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This article was downloaded by: [Bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal]On: 10 December 2014, At: 06:09Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership inLearningPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cmet20
Lessons learned in service‐learning:personnel preparation throughcommunity actionPatricia Pessate‐Schubert a , Daphne Thomas a & Kristen Lehman a
a University of South Florida , USAPublished online: 20 Aug 2006.
To cite this article: Patricia Pessate‐Schubert , Daphne Thomas & Kristen Lehman (2006) Lessonslearned in service‐learning: personnel preparation through community action, Mentoring &Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 14:1, 67-79, DOI: 10.1080/13611260500432665
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Mentoring & TutoringVol. 14, No. 1, February 2006, pp. 67–79
ISSN 1361-1267 (print)/ISSN 1469-9745 (online)/06/010067–13© 2006 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/13611260500432665
Lessons learned in service-learning: personnel preparation through community actionPatricia Alvarez McHatton*, Daphne Thomas and Kristen LehmanUniversity of South Florida, USATaylor and Francis LtdCMET_A_143249.sgm10.1080/13611260500432665Mentoring and Tutoring1361-1267 (print)/1469-9745 (online)Original Article2006Taylor & Francis141000000Feburary 2006PatriciaAlvarez McHattonDepartment of Special EducationUniversity of South Florida4202 E. Fowler Avenue, EDU 162TampaFL 33620USA(813) [email protected]
As we move through the 21st century, the need to prepare professionals to work effectively withstudents from diverse backgrounds is of utmost importance. This paper discusses the use of service-learning in a pre-service preparation program at a metropolitan university. Service-learning wasinfused into a course examining issues and trends in urban special education with the goal of part-nering pre-professionals with children and youth from the surrounding community to help them toidentify and address social issues. A description of the process of implementation is provided, alongwith outcomes and lessons learned. It was established that service-learning can be a viable tool inpre-professional training for engaging students in community action while concurrently challengingtheir notions of working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.
The use of service-learning within higher education continues to increase as depart-ments throughout many universities implement service-learning as a means ofdelivering course content while addressing social justice issues pertinent in today’ssocial and educational climate (d’Alemberte, 2002; Butin, 2003; Compact, 2003;Rosner-Salazar, 2003; Cipolle, 2004). With roots grounded in experiential learning,service-learning allows participants to increase the depth of their learning by engag-ing them in meeting the needs of communities through collaboratives that arereciprocal in nature.
In teacher preparation programs, service-learning is often used to assist schools inmeeting the needs of students placed at-risk and in need of additional instructionalsupport (Buchanan et al., 2002; Compact, 2003). Such assistance includes tutoringprograms specifically in the area of literacy (McKenna, 2001). Pre-service teachersare paired with students in K-12 settings to provide intensive remediation and
*Corresponding author. University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, EDU 162, Tampa,FL 33620, USA. Email: [email protected]
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enrichment through which both benefit: the pre-service teacher learns his/her craftand the student gains additional support, enhancing his/her academic skills. Inaddition to providing pre-service teachers with a real-world vehicle for learninginstructional practice, service-learning has also been found to be an effective tool forhelping them become aware of and active in social justice issues (Boyle-Baise, 2002;Wade, 2000a).
Service-learning can result in increased student engagement and understanding ofcomplex issues, and in increased problem-solving and critical thinking skills (Cruz,1997; Astin & Sax, 1998; Eyler & Giles, 1999). It provides students an opportunityto examine social justice issues in a real-world context and allows students to movebeyond the university or school classroom and make connections between theory andpractice through application of knowledge gained through their coursework (Wade,2000b). Such experiences are especially relevant for enhancing multicultural-competencies, including the ability to effectively work with students from diversebackgrounds.
Current National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) andInterstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) perfor-mance standards require pre-service teachers to demonstrate knowledge, skills anddispositions relative to diversity. Dispositions are defined as the values, commitmentsand ethics that influence us in our interactions with children and youth, families andother professionals. They are guided by ‘beliefs and attitudes related to values suchas caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility, and social justice’ (Gollnick, 2004,online). From a philosophical perspective, dispositions involve action grounded inethical behavior and with full understanding of the rationale and consequence of thataction. Service-learning, by virtue of its active involvement in community, strongreflective component and social justice perspective, has the power to transform pre-service teachers’ values and beliefs and may assist in developing desired dispositionsin future teachers, especially in working with children and families from diversebackgrounds (Claus & Ogden, 1999; Cipolle, 2004).
This paper recounts the experiences of two faculty members at a metropolitanuniversity who, in partnership with local community members, developed and imple-mented a service-learning project as part of a personnel preparation program. Infor-mation is presented pertaining to the changing demographics of schools, supportingthe need for developing culturally competent service providers who can act as socialchange agents. A description of the personnel preparation program is provided, alongwith the service-learning project goals, action steps and activities conducted duringthe first semester of implementation. The paper concludes with lessons learned andrecommendations for future projects and research.
The need for culturally competent service providers
It is expected that by the year 2030, 40% of the K-12 population in the United Stateswill be students of color, and by 2050 that number will have increased to 50%(Brindis et al., 2002). Districts are faced with meeting the needs of students from
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multiple countries and with varied life and educational experiences. Even as our soci-ety becomes increasingly diverse, teacher demographics remain static, comprised ofindividuals who are White, female and middle-class.
Currently, 90% of teachers are White and 74.4% are female (US Department ofEducation, 2002). In order to ensure that culturally and linguistically diverse studentsare served appropriately, it is imperative that these educators are exposed to multicul-tural preparation for the purpose of fostering knowledge, understanding of, and sensi-tivity towards the sociocultural processes of ethnic communities (Cruz, 1997).Equally important is the need to address social justice issues including racism anddisparate educational opportunities that perpetuate stereotypes and result in anopportunity gap for differently positioned children and youth (Fine, Burns et al.,2004; Fine, Roberts et al., 2004).
Students of color continue to achieve at significantly lower rates than their Whitecounterparts. They also are disproportionately referred for and placed in specialeducation programs, specifically in the areas of behavior disorders, learning disabili-ties and mental retardation (Voltz, 1998; Artiles et al., 2000). Although severalresearch studies confirm the role of poverty in placing students in need of specialeducation services, other studies also reveal factors beyond poverty that play a role inthe referral process (Oswald et al., 2002). These factors include teachers’ perceptionsof students of color, lack of understanding of diversity and inexperience in workingwith diverse students and their families. These factors are exacerbated in urbansettings, where a majority of students are of color and perform below grade level, andwhere teachers continue to be less experienced and often lack the necessary creden-tials or certification for teaching (US Department of Education, 2004). Furthermore,studies indicate that students of color identified in need of special education servicesare disproportionately placed in segregated, self-contained settings (Fierros &Conroy, 2002). Such students often do not have access to advanced-level courses,limiting their post-secondary options and future economic opportunities.
The lack of experienced and/or fully certified teachers, limited access to advancedlevel courses and possible teacher bias in referral to special education supports Sapon-Shevin’s (2003) view regarding exclusion of students from general education settingsas a matter of social justice. All of these issues highlight the need to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively work with diverse students and their families and to helpthem develop the necessary skills to become change agents as they critically addresssocial justice issues within their school setting and beyond.
The Department of Special Education at the authors’ university is committed topreparing teachers to work with diverse students. Faculty strive to infuse diversitythroughout all content areas and courses. However, it is difficult to provide suchcontent in such a way as to enact real change in perceptions and dispositions.Students are adept at adopting and applying the correct vocabulary with regard toworking with diverse students. The ability to verbalize what constitutes effectiveinstruction for diverse children and youth does not necessarily reflect the individual’spersonal beliefs regarding diversity. Furthermore, it does not indicate that the personhas a propensity to implement culturally competent and relevant practices in the
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classroom, nor the desire to advocate for, and assist students in, working towardssocial change. Clearly, there is much more that needs to be done to ensure that futureteachers have the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions to improve the educa-tional outcomes for all students. Therefore, it is imperative for teacher preparationprograms to identify and provide appropriate instructional practices and experiencesfor pre-service teachers that will result in cultural competency that includes disposi-tions, as well as the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure positive educationaloutcomes for all children and youth.
Multidisciplinary personnel preparation program
In order to prepare future teachers to work effectively with urban youth, our SpecialEducation Department, through funding from the Office of Special EducationPrograms (OSEP), has developed a multidiscipline personnel preparation program.This program works with pre-professionals seeking a degree in Special Education orin Communication Sciences and Disorders. Participants of the program receive avariety of benefits including tuition and book scholarships, professional developmentsupport and mentoring. Professional development is enhanced through participationin courses dealing with trends and issues in urban special education, supplementalresources and funding to attend two national conferences each year. Participants alsoengage in numerous cross-cultural experiences designed to broaden their understand-ing of cultures different from their own. The program is housed in the Department ofSpecial Education.
Program participants are a diverse group of individuals from both majority andminority cultures. The participating cohort of students for the Spring 2003 semesterwas comprised of 19 students (two males and 17 females). Both of the males wereAfrican American. Six of the females were African American, six were Latinas andfive where White. The course instructors are both females; one is African Americanand the other is Latina.
Each semester, pre-professionals are required to participate in a course examiningissues and trends in urban special education. The course instructors are faculty in thedepartment and subscribe to the departmental philosophy that includes providingpre-service-teachers with early, extensive classroom experience in the form of fieldpractica and a final internship. The course content is developmentally sequenced,building upon participants’ prior learning. The instructors facilitate intensive self-reflection and open discussions as participants examine their perceptions of culturallyand linguistically diverse children, youth and families. Preconceived biases andstereotypical views of what comprises an urban community are part of the baggagethat many pre-service teachers bring with them, regardless of their race or ethnicity.The goals of the program are for pre-professionals to gain an understanding of thereality of urban schools and to develop the skills necessary to work effectively withPK-12 students and their families in urban communities.
Recognizing that effectively addressing biases and stereotypical beliefs requiresexperiencing within the community rather than simply reading about the community,
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course instructors decided to incorporate service-learning into the course contentduring the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 semesters. The service-learning componentwas designed to engage pre-professionals in meaningful interactions with urban chil-dren and youth within their community. Instructors hoped these experiences woulddispel myths and negative perceptions of urban communities held by many pre-professionals from both majority and minority cultures. By extending the service-learning experience beyond one semester, instructors planned on approaching theproject from a developmental perspective allowing students to move from acquisitionto application through guided and independent service-learning projects.
Goal of the project
During the Fall semester, the goals of the course were to examine professional issuesin the field of special education and to provide experiential learning opportunitiesworking with children in urban and high-poverty areas. Service-learning was intro-duced through a professional development workshop and supplemental readings.Specific attention was placed on helping pre-professionals understand the differencebetween service-learning and volunteering or community service. Several discussionsaddressed the issue that service-learning was a means of delivering content whilemeeting the needs of a community, as identified by that community. Community wasdefined as a spiraling entity beginning with a small, self-contained setting such as aclassroom and gradually extending to the world beyond. Instructors hoped thedefinition would assist pre-professionals in recognizing the viability of using service-learning in their classroom or practice.
The area surrounding the university was once known as ‘suitcase city’, due to thehigh transient nature of the population. During the past few years, efforts have beenundertaken to transform the area by improving infrastructure, including housing, anddecreasing the crime rate. Community involvement was paramount in the transfor-mation, serving as a catalyst for a $12 million community center (Kinsler, 2004).Instructors met with community center staff and, through their input, were able toenter into a unique relationship with a service agency that maintained a familysupport and empowerment program housed at a local apartment complex.
Instructors engaged in discussions with agency staff in order to identify commongoals and objectives and determine specific needs that could be addressed by pre-professionals. Through these discussions a common vision emerged of empoweringthe children served by the program by engaging them in civic actions of their ownchoosing. This vision translated into a service-learning project with multiple strands.While pre-professionals engaged in service-learning through their participation in theproject, they also facilitated the development and implementation of service-learningprojects designed by the children and youth with whom they worked. It was decidedthat the instructors would organize the introductory meeting between the pre-profes-sionals and the children, as well as the final celebration. Pre-professionals would beresponsible for scheduling subsequent meetings necessary for implementation andcompletion of their specific service-learning projects.
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Action steps
Prior to venturing into the community, instructors invited community representativesto meet with pre-professionals to provide some background information on the areaand to discuss expectations and common goals. The following week, a bus tour of thesurrounding community was conducted, allowing pre-professionals to become famil-iar with the area and to allow for questions and clarifications prior to beginning theservice-learning project.
Community representatives were responsible for recruiting children to participatein our project. They provided information about the project through the variousprograms housed at the complex. Through their efforts, 30 children attended ourintroductory meeting and participated in the projects. The children ranged from fiveto 15 years of age. All but one of the children were African American.
The purpose of the introductory meeting was to facilitate focus group discussionsregarding the needs of the community from the children’s perspective. Pre-professionals introduced themselves to the children and participated in an icebreakeractivity. The children were then divided into three groups. One group consisted ofyounger children (five to eight years of age) and included both boys and girls. Theother two groups were comprised of adolescents; one group was all males and theother all females. Pre-professionals were randomly assigned to facilitate each group.Guiding questions were provided to assist with the discussion (see Table 1).
Perspectives from children and youth
Once individual groups were identified, facilitators conducted several teambuildingactivities to help develop group cohesion. They then engaged the children in discus-sions on what they perceived to be the needs of their community. It was during thisstage of the work that the power of service-learning became evident. Facilitators weresurprised at the intensity of the discussions within each group. All of the children
Table 1. Focus group questions and activities
Questions*
1. What interests you?2. If you could change anything in this world what would it be?3. Is there something that you worry about or are concerned with?4. Is there something that you want to know more about?5. What could you do to make your community a better place?6. Do you believe kids can make a difference?
Activities
1. Have children brainstorm possible project ideas and solutions to their concerns.
*Focus group facilitators were encouraged to probe children’s responses and ask questions pertinent to the topics discussed.
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demonstrated a concern for others whom they perceived to be less fortunate. Theywere concerned with issues of poverty and homelessness and wanted to be able toprovide some sort of assistance to those in need and to each other. They spoke of theircommunity needing more money and job opportunities. They wanted to make theircommunity a safer, prettier place. They worried about war. And they spoke aboutdisparities within their community and beyond. They recognized that issues ofinequity were evident and were quite clear in their desire to make things better, andmore importantly, in their belief that they could make a difference.
The children were also quite capable of brainstorming possible solutions for theissues they identified. For example, one group explained that it was difficult forsome parents to help their children with homework. Thus, they suggested assem-bling a homework helper group that parents could call on for assistance. Commu-nity clean-up campaigns were discussed, as were food and clothing drives seekingdonations for the local homeless shelter. The importance of reading and lack ofavailable reading materials in many homes within the community led one group tosuggest a book drive to equip a community lending library. All of the children wereincredibly enthusiastic about becoming involved in their community and thereseemed to be no end to their ideas. Several projects were selected from their vast listto bring to fruition.
Engaging children in this manner was new for most pre-professionals. One partic-ipant was surprised that ‘children could have such mature ideas at such a young age’,a sentiment that was shared by many. Even more enlightening was the realization that‘children were not only aware of community issues, but more importantly, they hadideas on how to improve their community’. Another participant was ‘amazed at theefforts and dedication these young children [were] capable of’. Still another noted shehad ‘learned that children, despite what adults believe, have important thoughts,ideas, and feelings about what goes on within their community’.
While the level of the children’s engagement and energy was exhilarating for projectparticipants, there was some sense of discomfort as well with the realization thatchildren, even very young children, were aware of social justice issues. Along withthose feelings of enlightenment and unease came questions on how to engage childrenand youth in such conversations, and expressed self-doubt in their ability to do so.Previous class discussions revealed that many of the pre-professionals were uncom-fortable discussing issues of race, power or social inequities with each other, muchless with children. As we debriefed, many questioned whether certain topics shouldbe considered taboo. They wondered where to draw the line as educators and serviceproviders. Many doubted their ability to facilitate such discussions and their ability toensure that all voices in the discussion were heard and validated. Previous classdiscussions also revealed that many believed the social order was fair, equitable andaccessible through hard work. For these pre-professionals, hearing children speak ofeconomic and social disparities between their community and other more affluentcommunities and society was a real awakening. Instructors hoped this realizationwould be the beginning of real change in their perceptions of culturally and linguisti-cally diverse children, youth and families.
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Service-learning projects
As a result of each group’s efforts, two projects were completed. One group facilitateda food, clothing and toy drive to assist the local homeless shelter. Donations were plen-tiful and ultimately totaled 500 pounds of clothing, 500 pounds of food and severalboxes of toys. Group facilitators placed flyers throughout the university and engagedfamily and friends in this endeavor, and the children assisted in sorting and boxingthe donations. The second group decided to pursue the community lending library.Group facilitators posted flyers asking for book donations. The children wrote lettersto retailers explaining the project and asking for donations of materials in order tobuild bookshelves. The children also worked with their group facilitators to clean andcatalog the books. The book drive netted several hundred books and a local retailerprovided shelving to stock the books at the complex. Group facilitators also engagedthe younger children in designing the celebration invitations. In reflecting on the defi-nition of high quality service-learning, some readers may question how the projectscompleted differed from community service. The ‘service-learning’ took place at thepre-professionals’ level as they engaged with children from the local community andassisted them in meeting the needs of their community as defined by the children.
Lessons learned
The majority of pre-professionals embraced the opportunity to work in the community,and went above and beyond what was required for their project. There were some whowere somewhat reticent and less enthusiastic at the prospect of taking what they consid-ered to be personal time to complete the course assignment. Time is often everyone’salbatross and greater consideration should have been given to the students’ varied andmultiple commitments. In addition, the complex was a gated community and gainingentry was problematic on several occasions for pre-professionals, leading to morefrustration.
The personnel preparation program works with pre-professionals from twodisciplines: Special Education and Communication Sciences and Disorders. Eachdiscipline approaches the preparation of professionals from different perspectives. Itwas noted that pre-professionals from Communication Sciences and Disorders hadnot been exposed to K-12 classroom settings to the extent that the pre-service teach-ers had been. This difference became apparent during the initial meeting. Educationmajors were more at ease around the children and had an easier time engaging themin activities and discussion. The Communication Sciences and Disorders majors werea little reserved in their initial interactions with the children. They subsequentlybecame very comfortable. Instructors could have better facilitated CommunicationSciences and Disorders majors’ experience if they had recognized and understood thedifferences in the preparation of each group, by either differentiating the initial expe-riences or providing additional instruction on working with children.
There were challenges in working with a service agency as well. There were differ-ences in their perception of teacher preparation and of instructors’ perceptions and
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interpretation of effective partnership. The agency had security requirements beyondthe scope of what the university could demand of pre-professionals (i.e., fingerprintchecks) and which took precious time to complete. Unfortunately, the primarycontact from the agency in charge of facilitating meeting times and locations for eachgroup resigned mid-way through the semester. This created additional logisticalchallenges for pre-professionals as they worked to complete their projects and left avoid, as that individual had spent considerable time in the classroom and on-siteworking with pre-professionals.
Course instructors had spent a great deal of time defining service-learning with anemphasis on empowerment versus charity. Pre-professionals were provided multiplereadings on service-learning (see Wade, 2000a) and participated in a professionaldevelopment workshop on the elements of high quality service-learning. There weremultiple discussions on the use of service-learning to meet the needs of the commu-nity as defined by the community and the instructors felt quite confident that themessage had been effectively communicated. One of the projects suggested bythe children included donations of various goods to individuals in need within thecomplex. Program staff requested that this project not simply be a ‘give-away’ ofdonations. They preferred to see some type of exchange allowing those who wouldbenefit to maintain a sense of self-worth and dignity rather than simply being viewedas ‘charity cases’. This was extremely important and relevant considering the socio-economic status of most within the community.
The instructors’ confidence in the pre-professionals’ level of understanding wasshaken during the debriefing that took place after the first meeting with the children.As the group discussed the suggested service-learning projects, instructors reiteratedthe wishes of the program staff. A couple of pre-professionals became indignant aboutbeing asked to refrain from making the project a ‘give-away’. They were somewhatadamant in their views that there was nothing wrong in ‘giving’ things to people whowere ‘needy. Quite the opposite, they felt it was a noble thing to do and hinted thatthey would pursue it regardless of the staff wishes. It was apparent that, for this groupof students at least, the notion of power differential and privilege eluded them. Theyclearly had not ever been in a position of need nor had experiences as social servicerecipients versus service providers. Their responses indicated that they were workingfrom a framework that considered service-learning as a form of ‘charity’ rather thanas a way of assessing and addressing social issues.
It was a difficult process getting these pre-professionals to understand that this wasnot about them; rather, it was about what the community as a whole wanted. Instruc-tors engaged in a point counter-point exchange with them, striving to help themunderstand the program staff’s rationale for their decision. Pre-professionals wereasked to look at the situation from the perspective of a community member and toreflect on how they would feel if the situation were reversed. Instructors asked guidedquestions regarding issues of poverty in an attempt to move students to a critical anal-ysis of social inequity and possible action that would address the root of the issuerather than simply provide a band-aid as a temporary solution. The rest of the classremained silent throughout this interaction, watching intently. It was a critical point
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in many ways. Instructors wanted to model how to engage in such discussions in theclassroom, while desperately wanting to help these pre-professionals move to a deeperlevel of understanding relative to issues of power and privilege. They had great diffi-culty moving beyond their view of themselves as benefactor and, more troubling, agreat deal of difficulty critically examining the issue and recognizing the implicationsof their actions. Begrudgingly they acquiesced, but course instructors questionedwhether they were truly able to understand the deeper issues associated with theirbeliefs.
It is important to note that the pre-professionals voicing these opinions were not allfrom the majority culture. Most were culturally and/or linguistically diverse.However, they came from middle-class environments, which may account for theirviews. Recruitment and retention of diverse individuals into education and as serviceproviders is essential. The experience described above also supports the need toengage all students in critical analysis of the intersection of personal biases, beliefs andvalues, and social justice issues, and how that intersection affects their practice.
Through weekly reflections, it was apparent that the majority of the program partic-ipants were transformed as a result of their experience with service-learning. Allexpressed surprise and some sadness that young children were so aware of issues ofinequity and violence. More importantly, they were surprised at the strong activismthat resided within the children and needed little prodding to emerge. They werethrilled at the sense of empowerment the children expressed at the end of the project.Again, course instructors felt great strides had been made. Yet on the night of thecelebration of all the hard work, there still was a sense of separation betweenthe community and the pre-professionals. This disparity is noted not to diminish thework that was accomplished, but rather simply to point out that there is still muchwork to be done. Change does not come easily or quickly. Ensuring that studentsengage in multiple and varied experiences within diverse communities across timemay be necessary in order to allow students to develop cultural competency andawareness of social justice issues.
In retrospect, there are several things that course instructors could have done tobetter facilitate and simplify the process and improve the experience. First and fore-most was the issue of time, or the lack of it. Service-learning was in some ways ‘addedon’ rather than utilized to deliver most, if not all, of the course content. As such, pre-professionals were required to utilize personal time to implement and complete theirprojects. This became increasingly problematic as the semester wore on.
While implementation of service-learning was viewed from a developmentalperspective (pre-professionals were provided guidance by course instructors andscaffolded throughout the projects), neither the developmental level of programparticipants nor the individual program philosophical perspectives were taken intoaccount. As previously noted, the Communication Sciences and Disorders majors donot have the same field experiences as Special Education majors. Thus, their level ofcomfort with the children differed. In addition, a small group did not appear to havean interest in community-based interventions; rather, they desired to receive instruc-tion through traditional classroom methods. Challenges associated with individual
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developmental needs could have been avoided through additional training or supportif they had been identified early on. Challenges associated with a lack of commitmentare oftentimes more difficult to address. Finally, a clearer understanding of the rules,regulations and bureaucracy associated with service agencies would have allowedcourse participants to work proactively rather than reactively in addressing issues.
Because of the dynamic nature of service-learning and the belief that discomfort isa precursor to learning and change, the project was purposely open-ended. This wasproblematic for several participants who clearly desired a more directive, structuredformat. Their concern may have been rooted in a preoccupation with grades or withanxiety due to having to move beyond their comfort zone. Providing the necessarylevel of structure while allowing room for participants to explore ideas is a difficult yetcritical balance when students are exploring social issues that may run counter to theirbasic beliefs. The lessons learned assisted course instructors in planning service-learning components for the course. In the future, pre-professionals will exploremultiple family groups through an oral history and photo-documentary project. Inorder to address the time factor, instruction will be structured so that students gainfoundational knowledge in family composition, conducting oral histories and photog-raphy early in the semester. Several class periods will be designated for individualwork, allowing program participants to work independently on their projects. Courseinstructors will facilitate locating families from diverse backgrounds to work with theprogram participants. Frequent opportunities for discussion and debriefing will beincluded throughout the semester to assist students as they continue their develop-ment as social change agents. This service-learning project has increased structure,providing specific parameters for those who need them, yet still remains purposelyopen-ended.
Conclusion
Even with the challenges noted above, service-learning proved to be a powerful expe-rience for pre-professionals. During our debriefing, most expressed a desire tocontinue to work in the community and encouraged course instructors to continue touse service-learning as a means of teaching future professionals how to work withchildren, youth, and families from diverse backgrounds. They again verbalized theirsurprise at the social activism inherent in the children and youth with whom theyworked. Through class discussions and written reflections, it became evident thatpre-service teachers felt service-learning would be a powerful tool in the classroom.Communication Sciences and Disorders majors expressed feeling better equipped towork with diverse children and youth.
Pre-professionals’ responses to their first experience with service-learningconfirmed our belief that this was a viable tool to increase their multicultural awarenessand a sense of social justice. It also confirmed the need for structured research to docu-ment the benefits of service-learning in professional preparation programs. Suchefforts should include pre- and post-assessment instruments to document individualgrowth in skills, knowledge and dispositions, as well as perceptions of children, youth
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and families from background different from program participants. In addition, obser-vations should be conducted to assess whether participation in service-learning trans-lates into classroom and/or professional practice. Finally, longitudinal data are neededto document lasting effects of service-learning experiences for pre-professionals.
Lessons learned from this project can inform other entities interested in andcharged with preparing pre-professionals. Globalization has resulted in increaseddiversity throughout most of the world. Developing intercultural sensitivity is ofutmost importance as we find ourselves interacting with individuals who hold differ-ent values, customs, mores and belief systems from our own. Providing supportedexperiences in diverse community settings allows participants to gain a betterunderstanding of the people within the community. Service-learning is a methodfeasible across disciplines and borders in the quest for multicultural understandingand social justice.
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