Service-Learning Prepares Teachers to Meet the Needs of Urban Learners

The National College of Education at National-Louis University requires teacher candidates, in two urban education certification programs, to implement service-learning projects within their classrooms. Through a year-long examination of this practice, the authors discovered many positive aspects regarding the use of service-learning pedagogy with our graduate students and the adolescents they teach. The authors explicate the process and emergent voices of the teacher candidates and the adolescent students involved with a myriad of service-learning endeavors. The information in this article will help anyone working with adolescents in school settings. The particular emphasis on the urban environment demonstrates the feasibility of service-learning pedagogy as best practice in middle and high schools within the underserved areas of cities.