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Modifying field experiences to service-learning.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Most teacher education programs utilize field experiences to provide teaching candidates with the opportunity to practice learned pedagogy. Field experiences often are apprenticeships where the teaching candidates' primary focus is to develop teaching skills. Service-learning combines community service with academic learning and provides teaching candidates the opportunity to collaborate with site staff to design and deliver programming and instruction to meet the site's holistic needs. Service-learning has the potential to foster the teaching competency of teaching candidates, professional development of existing site staff, and programming for students. A described inappropriate field experience prompted the modification of a physical education teacher education program's requirement to service-learning.

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Towards physical education teacher education's (PETE) goal of preparing competent physical educators, field experience is a highly regarded component (Strand, 1991; Dodds, 1985; Bell, Barrett, & Allison, 1985), and required for national and state accreditation (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2001; California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2001). Traditional field experiences, though, might be enhanced by restructuring according to the pedagogical technique of service-learning. Traditional field experiences often can be considered internships (characterized as apprenticeships), where time is spent with others more experienced learning about a particular career, or becoming job-ready (Furco, 2002). As such, it might be generally said that as interns, teaching candidates primary focus is to develop their teaching skills, in part by watching and learning from those considered expert. As an alternative to traditional field experience, service-learning combines community service with academic learning (Erickson & Anderson, 1997) and focuses on the holistic needs of the sites served (students, teachers, and/or environment). Teaching candidates work alongside site staff to determine specific needs, and conduct instruction and programming accordingly (Root, 1997). As a result, the opportunity to authentically cooperate and collaborate with the entities of a learning environment is created (Erickson & Anderson, 1997). While the literature examining teacher education service-learning is still growing, strong evidence has emerged that it positively impacts teaching candidates" teaching skills and serves to motivate K-12 teachers and students (LaMaster, 2001).

Further considered, the process of service-learning might also be valuable toward developing teaching candidates' skills in being change-agents in their subsequent school contexts. While most physical education teachers want students to learn, develop lifelong physical activity participation, and value teaching for the opportunity provided to enhance growth and development (Ennis, 1996), other physical education literature has addressed the plague of non-teaching (Locke, 1975) and revealed that K-12 students' experiences in physical education are...

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