ABSTRACT A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MULTICULTURAL SERVICE LEARNINGByElnora ScottService learning is a widely accepted method for preservice teachers to gain knowledge about the communities they may someday serve. Critical multicultural service learning is commonly used to help preservice teachers explore issues of inequality, power, and manifestations of social reproduction in school systems, and is intended to foster awareness about culture, race, and diversity. Critics of service learning express concerns about the high expectations associated with the practice and argue that service learning may reinforce the attitudes and beliefs it is designed to eliminate. This study was designed to gain a better understanding of what positive or negative factors influenced preservice teachers' multicultural service learning experience, if preservice teachers were able to connect course context to their service learning experience, and what pedagogy had the greatest impact on their ability to make those connections. These dimensions were explored through quantitative analysis using survey data that was completed by 324 students who were enrolled in 18 Teacher Education 250 sections at Michigan State University. The results of this study indicate that preservice teachers benefit directly from their service learning experiences, and that multicultural service learning is a valuable tool for teacher educators. The results from this study can help teacher educators better understand the impact of multicultural service learning on preservice teachers' perception of power, race, injustice, diversity, and a desire or lack of desire to work in under resourced schools. The findings from this study support critical multiculturalism, critical pedagogy, and critical curricula in teacher education programs.
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