CEL and Mental Health/Well-Being

Community engaged learning (CEL) is a praxis-oriented pedagogy that sees students engaging in projects developed collaboratively with community partners for mutually beneficial outcomes. In many contexts, CEL is referred to by alternate terms, including 'community service learning' and 'service learning' in English; ‘apprentissage par le service’ and ‘apprentissage en milieu communautaire’ in French. Notwithstanding inconsistencies of terminology within and between institutions, the overarching objective of this unique form of experiential learning is to foster community-university collaboration in an effort to address wide-ranging societal issues. By participating in CEL endeavours, students can bolster their personal and professional agency, develop valuable skill sets, and engage in meaningful work to advance the public good (Edwards, 2021; Finley & Reason, 2016; Grain & Lund, 2018; Sperduti & Smeltzer, 2022). However, achieving these outcomes requires an ethical commitment to reciprocity, to robust forms of reflection, and to an ethos of inclusion, equity, and accessibility (Levkoe et al., 2023; Mitchell et al., 2015; Stowe et al., 2022). These components are also essential to proactively promoting CEL students’ mental health and overall well-being, especially in the face of the exponential growth of experiential learning throughout higher education.  

On the one hand, students may feel that they are making a positive difference in the lives of others, reducing their own anxiety about future job preparedness, and developing a greater sense of personal agency (Chowdhury et al., 2022; Lapointe & Underdown, 2022). On the other hand, students may see up-close the deleterious effects of systemic injustice in their own backyards and/or find painful parallels in their placement to their own life experiences. As a result, some students may feel empowered by the experience of working with community partners for the betterment of society, while others may feel disheartened by the unfairness they encounter and struggle with their capacity to address ‘wicked’ problems (Smeltzer et al., 2022). Attending to these kinds of complex emotions has become increasingly important in the aftermath of the pandemic, together with shifts in the geo-political landscape and the deleterious impacts of climate change (Ezarik, 2022; Hill et al., 2021; Linden & Stuart, 2020; Reis et al., 2023).

Further, as we tackle the weighty question of how we can help ensure that CEL is ethical, accessible, inclusive, and geared toward helping students find pathways to the lives and livelihoods they​ have reason to value, we must foreground the intersectional barriers impacting many students’ ability to participate. For a range of reasons, significant swathes of the university student population cannot, or feel they are unable to partake in CEL. If they do participate, many also confront problematic 'hidden curricula' within and beyond the classroom (Aubrecht, 2019; Breunig, 2019). As equity and inclusion are intimately intertwined with mental health and well-being, they must always be our starting point. 

Selected Relevant Books:

The TwentySomething Treatment by Meg Jay - guides young adults to take control of their lives. 

The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate - looking at the world and how it impacts our wellness.

When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate - explores the impact of stress on our well-being.

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris - a guide for reducing stress and leading a happier lifestyle.