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Issues in Educational Research, 2021, Vol 31(4), 1101-1120.
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Pre-service primary and early childhood teachers' perceptions of a service-learning experience

Shane Lavery and Sandro Sandri
University of Notre Dame Australia, Australia

This study, which is a replication of three previous studies, explored the perceptions of pre-service primary and early childhood teachers who undertook a service-learning course as part of their Bachelor of Education degree at an Australian university. The practical component of the service-learning entailed 13 hours of community engagement where pre-service teachers were responsible for accessing their own placements. Data were collected in two stages. Stage 1 entailed pre-service teachers completing an anonymous 10 to 15-minute survey following completion of the service-learning placement. The survey contained both qualitative and quantitative questions. A total of 44 pre-service teachers from a cohort of 52 completed the survey. Stage 2 of the data collection consisted of examining pre-service teachers' service-learning reflective journals, with 37 pre-service teachers volunteering their journals. The results indicated that pre-service teachers believed their service-learning experiences had positively impacted on their personal and professional development. They commented on characteristics such as enhanced confidence, greater empathy and compassion, respect for others, the ability to work outside one's comfort zone, and the capacity to show initiative.
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Authors: Associate Professor Shane Lavery is the coordinator of postgraduate studies in the School of Education, the University of Notre Dame Australia. His postgraduate teaching areas include educational leadership and applied research methods. He teaches service-learning to pre-service secondary teachers and facilitates national and international service-learning immersions in initial teacher education.
Email: shane.lavery@nd.edu.au

Sandro Sandri teaches in the School of Education, the University of Notre Dame Australia. He teaches service-learning, social justice and sustainability studies to pre-service early childhood, primary and secondary teachers. He holds qualifications in science, education, and counselling and has local, national and international experience working with disadvantaged communities.
Email: sandro.sandri@nd.edu.au

Please cite as: Lavery, S. & Sandri, S. (2021). Pre-service primary and early childhood teachers' perceptions of a service-learning experience. Issues in Educational Research, 31(4), 1101-1120. http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/lavery.pdf


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