Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning
This article reports on students’ experiences of learning to work together in a childhood teacher education programme at a university in South Africa. We were interested in how students from diverse backgrounds, with little shared understanding of a model or framework for collaborative working, woul...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AOSIS
2017-05-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Childhood Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/479 |
| _version_ | 1818754864406069248 |
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| author | Nadine Petersen Gadija Petker |
| author_facet | Nadine Petersen Gadija Petker |
| author_sort | Nadine Petersen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article reports on students’ experiences of learning to work together in a childhood teacher education programme at a university in South Africa. We were interested in how students from diverse backgrounds, with little shared understanding of a model or framework for collaborative working, would find their footing and learn how to operationalise care, accountability and reflexivity through engaging in group work as part of their service learning activities. A cross section of student data, from first year to third year, was analysed using qualitative methods of data analysis. The main findings were that the incremental integration of service learning, with fixed student groupings over three years, was a catalyst for the gradual formation of professional student learning communities. The student struggles with group relationships helped them address their cultural, linguistic and gendered assumptions about each other. Lastly, we found that relatively fixed nature of the student groupings over a three year period encouraged deep reflection about ideas of care, community and social responsibility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:30:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8eee6500015145f9b2ea2e0eea75b991 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7674 2223-7682 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:30:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Childhood Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-8eee6500015145f9b2ea2e0eea75b9912022-12-21T21:19:28ZengAOSISSouth African Journal of Childhood Education2223-76742223-76822017-05-0171e1e810.4102/sajce.v7i1.479252Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learningNadine Petersen0Gadija Petker1Department of Childhood Education, University of JohannesburgDepartment of Childhood Education, University of JohannesburgThis article reports on students’ experiences of learning to work together in a childhood teacher education programme at a university in South Africa. We were interested in how students from diverse backgrounds, with little shared understanding of a model or framework for collaborative working, would find their footing and learn how to operationalise care, accountability and reflexivity through engaging in group work as part of their service learning activities. A cross section of student data, from first year to third year, was analysed using qualitative methods of data analysis. The main findings were that the incremental integration of service learning, with fixed student groupings over three years, was a catalyst for the gradual formation of professional student learning communities. The student struggles with group relationships helped them address their cultural, linguistic and gendered assumptions about each other. Lastly, we found that relatively fixed nature of the student groupings over a three year period encouraged deep reflection about ideas of care, community and social responsibility.https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/479Service learningCommunities of practiceStudent learningFoundation phase teacher educationTeaching school |
| spellingShingle | Nadine Petersen Gadija Petker Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning South African Journal of Childhood Education Service learning Communities of practice Student learning Foundation phase teacher education Teaching school |
| title | Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning |
| title_full | Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning |
| title_fullStr | Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning |
| title_short | Teacher education students’ struggles with group work in service learning |
| title_sort | teacher education students struggles with group work in service learning |
| topic | Service learning Communities of practice Student learning Foundation phase teacher education Teaching school |
| url | https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/479 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nadinepetersen teachereducationstudentsstruggleswithgroupworkinservicelearning AT gadijapetker teachereducationstudentsstruggleswithgroupworkinservicelearning |