When Everyone Gets What They Want: A Description of a Physical Education-Teacher Education Service-Learning Project

Abstract

In recent years, an increase in collaborative efforts between university teacher education programs and schools has revived the service-learning movement. Yet, many faculty find it difficult to simultaneously address the tripartite responsibilities of research, service, and teaching without one or more components suffering. This article describes a partnership between university students enrolled in a physical education teaching methods course and alternative high school students that incorporates research, service, and teaching. The AIM-UTPB project offers program assistance by providing physical education instruction to students enrolled in a school with no physical education faculty or facility. As a result of this service, undergraduate students gain experience teaching at-risk students, graduate students assist in data coding and interpretation toward manuscript preparation, and AIM students earn credit toward graduation while setting foot in a higher education environment. The article integrates Boyer's reconceptualization of scholarship in its presentation of the problem of juggling research, service, and teaching loads. It presents and analyzes participants' responses to interview and survey questions concerning the program's value to partially demonstrate that all program participants have their needs satisfied. Finally, the article returns to Boyer's model in attempting to assess the program and its resultant scholarship.