Service-Learning Field Experiences to Build Intercultural Competence

There is a call today for preparing teachers to reflect on their role as agents for global change, as engaged citizens responsible for helping to create a more equitable society. This chapter explores the transformative potential for the integration of service-learning into field experiences through examination of a bi-national teacher education project located on the U.S.-México border. A primary purpose of this chapter was to examine the ways in which service-learning field experiences enrich and deepen intercultural competence of teacher candidates. Qualitative data, including interview transcripts, reflective essays, and reports were analyzed to determine the extent to which U.S. and Mexican master teachers, graduate students, and teacher candidates' perceptions of their work with transnational learners changed as a result of bicultural, bi-national service-learning field experiences. The findings demonstrate the potential of service-learning for developing intercultural competence in current and future teachers.

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A Typology of Conscious Decision Making for Service-Learning Field Experiences

Handbook of Research on Service-Learning Initiatives in Teacher Education Programs - Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-4041-0.ch027 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 504-513

Author(s):

Tynisha D. Meidl ◽

Leah Katherine Saal ◽

Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Teacher Education ◽

Teacher Preparation ◽

Service Learning ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Field Experiences ◽

Engaged Pedagogy ◽

Culturally Responsive Practice ◽

Conscious Decision ◽

Typological Structure

In this concluding chapter, the authors, who are service-learning and teacher education scholars, present a typology of service-learning field experiences as a means of considering how and why service-learning field experiences are included as teacher preparation. The typology is a way to examine and inform the critical decision-making process when planning, implementing, and assessing service-learning field experiences. This chapter is a departure from other chapters in this edited volume, but its purpose is to extend the conversations all chapters inspire, which is to include service-learning as a form of community-engaged pedagogy and scholarship that endorses, represents, and promotes culturally responsive practice. The authors presume it is impossible to create a complete and comprehensive taxonomy of service-learning as community-engaged work continues to evolve. The typological structure can be used to identify, define, and describe the nuanced applications salient in service-learning field experiences within teacher education.

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Pedagogical Approaches and Service-Learning in Teacher Preparation

Handbook of Research on Service-Learning Initiatives in Teacher Education Programs - Advances in Educational Marketing, Administration, and Leadership ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-4041-0.ch001 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell ◽

Tynisha D. Meidl

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Teacher Preparation ◽

Service Learning ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Field Experiences ◽

Community Members ◽

Pedagogical Approach ◽

Pedagogical Approaches

As the initial chapter in this volume, the authors set the tone by inviting service-learning practitioners who are situated within teacher education into dialogue regarding the foundational aspects of service-learning as an effective pedagogical approach for preparing pre-service teachers to teach from a culturally responsive stance. In this chapter, practitioners from across the field of teacher education's spectrum, from emerging scholars to veteran service-learning researchers, are encouraged to reflect on the ways they envision and position service-learning. Overall, service-learning is presented as a pedagogical approach involving various partners, including faculty, staff, students, community members, and agencies. This chapter foreshadows the varied methods and approaches contributors to this edited volume employ to strengthen and extend traditional field experiences and, thus, teacher preparation.

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Youth mentoring as service-learning in teacher education: Teacher candidates’ ethical accounts of the self

Teaching and Teacher Education ◽

10.1016/j.tate.2019.01.005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 80 ◽

pp. 218-226

Author(s):

Margaret M. Lo

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Service Learning ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

The Self ◽

Youth Mentoring ◽

Education Teacher

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Service-Learning as Authentic Practice for Teacher Candidates to Work With English Language Learners

Engaging Teacher Candidates and Language Learners With Authentic Practice - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-8543-5.ch003 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 35-54

Author(s):

Hyesun Cho ◽

Peter Johnson ◽

Sylvia S. Somiari

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Preservice Teachers ◽

English Language Learners ◽

Service Learning ◽

Language Learners ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

English Language ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Course Changes ◽

Group Interviews

This chapter investigates how the incorporation of service-learning to a teacher education course changes teacher candidates' perceptions of English language learners (ELLs). It also examines the benefits and challenges of the service-learning project in which preservice teachers worked with ELLs individually or in groups in the elementary classroom. Through course artifacts and focus group interviews of 48 preservice teachers at a large Midwestern U.S. university, the impacts of service-learning as authentic practice with ELLs are discussed. Findings reveal that the experience reduced participant anxiety about working with diverse populations, provided opportunities for self-reflection, and promoted a sense of confidence and competence which led to professional growth for teacher candidates. This chapter concludes with recommendations for teacher educators interested in implementing service-learning in a teacher education program as well as directions for future research.

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Increasing Teacher Candidates' Reflection with Technology

Technology Implementation and Teacher Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-897-5.ch019 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 332-346

Author(s):

Chinwe H. Ikpeze

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Graduate Students ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Reflective Thinking ◽

New Technologies ◽

Integration Of Technology ◽

Literacy Course

This chapter highlights the strategies that facilitated reflective thinking in teacher education through the integration of technology. Graduate students enrolled in a literacy course provided the data for the study. Major findings indicated that the reflective ability and quality of reflection among the teacher candidates increased because a structure that supported reflection was put in place. In addition, the teacher candidates engaged in a variety of multifaceted activities with new technologies in authentic contexts. The implications were discussed.

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Affordances of a Cyclical and Content-Specific Model of Collaborative Mentoring

Handbook of Research on Field-Based Teacher Education - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-6249-8.ch005 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 117-141

Author(s):

Danielle E. Dani ◽

Allyson Hallman-Thrasher ◽

Lisa M. Harrison ◽

Kristin Diki ◽

Mathew Felton-Koestler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Field Experiences ◽

Specific Model ◽

Mentor Teachers ◽

Teacher Education Programs ◽

Education Programs ◽

University Courses ◽

Clinical Educators ◽

Collaborative Mentoring

One of the challenges of field-based teacher education is the perennial divide between university courses and field experiences. Collaborative mentoring is proposed as an approach to bridge this divide. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the affordances that a content-specific model of collaborative mentoring provides for achieving greater coherence within teacher education programs and nurturing stronger systems of partnerships between universities and schools. The chapter reports on research examining the benefits and challenges reported by teacher candidates, mentor teachers, and clinical educators who participated in the model.

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Managing Study Abroad During a Global Pandemic

10.4018/978-1-7998-7720-2.ch021 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 409-433

Author(s):

Victoria Russell

Keyword(s):

Instructional Design ◽

Service Learning ◽

Study Abroad ◽

Field Experiences ◽

Communicative Language Teaching ◽

Online Course ◽

Design Development ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Study Abroad Program ◽

The U.S

Described in this chapter is an innovative online course that was created to support Spanish language students whose study abroad program was cancelled during the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic. While many students were able to enroll quickly in summer online language course offerings at their home campus to substitute for their study abroad coursework, students who were scheduled to complete field experiences in Spain as part of their certificate in Spanish for Professionals were unable to do so. In response to this problem, the author created an online professional practicum course to substitute for students' service-learning course in Spain. The design, development, and delivery of the online course, which featured a virtual language exchange between students in the U.S. and Spain, is the focus of the present chapter. Also described in this chapter is the conceptual framework that underpins sound instructional design for online communicative language teaching.

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Preparing Preservice Music Teachers to Teach in PreK Settings through the Use of Service Learning

Music Educators Journal ◽

10.1177/0027432118784364 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 105 (1) ◽

pp. 28-32

Author(s):

Roy M. Legette

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Service Learning ◽

Music Teachers ◽

Field Experiences ◽

Student Growth ◽

Music Teacher ◽

Teacher Education Programs ◽

Music Teacher Education ◽

Education Programs ◽

Teachers Perceptions

Teacher education programs have long recognized field experience as an essential part of the professional development of aspiring teachers. While much attention has been given to providing preservice music teachers with rich and varied field experiences in grades K through 12, experiences in prekindergarten field settings are much less common. This article discusses the need for preK field experiences in music teacher education programs, the value of service learning as an integral part of these experiences, and preservice music teachers’ perceptions regarding their experiences in a prekindergarten service-learning practicum. While the challenges of service learning are acknowledged, its capability of promoting student growth while providing service to the community is underscored.

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Theorizing Home in the Academy: Chicana Doctoral Student Testimonios From the Borderlands

Qualitative Inquiry ◽

10.1177/10778004211014628 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107780042110146

Author(s):

Nydia C. Sánchez ◽

Estee Hernández

Keyword(s):

Graduate Students ◽

Doctoral Students ◽

Doctoral Student ◽

Multiple Identities ◽

Mexico Border ◽

Border Identities ◽

Educational Journeys ◽

The U.S

This article focuses on the educational journeys of two Chicana doctoral students born and raised along the U.S.–Mexico border. These scholars analyze how the intersection of their multiple identities, specifically border identities, has informed their socialization into the academy. Specifically, the authors use a combination of autohistoria, platica, and reflexión to theorize their doctoral experiences and examine how the concept of Home manifests in their research and praxis as graduate students.

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