Exploring Community Partners’ Perspectives of the Nature of Service-Learning Partnerships in Egypt

Abstract

While some attention has been paid to service-learning partnerships as the unit of analysis, past research on such partnerships focused primarily on the impacts of the collaborations and was based mostly in U.S. contexts. The underrepresentation of community voice in existing literature further complicates the problem. This qualitative study addressed these gaps by exploring community partners’ perspectives on the nature of service-learning relationships in Egypt in light of Enos and Morton’s (2003) framework. Findings indicated current transactional relationships with aspirations for transformation. Community partners’ voices provided lively examples of how transactional and transformative service-learning relationships may become actualized in practice. The outcomes of this study promote an enhanced understanding of the barriers to developing transformative partnerships between university and community partners. Data provided can be used by partners to enhance the design and implementation of service-learning collaborations. The outcomes of this study are especially useful for partners wanting to elevate their partnerships to transformation.