Teacher education by volunteering in learning communities

Teacher Education By Volunteering In Learning communities José-Ignacio Rivas-Flores 1 , Analía-Elizabeth Leite-Mendez 1 , Maria-Jesus Marquez-Garcia 2 , Pablo Cortes-Gonzalez 1 1 Universidad de Málaga, Spain; 2 Universidad de Valladolid, Spain Presenting Author: Rivas-Flores, José-Ignacio; Leite-Mendez, AnalíaElizabethThis research is part of project "Ecologies of learning in multiple contexts: analysis of expanded education projects and building citizenship", supported by MIMECO, in Spain. It intends to analyse an experience of primary teacher education, based on volunteering in problematic educational contexts. It focus on: what kinds of learning processes have place, what imagine on teacher is built and how professional issues are incorporated, what role theoretical learning play in their performance... In previous researches (Rivas, 2014; Rivas y Leite, 2014; Márquez, Prados y Padua, 2014; Rivas, Leite y Cortés, 2015), based on school accounts of our students, we could observe that school experience is characterised as reproductive curriculum and learning supported in memory, among others. Also, the schools are narrated as structured contexts from a individualistic logic, neutrality and decontextualized from social, cultural and politic reality. Pupil performances revolve around marks, and develop control and meritocracy values. These stories ask for other ways of learning, other relationship with knowledge, and other way to participate in social world. The necessary values in this new context are dialog, collaboration, social commitment and individual and social transformation. From these premises we developed the experience, object of this research. It's based on College and schools (public schools) collaboration, by voluntary participation of students in educative activities. This activity pretends to help schools with special social needs. At the same time, it provokes education of learning teachers, take account other comprehension of educative processes. It's appropriate in this sense the practice communities developed by Wenger (2011) The project is developed in two schools. These are engaged in "learning Communities" project, supported by Andalucía Government, in Spain. This project proposes community participation as main axe of school management and pupil learning. It's based on dialogic learning (from Freire), as basis of relationships and teacher performance. So, it brake with learning based on individuality, competitiveness, and one – way orientation (teacher to pupil). At the same time, it removes the mediation as axe of academic activity. By opposite, it implements an learning concept based on interaction, horizontality, solidarity, egalitarian dialogue, respect to differences and collective sense. (Elboj et alt, 2002). This research tries to analyse and recover: the knowledge implied in this process, both of the participating students and of the educational communities; the new values playing; how organizational culture is modified to become more participative, etc. Definitely, what teacher education is taking place in this new collaborative college-school scenery? Our main objectives are:- To analyse the volunteering experience as an worth strategy of teacher education- To analyse if relevant learning is possible in different educational contexts in order to improve the teacher education- To know the learning processes that are developed in this context, where students play a different role as co-part of their education. - To understand the role that educational community play in education of teacher students.- To provide evidences for changing the actual model of teacher education in Spanish college. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This research is framed in narrative paradigm, being its specific object the accounts of participants (Denzin y Lincoln, 2015). Stories of students, teachers, families and other groups participating in schools are recovered. We analyse three academic terms (2014-2015, 20152016 y en el actual 2016-2017). The tasks developed in the two schools are similar:- Stay in the school one / two times per week, participating in different activities - Diaries and/or field records- Biweekly Meeting in college in order to analyse this information. These meetings are with college teacher that coordinate this research. Students shared lived experiences and a critical reflection takes place oriented to their teacher education. A summary of meetings, including information, critical issues and debates are sent to schools. For research, the content of these meetings are recorded as part of research, as well as the rest of tasks. This includes virtual forums with their college classmates, sharing their experience in a wider audience.Relating to specific information collect strategies, we use the following:- Interviews to volunteers: three interviews were held: a volunteer of an organization working in school, and two to student volunteers, who were acting as links between students, school and faculties. The interviews were open and their aim was to know, first-hand, the lived experience by volunteers. - Focal groups with different kinds of volunteers (students, mothers,...). Three meetings were held: with volunteers from different schools (including students not engaged in the project, but working in these schools); with volunteers of each school; with volunteer mothers. The main objective was to create a space to interaction and to debate on these different experiences.- Content analysis of college meetings. - Content analysis of field diaries of each student- Evaluative accounts of volunteer students.- Content analysis of biweekly meetingsAlso we take into account the mentioned sceneries for dialog, reflection and interchange, so as the records of informal encounters between different participants in school and college. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The analysis of this information allow us to built any categories that try to illuminate what learning occurs in this process and if a new teacher education is possible. No doubt, the chance of volunteering in order to educate teachers is novel. So we think this research open a little explored field. One of the main focus of interest is put together teachers, faculties, school community and others groups participating in schools as volunteers and collaborators. This frame originates a collective process of collaboration worth to education to future teachers. Teacher students have the chance to get closer to complexity of educational system, and the schools. At the same time, it allows them to observe other strategies, far from more known in academic status. Same of results that we can advance from preliminary analysis are distributed in these axes:- Learning in context or situated learning. Possibility of participate directly in the school life, expands the glances on reality and provokes an inquiring attitude, because to diversity of situations problems, conflicts and contradictions to face. This confronts, also, with previous education and professional identity.- Conflict and diversity. The reality of schools and classroom everyday life, the relationships with children, creates a new glance on conflicts, the way of solve them, and recognition of their educational value.- Times, spaces and discipline are crosscutting issues in the day to day of the school. By lived experience are questioned again and again. Other thinking ways these organizational issues are recognised and put to the service to learning, no the opposite as usual. The value of surprise and improvisation are highlighted as possible ways.- Autonomy and responsibility. Both of them are values including in all student accounts, conversations, considered as necessaries to learning. References Denzin I. y Licoln N. (coords) IV Manual de Investigación narrativa. Métodos de recolección y análisis de datos. Barcelona. Gedisa. Elboj, C; Puigdellívol, I; Soler, M y Valls, R. (2002), Comunidades de aprendizaje. Transformar la educación. Barcelona: Graó. Márquez, M. J., Prados, E. y Padua, D. 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