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##  Service-Learning and Teacher Education. ERIC Digest.                         

INTRODUCTION
Throughout the decade of the 1990s, the use of                    service-learning increased dramatically in both K-12 and teacher                education. Educators at all levels report that well-designed and                implemented service-learning activities can help address unmet                  community needs while simultaneously providing students opportunity             to gain academic knowledge and skills (Root, 1997). Researchers and             teachers note that service-learning often increases student                     self-esteem, promotes personal development, and enhances a sense of             social responsibility and personal competence (Council of Chief                 State School Officers, 1995). This Digest provides a definition and             examples of service-learning, examines rationales and approaches,               reviews research, and discusses future challenges related to                    service-learning in teacher education. WHAT IS                                SERVICE-LEARNING?Service-learning may be described as both a                philosophy of education and an instructional method. As a philosophy            of education, service-learning reflects the belief that education               should develop social responsibility and prepare students to be                 involved citizens in democratic life. As an instructional method,               service-learning involves a blending of service activities with the             academic curriculum in order to address real community needs while              students learn through active engagement. A growing body of research            indicates that carefully planned and implemented service-learning               projects can contribute to both K-12 students' and preservice                   teachers' learning and growth (Conrad & Hedin, 1991; Root,                      1997). DISTINGUISHING COMMUNITY SERVICE, SERVICE-LEARNING,                    AND

OTHER FORMS OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATIONService-learning,               community service, internships, and other types of field education              such as student teaching are all forms of experiential education.               They do differ, however, as to their primary focus and                          beneficiaries. Community service involves students providing                    assistance to individuals, organizations, or the community. The                 assistance can be direct (preparing meals in a shelter for the                  homeless or picking up trash in a park) or indirect (organizing a               food drive or doing clerical work for a social service agency). In              all cases, the primary focus is on providing a service and the                  primary beneficiary is the service recipient. Internships and                   student teaching focus primarily on the student's learning and the              primary beneficiary is the service provider. Service-learning                   involves blending the key elements of community service and                     internships so both the service providers and the service recipients            benefit. These benefits result from a dual focus on the service                 being provided and the learning that will occur (Furco,                         1996). RATIONALES FOR SERVICE-LEARNING IN TEACHER                             EDUCATIONTeacher educators cite the following reasons for                   integrating service-learning into their courses: (1) to prepare new             teachers to use service-learning as a teaching method with their                K-12 students; (2) to help socialize teachers in the essential moral            and civic obligations of teaching, including teaching with "care,"              fostering life-long civic engagement, adapting to the needs of                  learners with diverse and special needs, and having a commitment to             advocate for social justice for children and families; (3) to                   enhance preservice teachers' ability to reflect critically on                   current educational practices and their own teaching; (4) to develop            in preservice teachers the dispositions and abilities needed to                 easily and fully adopt other educational reforms such as authentic              assessment, teaching with integrated thematic units, focusing on                higher order thinking skills, and making improvements in school                 schedules and climate; (5) to accelerate the process of learning how            to perform a variety of roles needed to meet the needs of students              such as counselor, community liaison, advocate, and moral leader;               and (6) to develop human service-oriented teachers who can work                 effectively in schools with integrated services or other social                 service settings. APPROACHES TO INTEGRATING SERVICE-LEARNING INTO             TEACHER

EDUCATIONIn order to help educators create                       high-quality service-learning programs a number of groups and                   individuals have established principles of good practice. Perhaps               the most widely-referenced are the Principles of Good Practice for              Combining Service and Learning (Porter Honnet & Poulsen, 1989). The             other frequently referenced principles are the Standards of Quality             for School-Based and Community-Based Service-Learning (Alliance for             Service-Learning in Educational Reform, 1995). 
Teacher educators              have applied these principles to widely varying degrees in their                efforts to incorporate service-learning experiences in their teacher            preparation programs. Erickson and Anderson (1997) include                      descriptions of 14 different approaches utilized by teacher                     educators at diverse institutions throughout the country. These                 approaches show considerable variation in the degree to which                   service-learning is integrated into course and/or program                       objectives. Approaches range from individual courses in which                   service-learning is employed as a method to achieve course goals to             courses that share this focus but also endeavor to provide students             with  knowledge of service-learning as a teaching method and                    philosophy of learning. A growing number of teacher education                   programs also provide their preservice teachers with                            service-learning experiences in which they work with K-12 teachers              in a school and/or community setting to design and implement                    service-learning projects. 
Examples of service-learning activities            in teacher education programs include (1) preservice teachers taking            a social foundations of education course who tutor adults and                   children in ESL classrooms and at public libraries; (2) as a part of            a social studies methods course students work with children in need             in community agencies such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Neighborhood            Centers, or Head Start; (3) special education majors coordinate                 service-learning projects with their own students during their                  student teaching assignments; and (4) preservice teachers in reading            methods courses help coordinate a high school literacy corps,                   provide training, conduct evaluation studies, and lead reflection               sessions for the tutors. RESEARCH ON SERVICE-LEARNING IN TEACHER              EDUCATIONResearch regarding the influences of service-learning              experiences on preservice and beginning teachers is in the early                stages. The few studies that have been conducted indicate that                  service-learning is associated with gains for preservice teachers in            the development of professional attitudes and values needed for                 successful teaching (Root, 1997). 
Sullivan (1991) found that                  preservice teachers who had completed community service internships             had a great degree of success in their student teaching experience,             noting specifically ease in planning activities, communicating with             parents, and using the interpersonal skills necessary to deal                   effectively with adolescents. Wade (1995) noted an increase in                  preservice teachers' positive attitudes about community                         participation, and gains in self-esteem and self-efficacy.  Root and            Batchelder(1994) concluded that preservice teachers who completed a             service-learning class made significant gains in the complexity of              their thinking about a social problem of childhood. Seigel (1995)               found that teacher education students who completed a community                 service experience as a part of a course on diversity increased                 their sensitivity to diversity issues and became more insightful                about their own responses to diverse students. Vadeboncoeur, Rahm,              Aguilera, and LeCompte (1996) identified an increased commitment to             social justice and a reduction in teacher biases in teacher                     education students who completed a service-learning experience.                 However, no changes were found in students' degree of social                    activism. Wade (1997) found that service-learning can be a means for            empowering student teachers by providing them with authority and                affirmation. FUTURE CHALLENGESNumerous issues face teacher                educators as they develop service-learning experiences,                         including: (1) Should teacher education students participate in                 service activities themselves, learn to use service-learning as a               teaching method for use with their future students, or both? (2) At             what point(s) in the continuum of teacher education, from preservice            to beginning teacher to master teacher, should preparation in the               use of service-learning as a teaching method be placed? (3) Is it               essential for preservice teachers to participate in service-learning            in real community settings or is it sufficient to expose them to                service-learning solely in on-campus settings? Jacoby et al. (1996)             discuss a variety of issues in the administration, curricular                   integration, and institutionalization of service-learning pertinent             to teacher education and other disciplines in higher                            education. 
Research is needed to examine these questions and a                number of other important issues. These include (1) identifying                 specific features of service-learning preparation that contribute to            beginning teachers' interest in and use of high quality                         service-learning with their K-12 students; (2) characteristics of               teachers, schools, and communities that hinder or support                       service-learning practice; and (3) the degree to which teacher                  education students' civic responsibility, commitment to social                  justice, and development of an ethic of care are developed through              service-learning experiences designed to achieve these goals (Root,             1997). CONCLUSIONService-learning appears to have considerable            potential as a method to achieve important goals of both K-12                   education and teacher preparation. Initial research results, teacher            educators, and preservice teachers all suggest that service-learning            can be worthwhile and powerful learning experience. But there are               many challenges to its successful use in teacher education,                     including the already overcrowded curriculum, the difficulties of               arranging successful K-12 and community service-learning sites, and             linking service-learning to state and national teacher education                accreditation standards. As more teacher educators take on these                challenges, innovative and successful approaches may                            emerge. REFERENCESAlliance for Service-Learning in Educational            Reform. (1995). STANDARDS OF QUALITY FOR SCHOOL-BASED AND                       COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE-LEARNING. Chester, VT: Author. 
Conrad,                D., & Hedin, D. (1991). School-based community service: What we know            from research and theory. PHI DELTA KAPPAN 72(10), 743-749. EJ 426              971. 
Council of Chief State School Officers. (1995). INTEGRATING              SERVICE LEARNING INTO TEACHER EDUCATION: WHY AND HOW? Washington,               DC: Author. 
Erickson, J. A., & Anderson, J. B. (Eds.). (1997).                LEARNING WITH THE COMMUNITY: CONCEPTS AND MODELS FOR                            SERVICE-LEARNING IN TEACHER EDUCATION. Washington, DC: American                 Association for Higher Education. 
Furco, A. (1996).                           Service-learning: A balanced approach to experiential education.                EXPANDING BOUNDARIES: SERVING AND LEARNING, 1(1), 2-6. 
Jacoby, B.,            et al. (1996). SERVICE-LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CONCEPTS AND               PRACTICES. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ED 399 914. 
Porter Honnet,             E., & Poulsen, S. J. (1989). PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR                    COMBINING SERVICE AND LEARNING. Racine, WI: Johnson                             Foundation. 
Root, S. C. (1997). School-based service: A review of             research for teacher educators. In J. Erickson & J. Anderson (Eds.),            LEARNING WITH THE COMMUNITY: CONCEPTS AND MODELS FOR                            SERVICE-LEARNING IN TEACHER EDUCATION (pp. 42-72). Washington, DC:              American Association for Higher Education. 
Root, S. C., &                     Batchelder, T. (1994, April). THE IMPACT OF SERVICE-LEARNING ON                 PRESERVICE TEACHERS' DEVELOPMENT. Paper presented at the annual                 meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New                   Orleans. 
Seigel, S. (1995). COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AS                     EMPOWERING PEDAGOGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS.                   Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts at               Amherst. 
Sullivan, R. (1991, February). THE ROLE OF                           SERVICE-LEARNING IN RESTRUCTURING TEACHER EDUCATION. Paper presented            at the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators, New              Orleans. 
Vadeboncoeur, J. A., Rahm, J., Aguilera, D., & LeCompte,             M. (1996). Building democratic character through community                      experiences in teacher education. EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY,                  28(2), 189-207. EJ 522 432. 
Wade, R. (1995). Developing active                citizens: Community service learning in social studies teacher                  education. SOCIAL STUDIES, 86(3), 122-128. EJ 510 829. 
Wade,                  R. (1997). Empowerment in student teaching through community service            learning. THEORY INTO PRACTICE, 36(3), 184-191. 
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This             publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational            Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under                   contract number RR93002015. The opinions expressed in this report do            not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the                Department.                                                                  **Title:** Service-Learning and Teacher Education. ERIC Digest.                         **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Descriptors:** Elementary Secondary Education,  Futures (of Society), Higher                   Education,  Integrated Curriculum,  Preservice Teacher Education,                Service Learning, Student Participation,  Teaching Methods                  **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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