Enhancing+the+preparation+of+special+educators

**Enhancing the preparation of special educators through service-learning** Jeanne Novak, Associate Professor, Bowling Green State University jnovak@bgsu.edu] Mary Murray, Associate Professor, Bowling Green State University mmurray@bgsu.edu]



**Keywords:** Special educators, teacher preparation, students with disabilities, parents and communities

**Track:** Student development and learning

**Format:** Poster presentation

**Date & time: ** Thursday 3:20 - 4:30

**Location: **Salon 4 / Salon 9

**Summary:** Two service-learning courses were designed to prepare preservice teachers with the skills and dispositions to work effectively with students with disabilities and their parents. The first course addresses consultation and collaboration and is co-taught by a parent of a child with disabilities (Murray & Curran, 2008; Murray, Curran, & Zellers, 2008). Preservice teachers enrolled in the course learn together with parents of children with disabilities who are auditing the course. The second course pairs university students with high school students with intellectual disabilities who are completing work-based learning experiences at campus work sites (Novak, 2010). The university students mentor the high school students by providing job and employability skills training to them at their work experience sites.

Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the impact of students’ experiences on their beliefs and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities and their families (Novak, Murray, Scheuermann, & Curran, 2009). Results indicate that students developed a sense of professional efficacy and positive regard for the abilities of students with disabilities and the contributions of their parents. The session will address practical strategies for designing service-learning experiences to impact the preparation of preservice teachers.

**References:** Murray, M., & Curran, E. (2008). Learning together with parents of children with disabilities: Bringing parent-professional partnership education to a new level//. Teacher Education and Special Education, 31//(1), 59-63.

Murray, M., Curran, E., & Zellers, D. (2008). Building parent/professional partnerships: An innovative approach for teacher education. //The Teacher Educator, 43//(2), 87-108.

Novak, J. (2010). Learning through service: A course designed to positively influence students’ disability-related attitudes. //Journal of Education for Teaching, 36//, 121-123.

Novak, J., Murray, M., Scheuermann, A., & Curran, E. (2009). Enhancing the preparation of special <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">educators through service learning: Evidence from two preservice courses. //International Journal of Special Education, 24//(1), 32-44.

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