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Model for Integrating Service-Learning into Teacher Education at Augsburg College
Phase I: Exposure. The initial fieldwork experience for students in both the elementary and secondary education programs is in our introductory course, Orientation to Education in an Urban Setting. This class reviews American educational history and philosophy and involves students in a brief fieldwork practicum. Students typically work a minimum of 30 hours in an elementary, middle school, or secondary classroom. It is during this first course that Phase I of the model can take place. This phase includes a six-step process:
- Step 1: A class assignment requiring students to write down their personal needs/goals for the experience.
- Step 2: A class assignment requiring students to discuss and identify, in writing, the ways they will be used by assigned teachers.
- Step 3: Class discussion (small group) of how students can reconcile their personal needs/goals while fulfilling teacher expectations.
- Step 4: Ongoing reflection in the form of individual journaling, group and/or class reflections during the semester.
- Step 5: Final class discussion/reflection on the benefits and effects of involvement.
- Step 6: Identification of this as a service-learning (SL) methodology and direct instruction on service-learning.
Phase II: Skill Building will take place in the Creating Learning Environments (CLE) methods course. In this course, we introduce and practice teaching methods and strategies. This phase involves more direct instruction about service-learning as a teaching and learning methodology and requires some personal application of various approaches. Students in CLE typically engage in a second fieldwork placement at this time, and it is in this field work placement that they must carry out their application of teaching methods. These placements are typically very short, which can make full implementation of a SL lesson very difficult.
Phase III: Practice will occur during the student teaching or internship experience. Students will be required to design and implement a service-learning experience with their K-12 students (as appropriate) and/or be involved in service-learning at the student teaching site. Of course, written reflection, interaction with the supervisor, and small group reflection are also part of Phase III.
Evaluation activities administered
by our Community Service-Learning Office are distributed at the
end of each course in which service-learning is offered. These
surveys are tabulated and returned to each instructor within
several weeks of the end of each course. Several critical issues
are examined including the appropriateness of the community sites,
and the success of SL activities used in this course (e.g.,
appropriate training and orientation and adequate reflection
activities). The community SL coordinator initiates several
sessions with interested faculty throughout the year in order to
compare experiences and share solutions to common problems.
Service-Learning in Teacher Education at Augsburg
College
In late 1997, the Department of Education was selected by the
American
Association for Colleges of Teacher Education
(AACTE) as one of only six
institutions to participate in the Service-Learning and Teacher
Education (SLATE) grant which enabled Augsburg to become a
national leader in the integration of service-learning into
teacher education. This work continues with Augsburg's
participation in the National
Service-Learning in Teacher Education Partnership
(NSLTEP), for which Joseph
Erickson serves as Midwest Regional Director. For more
information, or to participate in this project, contact project
director, Joseph Erickson at (612) 330-1647
<>.
An online Service-Learning Resource Guide is available.It explains how to set up successful service-learning experiences in K-12 setings and has many helpful suggestions and resources to get you started.
More information about
service-learning may be found at the National Youth Leadership Council or the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
For its efforts at promoting
service-learning, the department was recognized by the Governor's
Youth Leadership Council as being one of the State of Minnesota's
30 outstanding youth service programs in 1993.
Administrative Information: Admission | MAE | WEC | ECS | Service-Learning | Student Teaching | Online Records and Registration | Home