Abstract:

Adolescence represents the period when teenagers gain the capacity to set and pursue long-term goals and to adapt these goals to dynamic social contexts. Education and vocation are two core life-domains for self-development in this time frame and many of the goals young people set and pursue encompass these domains.

Service Learning is an educational approach where a student learns theories in the classroom and at the same time volunteers with an agency (usually a non-profit or social service group) and engages in reflection activities to deepen their understanding of what is being taught.

Pedagogical high schools that have enrolled adolescents in their classes and have the mission to prepare them to become teachers for primary and pre-school education need to develop different ways to assure the future teachers' professional competencies. Once they graduate from high school, they are going to be integrated into the community where the school they are going to profess is situated and they have to face the local reality that can be similar to their one or not.
The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of the service learning program on high school students attending professional pedagogic courses, especially regarding the training of professional competencies.

The results of this research demonstrated the fact that service learning contributed significantly to the development of the following professional competencies: interpersonal intelligence, culture of professionalization, practical skills, commitment, intrinsic motivation, creativity, metacognition, critical thinking, the decision-making process and the problem-solving process.

Keywords:

Adolescents, service learning, professional competencies.