Empowered and educated: How an immigration service-learning course influenced students' paths toward critical consciousness.

In this qualitative case study, using Freire's theory of critical consciousness development, we examined the influence of a 1-credit immigration policy service-learning course on college students' motivations to act against immigration injustices. We found that after witnessing immigration issues at the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas, participants felt compelled to advocate for immigrant communities. Also, by engaging in a critical analysis of systemic discrimination and ongoing reflections of their social locations, participants saw possibilities for both micro- and macro-level actions they could take to support immigrants and refugees. However, while participants felt an urge to act at the macro-level, they felt limited and powerless without additional credentials, such as law degrees. Participants perceived that to foster changes at a macro-level, they needed to further their education; thus, they focused their immediate efforts on micro-level actions, such as talking to family and friends about immigration policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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