Shaping professional teacher identities through service-learning in Australia

University students engaged in Service-Learning have been found to demonstrate greater complexities of understanding than a non-Service-Learning comparison group; and when this was combined with reflection they were able to effectively analyze more complex problems related to teaching (Eyler and Giles, 1999). The programme Professional Experience 3 (known as PE3 in the Master of Teaching Secondary Course) at the University of Western Sydney requires pre-service teachers to complete 60 hours work in a Service-Learning context that directly addresses social disadvantage. Partners include state government departments, non-governmental organizations and an array of educational and community sites. Each year, up to 500 students complete a PE3 placement before beginning work as teachers, many of them in disadvantaged schools or settings. Geographically, the scope of PE3 incorporates rural and remote placements and urban placements in Greater Western Sydney. Pre-service teachers work with indigenous students, with refugees and with newly arrived migrants in areas where educational disadvantage is identified. Consequently their pre-service experiences contribute to the shaping of professional teacher identities that are responsive to local needs of communities and individuals.