Service Learning: Extending the Classroom to the Community

Abstract

Service learning is increasingly used as a valid means of enhancing the learning and practice of teacher candidates at institutions of higher education. The purpose of this article is to describe a service-learning program that aims to help teacher candidates learn the social context of disabilities and its impact on such adults in real-world settings. The special-education teacher-certification program at this 4-year university has included a requirement of 30 service-learning hours for 10 years. The description of the service-learning piece is grounded in four components defined in the Serve America Act of 2009: (a) active participation that requires collaboration, (b) integration of academic curriculum, (c) use of pedagogy in real-world settings, and (d) reflection. The impact of service-learning experiences is demonstrated through the dispositions of teacher candidates in this program.Service learning is a learning activity increasingly used in higher-education programs leading to teacher certification (Butin, 2006). One of the purposes of this type of activity is to build communication and relationships with communities surrounding institutions of higher education with the hope of enriching the experiences of teacher candidates and individuals in those communities (Mayhew & Welch, 2001). Initially characterized in the 1993 National and Community Service Trust Act, service learning was more completely defined when reauthorized as the Serve America Act in 2009. At this time, four components were delineated to emphasize (a) active participation of teacher candidates in organized activities that require collaboration with the school and community, (b) integration of academic curriculum to enhance the learning experience of teacher candidates, (c) use of knowledge and skills of pedagogy in real-world situations, and (d) reflection on the experience to enhance learning for teacher candidates (Pritchard & Whitehead, 2004). In addition to enhancing the learning and use of pedagogical knowledge and skills, service-learning activities have the potential of developing a stronger sense of citizenship, social justice, and volunteerism in teacher candidates. These qualities are introduced and developed in their teacher-education program and become an avenue for lifelong learning and commitment (Iverson & James, 2010; Kirk & Riedle, 2005; Pritchard & Whitehead, 2004).For those teacher candidates in special-education certification programs, servicelearning projects with individuals with exceptional needs - whether early-childhood, school-aged children, or adults - have the potential of providing an enriched understanding of the social context of disability (Santos, Ruppar, & Jeans, 2012). These projects also promote communication and collaboration with various caregivers and service providers with whom teacher candidates will have working relationships once in their own classrooms. The purpose of this article is to use the four components from the Serve America Act (2009) to explain, support, and distinguish the service learning in a special-education teacher- certification program at one institution of higher education.Since 2002, faculty in a special-education teacher- certification program at a 4-year university in a midwestern state has used service learning as a required component of the program for teacher candidates. At that time, the state board of education changed the licensure of special-education teachers, abolishing categories for certification (e.g., Learning Disabilities, Emotional/ Behavioral Disorders). Instead, special-education certification became a noncategorical license that covered Kindergarten through Grade 12 or 21 years of age. With the new licensure requirements, all special-education teachers would be licensed to teach any and all individuals with exceptional needs, regardless of the specific identification category or level of significance of the disability, excluding visual and hearing impairments. …