Negotiating the dilemmas of community-based learning in teacher education

At the University of Ballarat, pre-service teachers (PSTs) in their second year of the Bachelor of Education (P-10) are required to plan community-based teaching and learning in conjunction with school students, their teachers and schools along with community organizations. These requirements are in synergy with curriculum developments in schools and appear to be valued by them. In this paper, the implementation of community-based teaching and learning programs developed by PSTs is examined for educational and organizational issues that shaped the outcomes for PSTs. The paper highlights a number of consistent themes that throw light on factors that appear to affect the success of such pre-service courses. These insights contribute to the understanding of community-based PST education curricula and pedagogies as an important and emerging area of interest.