The Impact Of Service-Learning On Early Childhood .
New Waves Educational Research & DevelopmentApril, 2015, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 36–5136The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice TeachersMiranda LinAlan B. BatesIllinois State UniversityAbstractThis paper explores how service learninghelps preservice teachers change theirperceptions toward working with diversepopulations and how they link servicelearning to social justice. Providingopportunities for preservice teachers to linkcommunity service with their classroomexperiences adds value to their learningexperience and enhances qualities ofunderstanding and commitment that lead toeffective citizenship participation. Twentyeight early childhood preservice teachersenrolled in a multicultural education coursewere asked to complete a service-learningproject in which they worked with day carecenters that serve low income families. Ingroups, preservice teachers worked closelywith the centers to conduct a needsassessment and create projects that assist inovercoming the issues facing each center.After the projects were completed,preservice teachers completed a guidedreflection paper and poster presentation aspart of the project. Guiding questionsfocused on the impact of the experience onpreservice teachers and the centers. Resultsindicated that overall, preservice teachersvalued the service learning experience andgained an appreciation for working withstudents of diverse backgrounds. However,they had difficulty connecting servicelearning and social justice. Strategies to helppreservice teachers develop a betterunderstanding of social justice will bediscussed.IntroductionService-learning offers individuals anopportunity to link theory to practice; morespecifically it can help teacher candidatesexplore the connections between theoreticaland practical. It also offers individuals theopportunity to connect to a community andidentify their civic roles in that community.Service-learning, a pedagogy that has beenimplemented in higher education, hasreceived more recognition as the Nationaland Community Service Act (1990) createda federal mandate to increase civicengagement across campuses. Servicelearning is now perceived as a movement toreinvigorate the public purposes and civicmission of many higher educationinstitutions.Service-learning as a teaching strategyhas been integrated in many teachereducation programs across the country(Jagla, Erickson, & Tinkler, 2013). It is usedfrequently in multicultural education coursesto help preservice teachers better understandthe social issues and their role as teachers intoday’s ever-changing classroom (e.g.,Boyle-Baise, 2002). When communitybased service-learning is implemented inteacher education programs, it can providepreservice teachers a basis for ing can help preservice teachersbecome aware of the social issues thecommunity faces, needs of the community,their students’ educational needs, andeventually help them develop instructionalactivities relevant to their concerns. BoyleBaise proclaims that multicultural servicelearning should focus on inclusive, critical,and social use. It is about buildingcommunity and resolving issues associatedwith inequality.
The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice TeachersService-learning experiences provide theopportunity for preservice teachers todevelop a commitment to lifelong learning.They can also provide preservice teacherswith the opportunity to better understand thereal-world experiences of individuals of allwalks of life in their immediatecommunities, especially in the culturallydiverse and low-income community.Research on service-learning has shownpositive effects on student learningoutcomes (Baldwin, Buchanan, & Rudisill,2007; Celio, Durlak, & Dymnicki, 2011;Chambers & Lavery, 2012; Maynes, Hatt, &Wideman, 2013). Most importantly, servicelearning has an impact on preserviceteachers’ dispositions toward teaching indiverse settings, cultural awareness, socialissues, and social responsibility. This studyattempts to further explore how servicelearning experiences influence first yearearly childhood education preserviceteachers and if these experiences affect theirunderstanding of social justice.Service-LearningService-learning combines experientiallearning and community service; it focuseson critical, reflective thinking as well aspersonal and civic responsibility. Servicelearning is a method for individuals to learnand develop through active participation inplanned service within a school orcommunity service program to meet theneeds of communities (Jacoby, 2015). Ithelps foster civic responsibility, providesstructured time for reflection upon theexperience. Service-learning as a teachingstrategy has become popular during the pasttwo decades. Kaye (2010) argues thatservice-learning helps individuals develop adeeper understanding of the course content,fosters their sense of civic engagement, andhelps develop better insights into themselvesand their place in the community. Accordingto Kaye, service-learning makes learning37meaningful because it is directly related tothe students’ curriculum and students makemeaning from their experience. This conceptis not new as Dewey (1916; 1938) statedthat students learn best by doing. Hislearning theory focuses on learning throughexperience and critical thinking, which is theessence of service-learning.Types of Service-LearningKaye (2010) proposes four types ofservice-learning: direct, indirect, advocacy,and research. Direct service-learningimpacts individuals who receive direct helpfrom college students, for example tutoring.Indirect service-learning refers to projectsthat benefit an organization, program, orcommunity as opposed to specificindividuals (e.g., food and clothing drives).Advocacy service-learning involves writing,teaching, presenting, and informing onprojects that promote action or createawareness of on issues of public interest(e.g., lending library, family literacy night,violence and drug prevention). And researchservice-learning refers to the finding,compiling, and reporting of information ontopics in the public interest via surveys, datagathering, interviewing and so forth (e.g.,getting information on the pricing ofchildren’s furniture/equipment/ teachingmaterials).Service-Learning OutcomesPrevious service-learning studies presentfive outcome areas of service-learning: 1)attitudes toward self, 2) attitudes towardlearning, 3) civic engagement, 4) socialskills, and 5) academic performance(Baldwin et al., 2017; Celio et al., 2011).These findings indicate that service-learningcan benefit individuals in various capacities.Enhanced self-efficacy and self-esteem,more positive attitudes toward school andeducation, and an increase in positiveattitudes toward community involvement, as
The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice Teacherswell as a gain in social skills associated withleadership and empathy are just a few of thebenefits (Celio et al., 2011; Chambers &Lavery, 2012; Donnison & Itter, 2010; Lake& Jones, 2008; Warren, 2012).Prentice and Robinson (2010) found thatcollege students who were engaged inservice-learning were more likely to becontinuously enrolled in college andperformed better academically than theircounterparts. They also noticed that thesecollege students demonstrated higher socialskills and a will to pursue a higher degree.Evidently college students who haveservice-learning experience have enhancedattitudes toward learning and academicperformance. Jacoby (2015), after manyyears of extensive research on servicelearning, also suggests that service-learninghas tremendous potential as a tool to assistcollege students to see and act on theproblems of their communities, engage indialogue and problem solving with thepeople most affected.Meanwhile, the impact of servicelearning on teacher education has also beenobserved. Maynes, Hatt, and Wideman(2013) integrated service-learning in seniorpreservice teachers’ practicum. They foundthat preservice teachers perceived servicelearning positively and they also found thatthe impact on preservice teachers includedgreater commitment to social issues andsocial responsibility. These preserviceteachers demonstrated strong awareness ofthemselves and of the social issues, andexhibited support for social change. Theirfindings were supported by previousresearch, which affirms the value andeffectiveness of service-learning (e.g.,Baldwin et al., 2007; Lake & Jones, 2008).Most preservice teachers are fromcommunities that are very different from thoseof the children/families/communities theywork with in service-learning projects.Baldwin and her colleagues believe thatservice-learning experiences enable preservice38teachers to examine their own values and thelimited expectations they have for children,their families, and their eachers/mentors,fieldsupervisors or faculty’s voices indicates thatthe impact of service-learning can be ratherprofound. Many mentors/faculty agreed thatservice-learningnotonlyenhancedpreservice teachers’ learning but also theircivic engagement and skills to work withothers (Donnison & Itter, 2010; Maynes etal., 2013; Simons et al., 2013). For example,field supervisors in the study of Donnisonand Itter found that service-learnersdeveloped social responsibility, were moresensitive to other cultures and needs, hadstrong communication and interpersonalskills, and were better prepared for futurework.Certainly, the outcomes of servicelearning vary depending upon the type ofexperience. (Desmond, Stahl, & Graham,2011). For example, Vogel and Seifer(2011) state that sustained service-learningincreases community engagement andimproved community-university relations.This outcome may not be attained in allservice-learning experiences but is morelikely to be experience-specific. Generallyspeaking, positive outcomes outweighnegative ones when service-learning is usedas a teaching tool in higher education. In themeantime, Desmond and her colleaguesargue that while service-learning has apotential to be a transformative pedagogy,there is also a possibility that servicelearning could perpetuate individuals’negative attitudes and behaviors towardpeople whom they have never dealt withbefore. Nevertheless, higher education has aresponsibility to help individuals gain theknowledge of self and others that will propelthem into becoming active citizens of theworld.Service-Learning and Social Justice
The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice TeachersSocial justice is often perceived aspromoting a just society by challenginginjustice and valuing diversity. Social justiceis both a process and a goal (Adams, Bell, &Griffins, 2007). The process focuses on theunderstanding of the social structures thatcreate inequality and challenge the existingpolicies. The goal is to have a globalcommunity where people share socialresponsibility and are actively involved.Combining community service with learninginmulticulturaleducationcoursesupplements classroom learning by givingpreservice teachers the opportunity topractice their skills they are learning in theclassroom in a real setting (Boyle-Baise,2002; 2005). This concrete experience offersthe opportunity for preservice teachers tointeract with their group members andcommunity members to work together tobetter the quality of life in their community.Desmond, Stahl, and Graham (2011) arguethat multicultural service-learning can be apowerful pedagogical tool as it givespreservice teachers a direct opportunity toactively examine, investigate, and seek outmultiple perspectives to gain a deeperunderstandingofsocialstructures,challenges, and differences within thecommunity. They further state that thisexperience is cooperative which promotesskills associated with es provide preservice teachers withaccess to greater understanding of the socialand cultural diversity of the community andits wealth and traditions as well as thechallenges that the community faces(Desmond et al., 2011). Consequently, whenpreservice teachers feel connected to thecommunity, they are more likely to careabout the social issues and continue civicengagement. Boyle-Baise (2002) asserts thatmulticultural service-learning experienceswith diverse groups of people not onlyprofoundly impact preservice teachers’academic performance but also their39understanding of social responsibilities.Incorporating service-learning into multicultural education, therefore, has beenincreasingly recognized to be a criticalcomponent of teacher education programs.Recently, Simons and colleagues (2013)looked at the differences in attitudes andskills of 101 college students, most of whomwere preservice teachers, after participatingin academic-based and cultural-basedservice-learning experiences. They foundthat cultural-based service learners hadhigher ratings of social justice and increasedmulticultural and problem-solving skillscompared to academic-based servicelearners. Multicultural service-learning as ateaching method can support the goals ofsocial justice. However, it does not assurepreserviceteacherswilldevelopmulticultural knowledge and skills or becommitted to social justice (Boyle-Baise,2002; Simons et al., 2013). Simons andcolleagues believe that if individuals are notchallenged to think critically about thediversity content and social issues faced inthe service context, they may still developcolorblind views and/or will not reducecertain stereotypes.Service-learning can be a tool forpreservice teachers to work toward socialjustice advocacy. As previous researchsuggests, preservice teachers need to beaware of the social issues of theircommunity before they become activistswithin their community to improve thequality of life (e.g., Boyle-Baise, 2002;2005). However, to prepare preserviceteachers for this task, they need to examinetheir own values and attitudes in a safelearning environment (Lin, Lake, & Rice,2008). Lin et al. argue that “internalizeddialogue” which requires preserviceteachers to reflect on their personal culturalvalues and understand that many ideas thatthey hold as truths are culturally-based.Additionally, preservice teachers need tolearn the skills to work collaboratively with
The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice Teacherstheir peers and the community members.Most importantly, service-learning asChambers (2009) points out, needs to gobeyond the philanthropic approach. Thesocial transformation approach to servicelearning requires individuals to understandthe causes and continuation of socialinequities and to challenge and change theworld as well as reformulate their attitudesand challenge their preconceived notions(Chambers, 2009; Simon et al., 2013).Chamber argues that “social transformationfocuses on altering the system, theassumptions, the mindsets, and therelationship that create and sustaininequities” (p. 90) which resonances thesignificance of internalized dialogue (Lin etal. 2008). Namely, the underlyingassumptions, preconceived notions are to becritically examined and ultimately altered.Conceptual FrameworkThe main goal of service-learning is toenable students to become engaged citizensand be critical thinkers. The outcomes ofservice-learning can be educational,vocational, and social according toChambers (2009). Chambers argues thatstudents who are engaged in servicelearning in the college classrooms are morelikelytochooseservice-orientatedprofessions vocationally in the future. Healso states that there is a positiverelationship between service-learning andindividuals’ academic performance, andservice-learninghelpsreduceracialstereotyping and cultural understanding.Chambers proposes four underlying theoriesof service-learning.Experiential EducationExperiential learning is also referred toas learning through action, learning by doingand learning through experience. It focuseson the students’ learning from theexperience rather than the quantity or qualityof the experience. The outcomes may be40positive or negative; they vary by the natureof the projects.Social LearningThe factors affecting students’ learningcan be multifaceted. The focus of this levelof service-learning is on what the studentstake from the experience by learning aboutthe social conditions in their community(Maynes et al., 2013). This type of servicelearning enables students to learn within thesocial and cultural context.Student DevelopmentThis level of service-learning focuses onstudents’ energy and commitment to theservice and expanding their skills andknowledge. Chambers (2009) believes that“student’s integration into the academic andsocial systems of institution is vital tostudent persistence” (p. 83). Studentdevelopment can be categorized in variousrealms: cognitive-structural, psychosocial,eco-logical, and typological, according toChambers. Through active engagement andreflection, students learn to be activelyinvolved in their community and learn abouttheir role personally and professionally.Liberatory EducationLiberatory pedagogy recognizes thepolitics of education. Liberatory education iscenteredonsocialchangeandtransformation through education based onconsciousness raising and engagement withoppressive forces (Freire, 1970). Forstudents to better understand and recognizethe economic, political, and socialconditions that impact their lives and thelives of the community members, this theorysuggests students to be provided with theopportunity for social change andtransformationalshiftsinsocialconsciousness.All the aforementioned service-learningtheories are critical and essential forindividuals to grow personally and
The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice Teachersprofessionally (Chambers, 2009). Since notall service-learning leads to social justice,depending upon the nature of the servicelearning project, individuals may not havesimilar experiences and may experiencedifferent levels of service-learning.In this study, contributions of servicelearning to social justice were the mainfocus to be examined. The goal of theservice-learning projects in this study was tohelp the first year preservice teachersexperience a liberatory education as theservice-learning projects were embedded ina multicultural education course. Chambersbelieves that the contribution of liberatoryeducation to service-learning is “the linkagetween discipline-based learning, individualidentity formation, and socio-centricengagement, a linkage that changesinequitable conditions for self and others”(p.84). It was hoped that the learning thatpreservice teachers engage in would bemeaningful and critical which help themunderstand the complexity and dynamics ofthe political and social issues that earlychildhood programs face on a daily basis. Inturn, these preservice teachers would be ableto articulate and advocate for (and advocatewith) for the children and families who aremarginalized.Purpose of the Study and asurable improvement for preserviceteachers’ thinking and action. As the nationcontinues the work on educational reform,teachereducators/teachereducationprograms need to find ways to strengthenteacher preparation to better preparepreservice teachers for the real worldclassroom. Using service-learning aspedagogy to reform or transform teachereducation programs has recently gainedattention. For the purpose of the study, thedefinition of service-learning is as e (2013), “A teaching andlearning strategy that integrates meaningfulcommunity service with instruction andreflection to enrich the learning experience,teach civic responsibility, and strengthencommunities.” If service-learning can offerteacher candidates an authentic and concretepedagogical context to develop self andcultural awareness as well as an opportunityto enact social just
April, 2015, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 36–51 The Impact of Service-Learning on Early Childhood Preservice Teachers Miranda Lin Alan B. Bates Illinois State University Abstract This paper explores how service learning helps preservice teachers change their perceptions toward working with diverse populations and how they link service
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