Service Learning in Teacher Education: a Third Rationale

Recent proposals for the inclusion of service learning in teacher education have emphasized the power of service learning to challenge preservice teachers' assumptions about traditional modes of schooling and to serve as a vehicle for education reform. The present paper argues that there is also a need to involve preservice teachers in service learning projects centered around the needs of children and youth. Doing so will enable preservice teachers to construct practices which are both sensitive to recent changes in the demographic and social contexts of schooling and that are consistent with principles of care as developed by Noddings. The paper also discusses the effects of just such a youth oriented service learning project on preservice teachers' conceptualizations of the teacher's role. (author)