Using service-learning approach for promoting higher order thinking skills among Pakistani pre-service teachers

Modern educational pedagogies emphasize that teaching and learning frameworks should be designed to promote essential skills among students and develop their higher order thinking skills and the real-world application of those skills. In this milieu, service-learning is an emerging approach in education that best meets this need. Although much work exists on service-learning in developing students' social, moral, and citizenship potential, there is a lack of research that highlights the role of service-learning and its potential to promote high order thinking skills among pre-service teachers. This study attempts to extensively examine the role of service-learning in promoting high-order thinking skills among pre-service teachers. For this purpose, an integrated approach of Queensland University's higher order thinking guidelines was compared and contrasted as a framework with service-learning approach. The analysis and literature review showed that said the guidelines can be adopted using service-learning approach to promote higher order thinking skills of pre-service teachers. Therefore, the framework is proposed to be integrated into a service-learning course in higher education. The guidelines provide a five steps process for developing higher order thinking skills among teacher education students. The study results provide teacher educators with more practical ways to implement a more active and purposeful teaching and learning environment that encourages higher order thinking among pre-service teachers.