The experiences of teacher education students involved in a community service-learning project

M.Ed.The aim of this study was to explore and gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of teacher education students involved in a community service-learning (CSL) project. This study comes at a time in which CSL is increasingly being incorporated into the higher education context and draws on the views of proponents of CSL who argue that it has the potential to positively benefit the academic-intellectual, personal, interpersonal and social development of those who participate in CSL activities. The research strategy for this study was grounded within the interpretative research paradigm using qualitative research methods to explore how teacher education students make sense of their realities, situations and experiences while participating in a CSL project. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews, participant observation and photographs as data collection methods. The data was analysed using the constant comparative method of data analysis to search for recurring themes and patterns. From the findings, it was clear that the participants had overwhelmingly positive experiences of the CSL project. They reported that relationships were forged and strengthened, that their perceptions about themselves and others changed, that CSL offered another dimension to teaching and that their service encounter awoke a desire to continue service after the CSL project was complete. Students cited some limiting factors that they felt prevented them from optimally benefiting from the CSL experience. These included a perceived lack of structure, difficulty in communicating with the children at the site and the emotionally draining nature of the experience. I conclude with a number of implications for the curriculation of CSL in teacher education

Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning

This article reports on students’ experiences of learning to work together in a childhood teacher education programme at a university in South Africa. We were interested in how students from diverse backgrounds, with little shared understanding of a model or framework for collaborative working, would find their footing and learn how to operationalise care, accountability and reflexivity through engaging in group work as part of their service learning activities. A cross section of student data, from first year to third year, was analysed using qualitative methods of data analysis. The main findings were that the incremental integration of service learning, with fixed student groupings over three years, was a catalyst for the gradual formation of professional student learning communities. The student struggles with group relationships helped them address their cultural, linguistic and gendered assumptions about each other. Lastly, we found that relatively fixed nature of the student groupings over a three year period encouraged deep reflection about ideas of care, community and social responsibility

Integrating foundation phase teacher education with a ‘teaching school’ at the University of Johannesburg

The Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa states as activity 4.5: “Strengthening the teaching practice/school experience component of teacher education programmes through the development of Teaching Schools” (TSs). Against this background the research focused on developing an understanding of the preconditions for establishing TSs, the nature of the relationship between higher education institutions and TSs, the status of these schools in terms of the education legislation framework, and how TSs could serve as “teaching laboratories”. The report on establishing teaching schools in South Africa consists of four sections. In Section 1 the background, motivation and aims of the research are stated. Thereafter the research methods used are indicated. Section 2 of the report consists of three research articles emanating from the research. These articles summarise the main strands of the research. Section 3 provides the detail of the article on possible governance and management models for teaching schools that would be appropriate for the South African context. Section 4 presents possible norms and standards for teaching schools

Service learning in foundation phase teacher education: Experiential learning opportunities for student teachers

This paper reports on the implementation of a model that infuses service-learning into a four-year foundation phase teacher education programme. We argue for an integrated curriculum design utilising specifically the teaching (laboratory) school of the faculty, not only for clinical experience or work-integrated learning, but also for service-learning. In this way, the relation of the teacher education programme to the teaching school and its location within Soweto, an area within Johannesburg, optimises the affordances of learning from and through experience for students. The service-learning activities were designed to inform and draw on students’ practical and situational learning (learning in and about context) and address the notions of integrated and applied knowledge in the ‘Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications’ (RSA DHET 2011). We argue in this paper that the incremental inclusion of service-learning over a four-year period and the varied nature of the service-learning projects within the programme extend students’ learning from practice, provide opportunities for students to see people outside of formal education as ‘experts’ who have something to contribute to their education, and maximize the potential civic and academic outcomes for students