ABSTRACT
Th e redesign initiated with a question about how we could use the methods course and its school-based fi eld experience to help students understand service learning as an eff ective form of pedagogy. I hoped that this kind of fi eld placement would model a meaningful way to teach civics, history, economics, and geography and help our teacher candidates imagine relevant ways to connect with their future students and communities. Accordingly, the fi eld placement was intended to operate on two levels: focusing on preservice teachers’ creation of service learning projects relevant to social studies and on their participation in these projects with elementary students and school communities. Th is chapter examines the social studies service learning practicum, its initial incarnation, and a couple of the challenges/successes we have experienced thus far.
