Community Mapping in Teacher Preparation: Developing Undergraduate students’ Knowledge of Community Assets

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the impact of a course-based community asset mapping (CAM) project on undergraduate students’ capacity for identifying and understanding assets within communities surrounding specific schools. The mapping project was grounded in the literature on culturally sustaining pedagogy and experiential education and involved teacher education students (n = 45) collaborating to complete and report on an analysis of local community assets. Findings indicated participants gained improved knowledge and competence regarding CAM, were able to provide more accurate and detailed explanations of assets and the asset mapping process, and were able to identify various assets available to PK-12 students and families in particular communities within the local school district. The discussion highlights participants’ success in inventorying physical, tangible assets, and notes where they fell short of recognizing other assets. We also discuss how coursework could have better supported the project and could have allowed the potential of CAM to be more fully realized. The conclusion addresses implications for teacher preparation, particularly for connecting candidates with communities and for the implementation of assignments similar to the community asset mapping project studied herein.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• communities
• culturally sustaining pedagogy
• experiential education

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heidi Hollingsworth

Heidi Hollingsworth is an Associate Professor of Education at Elon University. Her research focuses on teacher preparation that involves policy and advocacy, community-based learning, academic service-learning, community asset mapping, and study abroad.

Lisa Buchanan

Lisa Buchanan is an Associate Professor of Education at Elon University. Her research in teacher education is focused on preservice and inservice teachers’ beliefs and decision making, social studies education, and the use of children’s literature and media to teach difficult topics.

Abigail Maclean Wilson

Abigail Maclean Wilson graduated from Elon University in 2021 with a major in elementary education and a minor in early childhood education. She recently spent two years in Zambia working with a university ministry.

Felicia Robinson

Felicia Robinson graduated from Elon University in 2021 with a major in elementary education and a minor in African and African American studies. She is an educator and a program assistant for the Intercultural Learning Certificate Program at Elon University.

Jeffrey Paul Carpenter

Jeffrey Carpenter is a Professor of Education at Elon University. His research focuses on self-directed and collaborative teacher learning.