Urban Teachers' Experiences With Service-Learning

• In Event: 44.084 - Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: 44.084-5 - Service-Learning for Preservice and In-Service Teachers

Abstract

This paper explores urban teachers’ experiences with service-learning. It uses interview, focus group, and participant observation data to garner an in-depth understanding of teachers’ voluntary participation in a community of practice and their experiences with implementing its service-learning practice in their classrooms. It asks: What assumptions and motivations shape teachers’ participation in a service-learning practice and community of practice and how does their participation affect their professional practice and identity? It sheds light on service-learning as a way to access the professional, emotional, and moral aspects of teaching, often deemphasized in current education reforms. With teacher dissatisfaction and attrition at the forefront of conversations on education, it is important to understand the ways in which service-learning impacts teachers as professionals.

Author

• Elisabeth Fornaro, Temple University