Service-Learning Collaboration: Improving Teachers’ Critical-Thinking and Job-Skill Training Using Active Simulation

Abstract

Mentoring preservice teachers in collaborative instructional practices with public school partners has been a proven and substantiated way to improve their executive functioning and self-regulation skills. This study explores whether a contextually developed set of active-learning simulations in the lecture portion of a teacher education service-learning course can further improve preservice teachers’ efficacy in the field. Using mixed-methodology, findings show how preservice teachers respond differently to styles of traditional lecture-style recitation and active-learning simulation and how that translates to working with middle school students. Data shows teachers feel more supported, confident, and positioned for success when engaged with authentic teaching simulations that challenge their approach to be effective managers of diverse student behavior.