Service-learning linking family child care providers, community partners, and preservice professionals. Issue 9 (1st September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Garner, Pamela W.; Parker, Tameka S.
• Is Part Of: Early child development and care. Volume 186:Issue 9(2016)
• Page Start: 1466
• Page End: 1475
• Publication Date: 2016-09-01
• Subjects: Earlychildhood preservice teachers -- family child care -- experiential learning; Child development -- Periodicals; Children -- Services for -- Periodicals; 155.405
• DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2015.1102136
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0300-4430

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article describes the implementation of a service-learning project, which was infused into a child development course. The project linked family child care providers, their licensing agency, and 39 preservice teachers in a joint effort to develop a parent handbook to be used by the providers in their child care businesses and to support participation in the state Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS). Students and community partners reported benefitting from the project and experts rated the course as incorporating elements of a high-quality service-learning experience. Course instructors, family child care providers, and agency staff provided independent ratings of the quality of the parent manuals and the course. Findings suggested that service-learning projects may provide rich opportunities for socialising undergraduate early childhood students about the importance of school–family partnerships, encouraging university professors to bridge theory and practice, and supporting community partners to create and strengthen mutually beneficial collaborative relationships.