Improving the effective personality of pre-service teachers through service-learning: A physical education approach

Abstract

Service-learning has become a teaching methodology that promotes social and personal skills related to effective personality. The objective of this research was to know the effect the delivery of a service-learning programme had on the effective personality of primary school pre-service teachers in its application. A mixed methodological approach was applied. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed that the programme resulted in significant effective personality improvement, as much in the comparison of pre- and post-test measurements of the experimental group, as well as the post-test measurements between the experimental and control groups. The qualitative analysis complemented these results by showing that pre-service teachers also made allusion to improvements in dimensions such as social self-realisation, self-esteem and problem solving self-efficacy. In addition, their discourse defended the suitability of service-learning to strengthen and implement the theoretical lessons learned during this training. Overall, these results are consistent with previous research that note how pre-service teachers participating in service- learning become more reflective and able to solve interaction issues concerning both classmates and other social agents. In conclusion, the investigation shows the positive contribution the influence of service-learning makes on pre-service teachers in terms of learning content as well as professional and personal growth.