Education Commons^™

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 …