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This article explains my living educational theory in the form of a professional framework that I call PART, which conceptually unites the roles of the artist, researcher and teacher (ART) to foster critical, participatory (P), and socially engaged action. I discuss how I improved my practice over four action research cycles to be more in line with my professed values of creativity, connectedness and care, followed by six learning platforms conducted with pre-service art teachers and community children in a South African context. Evidence of the students' transformational learning was gathered over six learning platforms. Reflecting on my observations, pedagogical strategies and on students' visual images and critical reflections on their learning, I found that the professional framework changed pre-service art teachers' views – they became more learner-centred, using art as a mediating tool to engage learners in thinking about critical social issues and developed collaborative and leadership skills. The fundamental principles of the framework, aimed at developing critically engaged and reflective practitioners, working in diverse learning environments could be applied to almost any discipline within teacher education.

AbstractService-learning has been shown to be effective in preparing students to live and work in adiverse and rapidly changing society, especially when it is based on a democraticpartnership between university students and community participants, resulting in mutuallybeneficial learning. Yet, in cases where the community is often regarded as less equal due todebilitating socio-economic circumstances, there is a real danger the engagement turns intomore of a charity rendering experience, rather than promoting deep learning for allinvolved. This article reports on our attempts to create a service-learning experience thatallowed students and community youth to learn with and from each other. Data weregenerated in four cycles of a participatory action research design, using visual, art andtext-based strategies. The thematic analysis indicated that the process gave participants abetter understanding of each other's lived realities; that it helped to level out unequal powerrelations; and that the reciprocal learning boosted development on personal and professionallevels. The knowledge we share in this article will help others to know how to design andimplement a valuable and mutually beneficial service learning experience not only inCreative Arts education; but in any discipline where students engage with community.

Service-learning has been shown to be effective in preparing students to live and work in a diverse and rapidly changing society, especially when it is based on a democratic partnership between university students and community participants, resulting in mutuallybeneficial learning. Yet, in cases where the community is often regarded as less equal due to debilitating socio-economic circumstances, there is a real danger the engagement turns into more of a charity rendering experience, rather than promoting deep learning for all involved. This article reports on our attempts to create a service-learning experience that allowed students and community youth to learn with and from each other. Data were generated in four cycles of a participatory action research design, using visual, art and text-based strategies. The thematic analysis indicated that the process gave participants a better understanding of each other's lived realities; that it helped to level out unequal power relations; and that the reciprocal learning boosted development on personal and professional levels. The knowledge we share in this article will help others to know how to design and implement a valuable and mutually beneficial service learning experience not only in Creative Arts education; but in any discipline where students engage with community.