Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Michael C. Holen / There is a call for education, including teacher education, to transform from solely transmitting knowledge to creating dynamic learning opportunities for students to experience real-world situations so they can develop the skills and competencies necessary to navigate a changing and unpredictable world. Service-learning is proposed as one strategy to facilitate this transformation. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe how individual or group service-learning experiences might impact the attitudes and beliefs of pre-service teachers in a teacher education course. This study was guided by two research questions: How do pre-service teacher participants describe their individual or group service-learning experiences within the context of a required teacher education course? In what ways do participants' attitudes and beliefs towards service-learning vary, based on individual or group service-learning experiences? The service-learning experiences for this study were designed using experiential educational theory and a blended framework from service-learning common goals (academic enhancement, personal/professional growth, and civic learning) and common components (academic material, critical reflection and relevant service) (Ash, Clayton, & Moses, 2009). Fourteen pre-service students agreed to participate in the study. Two sources of data were identified, (a) individual semi-structured, face-to-face interviews and (b) critical reflective journals written by participants. Findings suggest that service-learning experiences reinforce academic content including experiential education. Personal and professional growth and an understanding of diversity can result from service-learning experiences. Teacher involvement in the local community was viewed by participants as important for student-teacher relationships and to improve connections between the school and the community. Participants of the study viewed critical reflection as a fundamental component in service-learning. Self-identified personality type can impact how each participant described their individual or group service-learning experiences, including benefits of social interaction and collaboration. Individual and group service-learning present different challenges in implementing effective experiences. Participants’ beliefs and attitudes did not vary based upon individual or group service-learning experiences. In conclusion, incorporating the experiential pedagogy of service-learning in teacher education programs can better prepare pre-service teachers for the very unpredictable nature of teaching.

This article will address the importance of a holistic approach for human services by exploring the concept of community and utilizing service-learning/experiential education in human service courses. ACCESS (Achievement, Collaboration, Community, Education, Standards, and Services) will be covered by illustrating how service-learning/experiential education is a great pedagogy for collaborative partnerships between the university, community, students and faculty. Important elements of service learning/experiential education will be reviewed to provide a better understanding of the concepts. Reflections of the service experience will be included from students, community agency and faculty. Survey results will be utilized to demonstrate how service-learning/experiential education helps students achieve skills and a better understanding of course concepts while helping meet needed services in the community.

The article addresses the importance of a holistic approach to human services by exploring the concept of community through utilizing service-learning/experiential education in human service courses. ACCESS (Achievement, Collaboration, Community, Education, Standards, and Services) illustrates that service learning/experiential education can offer a viable pedagogy for collaborative partnerships between the university, community, students, and faculty. The article reviews important elements of service-learning/experiential education to provide a thorough understanding of the concepts, including reflection on the service experience from students, community agencies, and faculty. Survey results demonstrate ways in which service learning/experiential education aids students in achieving skills and in acquiring a deeper understanding of course concepts while meeting needed services in the community.

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Service learning is the catalyst for people to enter an oppressed or disenfranchised community, create bonds of understanding through dialogue, and learn to genuinely understand the behaviors and actions of that community. This paper explores the links among empathy creation, oppression, and different forms of consciousness that service learning is responsible for creating. The theories of Paulo Freire's engaged pedagogy, bell hooks critical consciousness, Novella Keith's theory of reciprocity, and Walter Fluker's theory of ethical leadership provide the context for my exploration. These authors demonstrate the importance of creating genuine empathetic bonds through action, practice, and reflection. / Urban Education

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Many academicians, business people, and government officials are calling for college students to not only earn a degree but to leave college ready to be active and engaged citizens in their communities. One of the fastest-growing responses to this call within higher education has been the introduction of service-learning courses across disciplines. This study was designed to attempt to bring some focus to community agency needs and desires in service-learning relationships, both in domestic and international programs. Factors and criteria frequently cited in the literature as important to community agencies and when creating partnerships were compiled into a list of 10 criteria. Community agencies and faculty/staff involved in service-learning at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) were then asked to respond to each factor, indicating how important each was to them and how satisfied they were with how each factor was carried out in their current relationship(s). Overall, the 62 respondents found having interaction based on mutual respect and relationships built on trust as most important and the factors with which they are most satisfied. Faculty/staff respondents tended rate each factor as more important than community agency respondents, though there were no significant differences between the two groups’ satisfaction ratings. International respondents, including both faculty/staff and community agency respondents, in general, rated each item more important and reported greater satisfaction than domestic respondents. Aspects of the relationships under study, including frequency of interaction, type of interaction, and frequency of supervising service-learning students, were also related to respondents’ ratings of each factor. Even with limitations, the study helps move toward a greater understanding of working with community agencies, establishing criteria to aid in evaluating and implementing service-learning relationships, and providing a base for future studies.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this exploratory meta-study was to establish a foundation for the implementation of Service-Learning as a pedagogy into MBA programmes in South Africa. Three major interrelated contexts underpinned the study; a) the business sector, with its deep need for appropriately skilled managers and leaders, b) the social sector within which is situated a considerable number of currently or potentially economically active community organisations, and c) higher education, particularly with reference to its legislated transformation imperative. Service-Learning as a pedagogy has never been implemented in MBA programmes in South Africa, yet the literature suggests that it is one of the most effective management development tools available to educators. The mixed methodological approach taken in this study was based on the published perceptual shift from that of analysis to one of synthesis. In this paradigm, the basic tenet was that of investigating several constructs from different perspectives (the meta-study format) with the intention of combining them into a new coherent framework to offer the field of management education. Within this framework, data were gathered from several relevant populations, including business leaders and managers, MBA students, Service-Learning practitioners and community organisations. Through triangulation and aggregation of findings from the different sources, it was established that MBA students acting in a consultant capacity experienced real workplace learning in an authentic context, where the outputs of the work that they conducted via their academic assignments were utilised productively by the community organisations with which they worked. They were able to address at least some pressing social needs whilst meeting their academic objectives, measured using Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive outcomes. They also reported a high level of personal growth and increased awareness of the socio-economic fabric of the country. Although the findings from this research cannot necessarily be generalised to all MBA programmes in South Africa, they do suggest that Service-Learning has an important role to play in educating South African managers, whilst addressing social, economic and educational transformation needs. This research has established that MBA Service-Learning is a worthwhile pedagogy on which to conduct further research and implementation in South African business schools.

ABSTRACT: The study investigated a service learning partnership between mid-career teachers at a primary school in Atteridgeville and newly-qualified, mostly secondary, teachers from Nottingham University. The aim was to identify benefits and challenges with a view to optimising future partnerships. Data was gathered through participant observation and interviews, analysed by thematic content analysis and interpreted from a critical/postcolonial perspective. The research found a range of benefits accrued to the various stakeholders, including enhanced literacy teaching and learning, opportunities for shared teaching practice, and the lasting legacy of a functional library. While crosscultural contact was identified as a benefit, it also created some tensions related to equitable power-sharing. Therefore, recommendations for future partnerships include clear and consistent communication between partners regarding expectations, goals, and accountability, closer collaboration between partners, and proactive conflict resolution mechanisms. Finally, the research highlights the viable, yet scarcely tapped, potential of such partnerships to address both pre-service and in-service training needs in teacher education in South Africa.