SCIENCE EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: ENGAGING THE NEW GENERATION OF STUDENT TEACHERS IN SERVICE-LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Amidst student calls for a ‘Decolonised curriculum” and “Fees must fall” a renewed education is required. The research question - How students registered for a Service-Learning and Sustainable development focused module were challenged? 88 students, with 47 community based projects were engaged in the module. An interpretive paradigm with an exploratory, qualitative approach was used. Data gathering methods included class discussions, document analysis, visual methodologies and reflective diaries. The data analysis was deductively analysed. Students experienced great emotional and cognitive waves where social learning influenced their deep-learning, perceptions of themselves and the community and the actions to be taken. Keywords: service-learning, student teachers, sustainable development.