Study Abroad for the Knowledge Economy

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Study Abroad for the Knowledge Economy

• Tara Harvey
• EdPA 5102
• March 5, 2008

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In Ten Years Ill

• Hopefully have three kids my husband will stay
  at home full-time or work part-time from home
• I will work for a U.S. higher education
  institution in the U.S. and/or Spain doing some
  of the following
• In a leadership position in the primary
  international programs office (if in the U.S.)
• As a program director or similar of a study
  abroad program in Spain
• Teaching an intercultural communication (or
  similar) course
• Conducting research on learning through
  intercultural experience
• Teaching the Personal Leadership methodology
• Doing individual coaching for students and/or
  staff around intercultural issues
• Facilitating intercultural training

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Whats my core interest?

• Helping people use intercultural experiences to
  develop in the following ways
• Personal growth and self-awareness
• Increased intercultural competency
• Increased creativity (not artistic creativity,
  but the creativity to see things in new ways)
• To be more mindful

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And the knowledge economy?

• Basically, I want to use intercultural
  experiences to help prepare college students
  (primarily) to be happy, successful citizens in
  the knowledge economy.

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What does this mean for me right now?

• My research interests

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Study abroad is a unique opportunity to prepare
students for the knowledge economy

• Experience living with unpredictability
• Opportunity to learn to live with chaordia need
  to find stability while also being flexible
  enough to adapt and change (Allee, 2003, p. 232)
• Opportunity for integration of cognitive,
  affective and behavioral learning
• Opportunity to learn to frame shift and enhance
  ones creativity
• Opportunity to develop systems thinking
  capabilities

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How can study abroad programs capitalize upon
such learning potential?
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Encourage formation of relationships with locals
create opportunities for reflection and
dialogue

• Story telling provides an opportunity for
  communal learning
• Deutero learning the capacity to reflect on
  and inquire into previous contexts for learning
  the foundation for true systems thinking (Allee,
  2003, p. 136)
• True reflection opens the possibility for
  generative learninglearning that enhances our
  capacity to create It heeds the call for renewal
  and expresses a willingness to see radical
  possibilities beyond the boundaries of current
  thinking (Allee, 2003, p. 141)
• As we learn to engage in more conscious
  conversations, we are developing the capacity for
  self-reflection, self-knowledge, and collective
  wisdom (Allee, 2003, p. 149)

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How do we do this?

• Expand concept of study abroad experience
  experience abroad should be seen as action piece
  in a larger intercultural learning process
• Pre-departure, on-site, and re-entry courses
• Teach Personal Leadership methodology to help
  students learn to maximize their own personal
  learning through experience
• By giving value to the intangibles acquired
  through study abroad
• Use of portfolios
• Through study abroad minors or similar (such as
  related coursework)
• By helping students reflect on and dialogue about
  the experience, we are helping them learn how to
  make the value of the experience more tangible to
  others (such as future employers)