In the fall of 1998, the Department of Elementary Education launched a new curriculum that opened an exciting chapter in the history of American education. The department began in 1995 to create a curriculum that would equip teachers with new tools and new attitudes. Every early childhood and elementary teacher graduating from Ball State, we believe, should be prepared to be a reflective practitioner, a lifelong learner, and an active and thoughtful citizen.

EDEL 100, Education in a Democratic Society, offers an initial investigation into teaching and the teaching profession. The purpose of this course is “”to introduce teaching as a profession that is influenced by multiple factors including self, child, family, community, and society.”” Students participate in civic activities as a way of coming to understand children and the various conditions that influence the teaching profession. All prospective early childhood and elementary teachers take this required course.

In this service-learning course, students are required to provide a minimum of 50 hours of service in clinical field settings. Our early childhood and elementary education majors receive a variety of experiences representing a broad range of society. Their sharing during service seminars is exciting and their reflection papers are often impressive. They are being exposed to marvelous opportunities to look at the world in which our children are growing up. Through this course, most of our students expand their view of society and the civic role they can play as potential professional educators.

In teacher education, this union of service and learning is particularly important. By paving an avenue for students to reflect on how they themselves learn, service learning can help bring personal coherence to each student s understanding of pedagogical theories and practices. In addition, by immersing students in the community outside of the university or lab-school, service learning compels them to develop a broader picture of where schools and the business of education fit into the complex social and political system of American democracy.

Through these learning experiences, Ball State students explore trends which shape education in a democratic society, engage in civic activities which influence the lives of children, examine professional traits and strategies necessary for successful teaching and learning, develop an understanding of the complexities of teaching and learning, identify and reflect on personal education experiences that influence teaching practices, and begin an inquiry into the nature and aims of education in a democratic society.

Course instruction time includes activities to help students share what they are learning with others as well as to reflect on their work experiences in light of their academic studies. And through this course, Elementary Education faculty are themselves practicing service learning, renewing their interests in the themes of education and democracy, and becoming teachers of teachers for the twenty-first century.

Contact person: Lawrence Smith, Chair, Department of Elementary Education, lsmith@bsu.edu
On the web:
http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1299,368~~,00.html
http://www.neiu.edu/~team/ripple/2000/miels.htm
http://www.iyi.org/press_releases/Larry.html