Service Learning and Its Impact on Middle Level Preservice Teachers' Learning from Field Experiences

This qualitative self-study examines the incorporation of service learning in 2 sections of a middle childhood undergraduate methods course. As a beginning teacher educator, I used self-study to explore the following research questions: (a) How does engaging in a service-learning project during a field experience influence middle level preservice teachers' beliefs about teaching and working with young adolescents? ; (b) How does engaging in a service-learning project during a field experience impact middle level preservice teachers' learning from field experiences? Data was collected from 55 preservice teachers who were placed in 4 different schools within Midwestern rural Appalachia. Three major findings emerged during data analysis. First, engaging in service learning allowed preservice teachers to feel they were adding value to their school in ways beyond that of their previous field experiences. Second, engaging in the service-learning project encouraged and required preservice teachers to interact with school personnel, the local community, and students with whom they previously had not interacted during their placements. These interactions raised perceptions of role responsibilities and increased preservice teachers' sense of professional identity. Finally, some preservice teachers' stereotypes about the Appalachian context were reinforced during the needs assessment process. However, the service learning projects created a space to start meaningful conversations to address these preservice teachers' cultural deficit perspectives and consider strengths-based ways of knowing their students and their families.Service learning has been found to be a valuable instructional strategy in K-12 and higher education (Jacoby, 2003; Root, 1997; Seitsinger, 2005; Wilson, 2011). Service learning is largely viewed as a pedagogy that connects academic learning goals with the needs of a community through engaging in some form of service. In recent decades there has been a push to incorporate service learning within preservice teachers' academic experiences (LaMaster, 2001; Myers & Pickeral, 1997). This study examined middle childhood preservice teachers' methods course-based servicelearning projects linked to field experiences in four schools in Midwestern rural Appalachia.According to the Association of Middle Level Education, Initial Level Preparation Standards, middle level candidates should effectively be able to "articulate and implement developmentally responsive practices, such as, teaming, advisory, extracurricular, and service learning" (Association of Middle Level Education, 2005 p. 7). As the researcher of the study and instructor of the methods course, it was my hope that engaging preservice teachers in service learning would help them to develop a deeper sense of the value of service learning and heighten awareness of how to organize, implement, and lead a service learning project with their future middle school students. The course addressed the following middle level teacher preparation standards: young adolescent development, middle level curriculum and assessment, middle level teaching fields, and middle level instruction and assessment. In addition, incorporating service learning was my way of addressing the Association of Middle Level Education Initial Level Preparation Standards' emphasis on creating "coherence among curriculum, instruction, field experiences, clinical practice, assessment, and evaluation" (p. 1). In the following article, I start with a brief overview of how service learning is currently conceptualized. Next, I discuss the methods used to conduct this self-study, including outlining who the participants were, what data were collected, and how the data were analyzed. In the subsequent section I give a brief overview of the service learning projects that students created and provide analysis of the data, discussing the research findings. Finally, I conclude with some recommendations and considerations, based on my experiences of studying my own practice, for teacher educators who would like to incorporate service learning into their courses. …