THE IMPACT OF A SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECT INVOLVING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS WORKING WITH INCARCERATED YOUTH

Service learning is gaining attention as a pedagogical strategy utilized in the training of future teachers to promote critical thinking and understanding of the culture of special populations (Mayhew and Welch 2001). The service-learning approach enhances the standard forms of pre-service teacher (PST) fieldwork, often characterized as observations or student teaching, with elements of community service (Glazier, Able, and Charpentier 2014). Instead of merely observing the students in traditional settings, service learning provides a pathway to interacting with students in diverse environments.

In this study, we analyzed the impact of a service-learning project for PSTs in a traditional teacher preparation program with an urban education focus. The service-learning project required the PSTs to participate in a literacy development project with at-risk youth in a juvenile detention center. We sought to assess the PSTs’ attitudes and perceptions toward the culture of special populations and determine whether the service-learning project altered those attitudes and perceptions. Furthermore, this study examined the impact of the service-learning project on PSTs’ knowledge of the educational needs of at-risk youth.

Thus, our presentation will feature faculty and students’ reflections on implementing a high impact service-learning project with incarcerated youth. These findings inform practice to enhance traditional teacher preparation programs through Service Learning. Since the study was conducted as a literacy project at a juvenile detention center located within the downtown court district of a major city in the southern United States, the converging concepts of service learning, special education, and teacher preparation served to contextualize our work.

Implications for future practice and research are discussed.