Volunteering as service learning

This paper explores the impact of volunteering, as a form of servicelearning, on students in teacher education programs. Based on the theoreticalfoundations of experiential learning and the importance of connecting theoryand practice in the education of future teachers, 58 student reflections onvolunteering with children with special needs were qualitatively analyzed.Each student wrote a review of their experience at the end of the volunteering.The results indicate a significant impact of volunteering on students’ cognitive,emotional, motivational, and social development, highlighting the importanceof such experiences for their personal and professional growth and the need tointegrate service learning into formal curricula.