Service-Learning for Preservice Teachers: Mentoring Underresourced Learners in a Rural Elementary School

• In Event: Service-Learing as Innovative Practice for Building Teacher Efficacy and Understanding

Abstract

Many students in East Texas rural schools are from low SES families and struggle academically because of limited resources and lack of support systems. Thirteen preservice teachers enrolled in a field experience practicum of a university teacher preparation program were each paired with a student from a kindergarten classroom in a small, rural elementary school for a service learning project. The preservice teachers were responsible for maintaining effective communication with the classroom teachers to collaborate about the students’ needs and progress and to plan appropriate approaches for mentoring the kindergartners 45 minutes weekly according to their individualized needs. Strategies for meeting these needs were also discussed in the lecture portion of the field experience course, led by the university professor.

Author

• Jannah Walters Nerren, Stephen F. Austin State University