Mutual transformation through Arts-based Service Learning with First Nations communities: An Australian Case Study

Abstract

At the heart of service learning in tertiary education are partnerships between higher education institutions and communities, as co-generators of knowledge. Art programs are well suited to service-learning projects, engaging what Rendon (2009) calls sentipensante (sensing/thinking) pedagogy, in which critical examinations of worldviews and relational contemplative practices sit alongside each other. This case study highlights the core values of relationship building, as well as reflection and reciprocity in this pedagogical approach (Butin, 2003; Tonkin, 2012).