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Full-Text Articles in Education

Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane Lavery May 2016

Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane Lavery

Dianne Chambers

There is recognition that involvement in service-learning can impact positively on the development of pre-service teachers professionally, culturally and academically (Billig & Freeman, 2010; Anderson, 1998). This article explores and describes the experiences of pre-service teachers in the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) who are undertaking two service learning units as part of their teacher education. This research is based on qualitative data collected from pre-service teachers on completion of their service learning units. Initially, service-learning as a concept is explored with particular reference to four basic elements identified in the literature (Jacoby, 1996; …


Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane D. Lavery May 2016

Service-Learning: A Valuable Component Of Pre-Service Teacher Education, Dianne J. Chambers, Shane D. Lavery

Dianne Chambers

Since the late 1990s service-learning programs as a teaching pedagogy have become increasingly popular in Australia within primary, secondary and tertiary education (Lavery & Hackett, 2008; Service-Learning Australia Inc., 2010). However, such programs require a commitment to providing resources, staffing, finance and time, which may lead some to wonder about the importance of these programs (Karayan & Gathercoal, 2005). There is also the danger that, as service programs become more commonplace, they may well fade into the educational routine or become “another educational fad and another failed social program” (Rue, 1996, p. 246). Service-learning programs at a tertiary level within …