Chapter 6: Impact of Service-Learning in an Undergraduate Middle School Principles and Practices Class

In the spring of 2012, preservice teachers participated in over 50 hours of service-learning experiences in three separate schools to engage in middle school concepts. While middle schools in our area had individual expertise, there was no middle school that contained all elements of middle school curriculum. Thus, three schools were used. Each middle school had a specific expertise (advisory, after-school enrichment, and integrated teaching) that allowed candidates to work directly with middle school students in authentic settings. Throughout the experience candidates reflected on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions gained. Results suggest that using multiple sites provides candidates with insight into the different ways young adolescents respond to activities in advisory, after-school enrichment, and classroom settings, and include candidates’ perceptions of what it takes to teach young adolescents and be a middle school teacher.