In theory, service-learning can provide one avenue for preservice
professionals to learn what it means to teach and work with
diverse children and their families in the community, an avenue
that moves beyond the traditional diversity course. Wade, Boyle-
Baise, and O’Grady (2001) wrote, “A teacher education program
that incorporates effective multicultural service learning opportunities
can provide compelling learning experiences for pre-service
teachers and may orient them positively to the communities where
they will teach” (p. 248). These service opportunities can enable preservice
teachers to “apply course content in community settings”
(Buchanan, Baldwin, & Rudisill, 2002, p. 30) and thus to connect theories
of diversity with the lived experiences of the individuals with
whom they interact in the community. They also provide opportunities
to experience dissonance, as theories and reality may at
times clash in unexpected ways. Regardless of the outcome, such
opportunities offer real-time learning for teacher candidates that
they often find more meaningful than content knowledge alone;
furthermore, the experiences can be meaningful not only to preservice