A Comparative Case Study of Service-Learning in Teacher Education: Rethinking Benefits and Challenges of Partners and Placements

In this comparative case study, two teacher educators turned the research lens on their own experiences with service-learning. Positing that teacher education programming can explicitly address pre-service teachers’ assumptions through course-embedded academic service-learning activities, particularly reflection, the advantages and difficulties of various placements and partners were examined. Using a case study design allowed the researchers to share their experiences locating suitable placements and forging sustainable partnerships for their courses. Findings include the importance of considering the utility of non-traditional placements and settings, the value of cultivating long-term partners, and the significance of frequent and ongoing reflection. The authors conclude that comparative case study is one method for teacher educators interested in service-learning to examine their own courses as pathways to preparing pre-service teachers. Teacher educators can intentionally incorporate service-learning components that expand pre-service teachers’ frames of reference, using reflection as a tool for preparing future teachers for increasingly complex teaching

Understanding Teacher Turnover in Two Charter Schools: Principal Dispositions and Practices

US charter schools experience higher rates of teacher turnover than traditional public schools. The purpose of this study was to examine charter principals’ professional dispositions and practices that might contribute to teacher turnover. Specifically we asked – How do charter school principal professional dispositions and practices affect school working conditions and impact teacher commitment to remain or leave a charter schools? The study design was an embedded three-year case study of principal leadership in two charter schools. Data sources included principal and teacher interviews, school observations, and artifacts. Themes were derived from two constant comparative analyses, one of principal dispositions, a second of principal practices that might impact teacher working conditions. Analysis indicated that principals’ dispositions were related to practices that affected working conditions, which in turn, impacted teacher turnover. Principals’ dispositions – autocratic ‘no excuses’ attitudes and valuing management leadership and accountability results – led to practices that created limited support for teachers, both organizationally and personally

Secondary School Counselors’ Perceptions of Service-Learning: Gaps between State Policy, Counselors’ Knowledge, and Implementation

The purpose of this study was a state-level investigation of school counselors’ knowledge of their role in the implementation of service-learning policy using survey research methods. The respondents reported having little knowledge of the policy, not having implemented it statewide, and not having been trained in service-learning pedagogy. Based on these results, this article provides implications for consideration when states develop educational policies that impact school counselors’ work

Editorial Introduction

This special edition seeks to challenge the perspective of research surrounding preservice teachers, shifting from a focus on preservice teachers to a focus on the work in which pre-service teachers are themselves engaged. As guest editors of this special edition, we work with pre-service teachers in a variety of institutional contexts and configurations ranging from traditional undergraduate preservice teachers to accelerated graduate student pre-service teacher candidates, and from a small liberal-arts to large research intensive institutions

Expanding Elementary Teacher Education Through Service-Learning: A Handbook on Extending Literacy Field Experience for Twenty-First-Century Urban Teacher Preparation

Teacher education programs and colleges of education face a multilayered task of preparing teachers to teach in increasingly divergent environments where children of color encompass a significant number of urban school populations. Yet the teaching force remains predominantly white, middle-income, monolingual, and female. Compounding this complex issue, the racial and the socio-economic makeup of many teacher education faculty mirrors the teacher candidate population.The goal of this handbook is to offer teacher educators a blue print for strengthening and extending traditional literacy field experiences to include service-learning components. As literacy teacher educators, Sulentic Dowell and Meidl demonstrate how teacher education can be transformed to include more authentic, meaningful, and preparatory field experiences. Adding service-learning components expands teacher education to more adequately prepare elementary education candidates to meet children’s needs in 21st century, urban elementary classrooms. This handbook considers the need to redefine and reconfigure teacher education in regards to literacy teaching and learning.https://repository.lsu.edu/facultybooks/1088/thumbnail.jp

Preparing Preservice Teachers for Urban Classrooms

Teacher educationalists often struggle with multifaceted and increasingly complex issues surrounding preparing majority (White) teachers to work effectively with minority (non-White) students, families, and communities. Novice teachers entering the workforce need to be culturally responsive. What are the benefits to students, communities, and universities when academic service-learning (AS-L) is a course component? How does AS-L impact the personal intellectual growth of preservice teachers? This study examined the dispositions of 177 preservice teachers engaged in literacy and multicultural education courses with AS-L components. The investigation has suggested that AS-L components improved and strengthened teacher education courses in terms of adequately preparing preservice teachers to teach successfully in urban environments. As a result, preservice teachers ’ dispositions an

Academic Service Learning as Pedagogy: An Approach to Preparing Preservice Teachers for Urban Classrooms

ABSTRACT ACADEMIC SERVICE-LEARNING AS PEDAGOGY: AN APPROACH TO PREPARING PRESERVICE TEACHERS FOR URBAN CLASSROOMS Teacher education struggles with multifaceted and increasingly complex issues surrounding preparing majority (White) teachers to work effectively with minority (non-White) students, families and communities. Novice teachers entering the workforce need to be culturally responsive. What are the benefits to students, community, and university when academic service learning (AS-L) is a course component? How does AS-L impact the personal intellectual growth of preservice teachers? This phenomenological qualitative study examined dispositions of 177 preservice teachers engaged in literacy and multicultural education courses with AS-L components. A nesting design was selected for this study situating preservice teachers in the center, surrounded by university teacher education coursework, which in turn, is surrounded by a larger circle encompassing local K-12 public schools and the community at large, where all are located. Data were collected over the course of five consecutive semesters, using four different data sources, with written reflections the primary source. Ethnographic techniques of participant observation, informal and formal interviewing were also used to collect data. Artifacts and field notes resulting from observations and interview transcripts were considered when triangulating reflection data, comparing evidence from different sources and using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning. Using different data sources permitted examination of the same phenomena through different lens. Data were analyzed using open coding, an inductive content analysis, and the constant comparative method, both systematic yet dynamic approaches. Comparing different data sources allowed for the comparison of views, situations, actions, and experiences of different individuals. Data analysis led to four significant categories: displacement, transformation, acceptance, and moving from negative, judgmental attitudes to positive, non-judgmental attitudes. This investigation suggested that AS-L components improved and strengthened teacher education courses in terms of adequately preparing preservice teachers to teach successfully in urban environments. This study resulted in preservice teachers whose dispositions and appreciation of diversity and culturally responsive teaching increased

Challenges and Supports to Elementary Teacher Education: Case Study of Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives on Arts Integration

This case study investigates the factors that challenge and support preservice teachers’ (PST) arts integration beliefs and practices. The participants include a total of 74 PSTs enrolled in a mandatory university arts course at a large Southern university across three consecutive semesters. Concurrent with arts class enrollment, PSTs are also enrolled in their capstone, semester-long, student teaching experience. The authors used PSTs’ end-of-semester reflections and the primary data source. Findings illustrate that PSTs can be creative through arts integration within teaching and learning, while still acknowledging challenges at the school level. The authors detail how they revamped existing elementary preservice arts classes to focus on arts-integrated instructional practices. In addition, findings illustrate the need for strategic inservice training for mentor teachers on the efficacy of arts integration in elementary settings and for administrative support for the arts at the school level.