This study  explored experiences and reflections of preservice teachers about a community service project and how the project helped them build social action skills.

Because our society is getting more diverse and students from different backgrounds enter school settings, the task of teachers is also getting more important and complex. In order to better educate future teachers to work with the diverse students and their families, preservice teacher education programs should be designed based on multicultural ideals. Multicultural teacher education aims to educate preservice teachers to work with students from various backgrounds. According to Christine Bennett (1999), there are six aims of multicultural curriculum:

1) to develop multiple historical perspectives,

2) to strengthen cultural consciousness,

3) to strengthen intercultural competence,

4) to combat racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination,

5) to increase awareness of the state of the planet and global dynamics, and

6) to build social action skills.

In this study, we have focused on the aim, social action skills, which means “the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors needed to help resolve major problems that threaten the future of the planet and the well-being of humanity” (Bennett, 1999, p. 31). It can be said that teacher education should aim to develop social action skills for student teachers along with others so that they can teach toward making our world better. In other words, prospective teachers should not only have knowledge about inequalities and problems in our world, but also learn to take a part to solve these problems and make it more livable in peace.

The Community Service is a compulsory 5-ECTS course offered for preservice social studies teachers on the third year of the program. In this course, prospective teachers work on community issues like blood donation, helping at-risk students, and improving rural schools. It is important to note that, as Boyle-Baise (2002) points out, “Community based learning thrusts future teachers outside the university into culturally diverse or low-income communities like those they likely will serve” (p. 9). By involving in community based projects, the preservice teachers can build social action skills outlined by Bennett (1999) and they can encourage their future students to take part in solving the problems in the community they live in.

Our students developed a project about helping for basic needs of Syrian refugees living in Kilis, a city on the border of Syria. More than 15000 Syrian refugees came to Kilis and because official refugee camp was full, they had to rent old and cheap houses as a shelter in the city center. It is also important to note that these people came to Kilis only with their clothes. This means that their basic living needs had to be met.

Bennett, C. I. (1999). Comprehensive multicultural education: Theory and practice (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Boyle-Baise, M. (2002). Multicultural service learning: educating teachers in diverse communities. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. European Commission (2010). Common European principles for teacher competences and qualifications. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/principles_en.pdf Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.