Abstract
Character and citizenship are key goals of a holistic education. The daunting task of building character and citizenship rests with teachers. As early in a teacher’s career, programmes in teacher education can develop teachers to build character and citizenship. To be effective, building character and citizenship needs to start with the teacher. What better way to learn this than by immersing in the community. As the sole teacher education institute in Singapore, the National Institute of Education (NIE) has since 2005 required all student teachers to engage with and learn from the local community via service learning experiences, thus building character and citizenship along the way. Through mandatory local service learning experiences and voluntary international service learning experiences, student teachers learn more about themselves, their strengths and areas for improvement, about working as a team, and about community and community issues.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The Meranti Project is a personal and professional development programme specially customized for student teachers. Through informal dialogue sessions with veteran teachers, it gives student teachers the opportunity to listen first-hand experiences of teachers and the perspectives of student learners. The programme also makes use of open sharing sessions and ingenious games to help the student teachers experience the core competencies of social–emotional learning, to share their personal aspirations with their peers and to express their opinions in an open and creative environment.
References
Ammon, M. S., Furco, A., Chi, B., & Middaugh, E. (2002). Service-learning in California: A profile of the CalServe service-learning partnerships, 1997–2000. Berkeley: University of California, Service-learning Research and Development Center.
Anderson, J. (1998). Service-learning and teacher education. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education.
Annette, J. (1999). Citizenship studies, service learning and higher education. In R. Gardner (Ed.), Education for values. London: Kogan Page.
Bak, K. S. (2012, 8 February). Connecting civic learning and service learning for education reform. Retrieved from http://www.nylc.org/blog/connecting-civic-learning-and-service-learning-education-reform
Barber, B. (1998). A place for us: How to make society civil and democracy strong. New York: Hill and Wang.
Bastion, A., & D’Rozario, V. (Eds.). (2010a). Journeys of the heart: Learn to serve, learn from service. Singapore: National Institute of Education.
Bastion, A., & D’Rozario, V. (Eds.). (2010b). Treks, tracks, and trails: Ventures and adventures abroad in the spirit of service learning. Singapore: National Institute of Education.
Berkowitz, M. W., & Bier, M. C. (2005). What works in character education: A research-driven guide for educators. Washington, DC: Character Education Partnership.
Billig, S., Root, S., & Jesse, D. (2005). The impact of participation in service-learning on high school students’ civic engagement. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement.
Billig, S. H., & Root, S. (2006). Maximising civic commitment through service-learning. In K. M. Casey, G. Davidson, S. H. Billig, & N. C. Springer (Eds.), Advancing knowledge in service-learning: Research to transform the field (Vol. 6, pp. 45–63). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing Inc.
Billig, S. H., Jesse, D., & Grimley, M. (2008). Using service learning to promote character education in a large urban district. Journal of Research in Character Education, 6(1), 21–34.
Blozis, C., Scalise, R., Waterman, C. E., & WElls, M. (2002). Building citizenship skills in students. Chicago: Saint Xavier University.
Boston, B. (1997). Their best selves: Building character education and service learning together in the lives of young people. Washington, Dc: Council of Chief State Officers.
Bringle, R. G., & Duffy, D. K. (1998). With service in mind: Concepts and models for service learning in psychology. Washington: American Association for Higher Education.
D’Rozario, V., Low, E. L., Avila, A. P., & Cheung, S. (2012). Service learning using English language teaching in pre-service teacher education in Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Education (iFirst Article), 1–14.
Furco, A., & Root, S. (2010). Research demonstrates the value of service learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(5), 16–20.
Goh, K. C., D’Rozario, V., Ch’ng, A., & Cheah, H. M. (2009). Introduction. In K. C. Goh, V. D’Rozario, A. Ch’ng & M. Cheah (Eds.), Character development through service learning and experiential learning (pp. 1–6). Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Hamilton, S., & Zeldin, R. S. (1987). Learning civics in the community. Curriculum Inquiry, 17(4), 407–420.
Heng, S. K. (2011a). Opening address at the 1st NIE-MOE Character and Citizenship Education Conference. Singapore: Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2011/11/08/opening-address-by-mr-heng-swee-keat-at-1st-nie-moe-cce-conference.php
Heng, S. K. (2011b). Opening address at the Ministry of Education (MOE) Work Plan Seminar on 22 September 2011. Singapore: Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2011/09/22/work-plan-seminar-2011.php
Hodgkinson, V. A., Weitzman, M., Noga, S. M., & Gorski, H. A. (1992). Giving and volunteering in the United States (1992nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Independent Sector.
Jew, C. L., Green, K. E., & Kroger, J. (1999). Development and validation of a measure of resiliency. Measurement and Evaluation in Counselling and Development, 32(2), 75–89.
Kahne, J., Chi, B., & Middaugh, E. (2002). City works evaluation summary. Los Angeles: Constitutional Rights Foundation.
Laird, M., & Black, S. (2002). Service learning evaluation project: Program effects for at-risk students. Paper presented at the 2nd International Service-Learning Research Conference, Nashville, TN.
Lee, M. N., & Tay-Koay, S. L. (2009). Building youth capacities and civic values through overseas community-service experience. In K. C. Goh, V. D’Rozario, A. Ch’ng & H. M. Cheah (Eds.), Character development through service and experiential learning (pp. 140–153). Singapore: Prentice Hall.
McLaughlin, T. H. (2000). Citizenship education in England: The crick report and beyond. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 34(4), 541–570.
Meyer, S. (2003). Study of the impact of participation in service-learning on Michigan Learn and Serve grantees. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University, Center for Human Resources.
Ministry of Education (MOE). (2001). Project work to be included for university admission in 2005. Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2001/pr20062001.htm
Ministry of Education (MOE). (2010). MOE to enhance learning of 21st century competencies and strengthen art, music and physical Education [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/03/moe-to-enhance-learning-of-21s.php
Ministry of Education (MOE). (2012). Values in Action Handbook. Singapore: Retrieved from http://move.org.sg/web/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/VIA%20Handbook%202013.pdf
Ministry of Education (MOE). (2014). Teachers’ role in CCE: Developing our students into citizens of character. Singapore.
National Institute of Education. (2009). TE 21 : A teacher education model for the 21st century. Singapore: Author. Retrieved from http://www.nie.edu.sg/docs/default-source/te21_docs/te21-online-version—updated.pdf?sfvrsn=2
National Youth LeadershipCouncil. (1998). Essential elements of service-learning St. Paul, MN: National Youth Leadership Council.
Sax, L. J. (2004). Citizenship development and the American college student. New Directions for Institutional Research, 122, 65–80.
Schervish, P. G., Hodgkinson, V. A., & Gates, M. (1995). Care and community in modern society: Passing on the tradition of service to future generations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Shumer, R. (2009). Connecting character, service and experiential education: A recipe for effective youth development. In K. C. Goh, V. D’Rozario, A. C. T. Heong, & C. H. Mun (Eds.), Character development through service and experiential learning (pp. 7–36). Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Shumer, R., Goh, K. C., & D’Rozario, V. (2010). Service learning in Singapore: Preparing teachers for the future. In J. Keshen, B. Holland, & B. Moely (Eds.), Research for what? Making engaged scholarship matter (pp. 147–170). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing Inc.
Stanton, T. (1990). Service learning: Groping toward a definition. In J. C. Kendall (Ed.), Combining Service and Learning. Raleigh: National Society for Internships and Experiential Education.
Tan, A.-G., & D’Rozario, V. (2009). International service learning experiences: A perspective from character strength and positive affect. In K. C. Goh, V. D’Rozario, A. Ch’ng & H. M. Cheah (Eds.), Character development through service and experiential learning (pp. 126–139). Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Yamauchi, L. A., Billig, S. H., Meyer, S., & Hofschire, L. (2006). Student outcomes associated with service-learning in a culturally relevant high school program. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 32(1/2), 149–164.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
D’Rozario, V., Tan, SY., Avila, A.P.C. (2017). Building Character and Citizenship Through Service Learning. In: Tan, OS., Liu, WC., Low, EL. (eds) Teacher Education in the 21st Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3386-5_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3386-5_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-3384-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-3386-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)