Community Service: Including a social justice component in a teacher education program

Based on Dewey’s notion of experiential learning (1938), community service has long been recognised as a vehicle that builds awareness and appreciation of diversity, addresses social justice issues, provides a context for developing partnerships with different community groups, and contributes to personal feelings of worth and fulfilment. As such, it is seen as an increasingly effective form of pedagogy within teacher education programs. This paper provides a brief overview of the literature relating to community service programs in a range of contexts, with a particular focus on their implementation in pre-service teacher education programs. The paper then describes the process undertaken to include a community service component in a newly developed four-year teacher education program at the University of Wollongong with the aim of increasing community awareness, social responsibility and social cohesion. The key components of the program are described and remaining challenges discussed.