Using the Service-Learning approach to bridge the gap between theory and practice in teacher education

Katharina Resch, Ilse Schrittesser

Publications: Contribution to journalArticlePeer Reviewed

Abstract

Service-Learning stands out as a teaching approach that connects theory and practice by giving students the opportunity both to participate in a service that meets community needs and to reflect on the experience in class in order to gain a deeper understanding of the course content and an enhanced sense of civic engagement. The advantages of Service-Learning for inclusive education have recently been underpinned by studies, in which pre-service teachers are exposed to diverse population groups in schools or communities. Our study explores how Service-Learning is applied in teacher education in Austria. It is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with 13 teacher educators who apply this form of teaching in cooperative projects with schools. Our findings suggest that teacher educators distinguish between five orientations in Service-Learning (connecting theory and practice, engagement, community needs, job-related skills, learning outside the classroom), take on distinct expert and support roles, and see multiple benefits in Service-Learning. Our study underlines the importance of Service-Learning for inclusive education and the value of preparing pre-service teachers for dealing with diverse groups of pupils by allowing them to experience the real-world problems that confront schools.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1118-1132
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Inclusive Education
Volume27
Issue number10
Early online date8 Feb 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

  • 503006 Educational research

Keywords

  • Service-Learning
  • diversity
  • inclusive education
  • teacher education
  • teacher educator attitudes

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