Service learning as an alternative practicum experience in a pre-service education program

This paper presents research on the benefits of service learning for pre-service teachers in the final year of their concurrent education program. The purpose of the research was to determine whether liberatory learning (Chambers, 2009) occurred for those students during a four-week service learning placement in organizations other than schools. Liberatory learning involves transformational shifts in social consciousness and provides service of benefit to both the participant and the host organization. Seventeen pre-service teachers and service learning supervisors completed questionnaires. Results suggest that service learning has the potential to be liberatory for pre-service teachers, but learning may remain tacit rather than explicit unless substantial opportunities for reflection are included in the service learning experience. Debriefing activities following the experience may be a critical contributor to helping participants realize the nature and extent of their learning.