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by Jill Miels In 1995, the Department of Elementary Education at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, elected to "sunset" its existing undergraduate programs in both elementary education and to have new programs in place by the fall of 1998. The change involved over 2000 departmental majors. Issues raised in higher education and Indiana's adoption of the Inter-State New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) principles for teacher licensure served as a catalyst for program reform. These factors, plus a desire to involve the pre-service teachers in the surrounding community, framed the structure of the new program. The professional education sequence at Ball State begins in the freshman year with a service-learning course. The second and third year feature blocks of courses, content strands connecting each course, and additional opportunities to use service learning as a teaching strategy. The fourth year of the program will include a student teaching experience and a post student teaching seminar. While this part of the program has not been implemented yet, plans are being made to include a service learning component in the student teaching semester as well. During the fall semester of the 1998-1999 academic year, first year teaching majors (250 in all) enrolled in a 3 credit service learning course that was to serve as the foundation for the remainder of their professional education courses. EDEL 100: Education in a Democratic Society required students to complete a minimum of 50 hours of service in a community agency. During the seminar component of the course the service experiences were connected with course content through reflection activities and group work. Faculty members had high hopes for the success of this course but never dreamed how significant the benefits would be! As the spring semester began the faculty was excited about the possibilities being opened for these future teachers. The 50 hours of community service was completed in a variety of agencies. Many of the placements involved work with children but some did not. Students were placed in tutoring situations, nursing homes, homeless shelters, community centers, women's shelters, day care centers, the local cultural center and an after school fine arts program agency. It was then the job of the faculty members to make connections between the service experiences and the course content. We chose to use the book "All Kids Are Our Kids" (Benson, 1997) to focus student reflection and class discussion. In presenting a profile of today's youth, Peter Benson (1997) of the Search Institute in Minneapolis indicated "far too few young people are 'gifted' with the positive experiences, opportunities and relationships that nurture the character and commitment they need to be healthy, productive, and contributing members of society" (pg. 4) A major concern for us as teacher educators comes when we assume that the young people of today, with little experience in providing service, will miraculously develop into the service-minded leaders of tomorrow. Because the Benson book deals with the concepts of developmental assets in children and the building of healthy communities, we felt it was the perfect bridge for community and school issues. Our first semester of the new program has certainly turned out to be everything we had hoped and more. We have seen exciting benefits for students, agencies, and within our own faculty. Not only will we be able to continue working with many of the same agencies, but we have also had calls from new agencies that would like to have our students get involved with their clients. Our students have probably been the ones to benefit the most from having direct experiences in the community. Three of the many insights that have come out of the course illustrate why this approach is so outstanding for prospective teachers. Student #1 writes: I think my expectations were different from what I have experienced so far. I was told that these kids weren't exactly the greatest when it came to schools and that most of them had other personal problems. I expected to come across some obstacles while tutoring. However, from the actual experience, I have realized that these aren't just problems and behaviors that can be changes overnight. I have found that I must work with P. to bring out his good actions and behaviors and to let him know that some of his actions aren't acceptable. I have also realized that sometimes it may be necessary to seek additional help and advice to deal with unfamiliar problems that arise. My views on teaching and learning have changed in a couple of ways. One of these is that it's made me realize just how much dedication is needed to teach. I've found that you really have to care about the kid's future in order to deal with difficult situations that arise, which could otherwise just be ignored. I've also realized that it's best to observe and learn from those people around us who provide good examples. Likewise, I've found out through tutoring that what I thought was the best approach to a situation doesn't always work. Therefore, it becomes necessary to look to those around you for advice and help. Student #2 writes: I didn't realize that I would need to sit down and think about what values I thought would be important to show the kids. They found me taking a rubber band from the desk and asked me if it was stealing. Student #3 writes: My views on teaching have changed a lot. The most important thing I learned was that every child learns differently. What is good for one child is not necessarily good for another. Therefore, I realized that reaching one way will not affect every child the same. I also had an eye-opening experience in the light that every child has a very different personality. I used to think you could mold children to become what you expected. The last view that has changed for me is the way that you understand children. I have come to realize that you must look at the child from many angles to understand him/her. While I've only included three examples out of the many that we received, I feel the insights of these students exemplify the learning that can take place when you move students out of the traditional classroom and into the real world. Each student made observations and connections based on actual experiences which in turn makes their learning more relevant to their own growth. Jill Miels can be reached at Ball State University, Department of Elementary
Education, Muncie, Indiana. 765-285-8560.
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