Probing and Promoting Teacher's Thinking About Service-Learning: Toward a Theory of Teacher Development

Data from a study of service-learning partnerships in K-12 school districts in California are used to describe dimensions of variation in teacher's thinking about service-learning, as well as relationships between teacher's goals and their implementation strategies. More specifically, the study suggests that the design and quality of teacher's service-learning activities may be substantially affected by: (a) the clarity and specificity of teachers goals, (b) the degree to which these goals are discussed with students , (c) the roles established for teachers and students, and (d) the degree to which concepts targeted in service learning are interconnected with content and activities in other curricular areas. A constructivist model of teacher development is proposed as a potentially useful way to understand qualitative differences and changes in teachers' conceptualizations and actions regarding service-learning.