Service learning and the preparation of English teachers
Abstract
In this article, service learning is explored as a pedagogical third space from which preservice teachers learn to teach the New English education. We argue that such a space has the potential to foster preservice English teachers’ understanding of their role and identity as future teachers and how this identity is always relative to the students they teach. Drawing from a study of 19 preservice English teachers’ experiences with service learning, we discuss three themes relevant to service learning and the preparation of English teachers: (1) service learning as a pedagogical third space for English teachers, (2) service learning as fostering the disruption of a teaching mythology, and (3) service learning as promoting a recognition of the New English education. Further, we propose that service learning can encourage prospective English teachers to complicate notions of teacher/student, official/unofficial language, singular authority/pluralistic power, and server/served.
Reference
Hallman, H. L., & Burdick, M. N. (2011). Service learning and the preparation of English teachers. English Education, 43(4), 341-368.
Journal
English Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
2
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Focus group interviews
- Reflective journals
Data Analysis Tools
- Deductive analysis
- Inductive analysis
- Qualitative Analysis
- Triangulation
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
How do preservice teachers of English conceptualize their present and future roles as English teachers through the context of a service-learning experience? How does this, in turn, suggest the relationship they will have with their students?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
What do preservice teachers’ responses to service learning reveal about the ways in which the role of teacher must shift within the New English education?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes