Designing for the Future

Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss how they redesigned an educational psychology course for preservice teachers using insights from the burgeoning, interdisciplinary field of the Learning Sciences. Research on the situated nature of learning and the value of out-of-school contexts for supporting children’s development informed their decisions to require preservice teachers to work with children in community-based settings, frame their interactions with children as “service” rather than as explicit preparation for teaching, and conduct research on the social, cultural, and cognitive nature of these experiences. Two case studies illuminate preservice teachers’ learning trajectories in relation to course practices. Analyses suggest that the course created opportunities for preservice teachers to develop views of learning as inherently cultural and not limited to the acquisition of academic content. Emerging findings point to the potential of using Learning Sciences research as a touchstone for reorganizing educational psychology courses for preservice teachers.