Service-Learning and Pre-Service Educators ' Cultural Competence for Teaching: An Exploratory Study

Social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) served as the framework to exam-ine a physical education service-learning program's impact on pre-service educators ' cultural competence. PQIticipants included 53 undergraduates enrolled in two sections ofHealth and Physical Education for Children. The course's service-learning component provided pre-service educators op-portunities to teach physical education to African-American and Hispanic children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants described their experiences via daily logs, weekly reflections, and focus group interviews. Content analyses of the multiple data sources indicated that daily interac-tion with the children broadened participants ' understanding of under-served children, changed their preconceived stereotypes, improved their language and communication skills, and impacted future teaching expec-tations. These findings suggest service-learning programs may valuably en-hance pre-service educators ' cultural competence for teaching