The benefits of a literacy and numeracy service-learning program for pre-service teachers: A partnership approach

The Partners in Literacy and Numeracy Western Australia (PLaN WA) program was implemented within a School of Education to complement initial teacher education offerings. In forming a mutually beneficial service-learning program, schools received support from pre-service teachers to assist both primary and secondary students with their literacy and or numeracy. This paper presents findings from two focus group interviews and pre-(n = 130) and post-surveys (n =54) continuously since the program’s instigation in 2019. The pre-service teachers benefited from the low stakes, voluntary, non-assessed experiences. They claimed they moved towards being more confident in achieving the graduate career stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. While we anticipated pre-service teachers would gain more confidence in their own literacy and/or numeracy and in teaching aspects of these, instead, pre-service teachers gained overall confidence to teach from program participation.