The Value of Fieldwork and Service Learning

Colleges of education must instantiate their candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for accreditation. Professors often have candidates reflect on field experience as a way to enhance their learning. This study examines reflections of 43 candidates over a 2-year period. Candidates engaged in an after-school enrichment program as service volunteers and participated with content area teachers in a professional development site to teach lessons as part of an introductory course to middle-level education. Each week candidates met in small groups to share their thoughts and wrote up summaries of their experiences. By reflecting on both, the benefits and value of field experiences and service learning their responses have been examined in light of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Specialty Area Standards. Ultimately, this research suggests that field experiences and service learning are needed to develop candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions.