(Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, 2011) Kucukoglu, Adnan
This study examines the opinions of 41 teacher candidates taking a community service learning (CSL)
course. The implementation of this course and its contributions to participants’ personal, social and
academic development were examined using qualitative methods. Data was collected using semi-structured
interview questions, and an inductive coding technique and descriptive data analysis were employed.
The findings suggest that the participating pre-service teachers believed that the CSL process met their
expectations. Most of the teachers believed that the service-learning experience was beneficial and that
they would be able to make use of the knowledge they gained during the CSL process in their social,
academic and professional lives.