From teacher training in Spain to educational practice in Senegal: An international cooperation project based on service learning for Pre-School and Primary Education

Abstract

An international cooperation project for Spanish university students is presented and analyzed, in which the formative methodology of service learning (SL) is combined with a stay in an emerging country. From the degrees of Early Childhood Education and Primary Education of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University, a pedagogical intervention was planned and executed in Djikesse (Senegal), specifically in the Antoni Gaudí Nursery and the Djikesse Primary School. Nine Senegalese teachers and their 290 students participated between both educational stages. For their part, from Spain, two professors and eight students from the aforementioned university were involved. These future teachers had the opportunity to complete their training with this experience. The results show various benefits through the project, both for the visiting and for the host educational communities. Regarding the service part or impact on Senegal, highlights the promotion of active learning methodologies, making teachers aware of the importance of experimentation and observation, as well as promoting global and meaningful learning, in addition to advance in their conception of the game and its role in learning. As a weakness, the difficulties with cooperative processes, due to lack of space and resources, can be mentioned. Regarding learning, after the project self-evaluation by the university participants, it is concluded that a greater involvement of the students in the planning phase, and especially in the evaluation aspects, would have been necessary. However, this experience has managed to link theory with practice and its benefits are considerable, among others, awareness of the fundamental value of education as an instrument to combat poverty and social exclusion.