental Studies/Science course at Trent University and the Haliburton–Muskoka Children's Water Festival, an event held in rural Ontario about 125 km from the university. The partnership was brokered by the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research, an independent, Haliburton-based nonprofit. Key issues explored in the article include the challenges of rural service learning, striking an equitable partnership between university and community, and offering service learning within a large class setting. The article concludes with a series of lessons learned from the case.

Keywords:

• Service learning
• rural
• undergraduate
• large classes
• independent broker

We acknowledge the research assistance of Sarah Burgess as well as the organizers of the Haliburton–Muskoka Children's Water Festival for their contributions and partnership.