Perspective transformation: Effects of a service-learning tutoring experience on prospective teachers

Teacher Education Quarterly, Winter 2002 by Malone, David, Jones, Brett D, Stallings, D T

Introduction

I feel that tutoring is an escape from [the college experience]-these kids are so different than the average [college] student that it allows me to see the world from a completely different perspective. Their innocence and energy seems to shield me from the negative cynicism that [college] can easily degenerate into. Tutoring has enabled me to look at the world from a different perspective, allowing me to escape from the spoiled world of [college] and look at the world from the eyes of an excited ten year old. I would definitely do this work again. (Undergraduate study participant)

As illustrated by the quotation above, education can be a transformative experience. The goal of learning is not simply the acquisition of knowledge, but the transformation of students' perspectives of themselves and the world in which they live. Identifying ways to foster this kind of personal growth and perspective transformation should be particularly important to teacher educators since their primary goal is to prepare novice teachers to lead others through this transformative process.

Based on our experiences as teachers and our growing awareness of the effectiveness of servicelearning, we hypothesized that a service-learning tutoring experience was one means of fostering perspective transformation in teacher education students. For the purposes of our research, we defined perspective transformation as the process in which a student substantially modifies his/her self-perceptions and perspectives on various issues. Eyler and Giles (1999) defined perspective transformation as "seeing issues in a new way" (p. 171) and identified it as one of eight central service-learning outcomes.

We defined service-learning as an approach to teaching and learning that actively engages students in community service which is directly connected to academic course content. We distinguished service-learning from volunteer community service, which is not well integrated with academic subject matter. For example, the academic content of an adolescent psychology course might be integrated with a service-learning project that pairs psychology students with atrisk teenagers. While learning about theories of identity development in adolescence, a student might work one-on-one with a teenager who is struggling to form a positive sense of self. In the present study, undergraduates who were enrolled in teacher education courses served as tutors to elementary children who were considered at-risk for school failure.

The three goals of this research were: (1) to examine the transformative impacts of a highly structured and well-integrated service-learning tutoring experience on undergraduates enrolled in teacher education courses; (2) to compare these particular impacts to the reported effects of service-learning in other studies; and (3) to explore the benefits and implications of the results for teacher education.

Background

Service-Learning Impacts in Teacher Education

Billig (2000) claimed that "research in the field of service-learning has not caught up with the passion that educators feel for it" (p. 660). Consistent with Billig, Root (1997) noted that "research on the effects of service experiences on teacher preparation students is only beginning" (emphasis added, p. 53). Our review of the literature focusing on our first goal (transformative impacts within teacher education) also yielded a limited number of relevant studies. The research that has examined the effects of service-learning suggests that structured service-learning experiences which are thoughtfully integrated into teacher education courses lead to significant and desired changes in students who are preparing to be teachers (e.g., McKenna, 2000). The findings of these investigations are fairly consistent and suggest that prospective teachers who engage in service-learning as a part of their teacher education program develop skills and attitudes which can be beneficial to them as teachers, including: sensitivity to diversity (Siegel, 1994); increased selfesteem (Green, Dalton, & Wilson, 1994; Wade, 1995); strengthened communication skills (Sullivan, 1991); improved problem solving and critical thinking (Root & Batchelder, 1994);.stronger commitment to teaching as a profession (Flippo, Hetzel, Gribonski, & Armstrong, 1993; Green, Dalton, & Wilson 1994); deeper engagement in critical reflection (Vadeboncoeur, Rahm, Aguilera, & LeCompte, 1995); substantive changes in attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions (Hedrick, McGee, & Mittag, 2000); strengthened caring skills (Swick, 1999); a powerful influence on lives and careers (McKenna, 2000); moral and ethical reasoning (Donahue, 1999); enhanced "moral knowledge" and orientation toward care (Anderson & Guest, 1993; Root & Batchelder, 1994); and an understanding of intelligence as a multiple and dynamic concept (Moon, 1994).

Service-Learning Impacts in Areas Besides Teacher Education

A second goal of this research was to compare the effects of service-learning found in this study with the outcomes of service-learning reported in other studies. We hypothesized that the effects of service-learning experiences on undergraduates enrolled in teacher education courses would be consistent with outcomes reported elsewhere in the research literature. Although our review of the literature yielded numerous studies concerning the outcomes of service-learning, for the purposes of this paper, we focused on four studies which summarized outcome research.