Introduction to International ServiceLearning: Engaging Students with the World

1
Introduction to International Service-Learning
Engaging Students with the World

• American Democracy Project National Meeting
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• June 7, 2007

2
Nevin C. Brown

• President, International Partnership for
  Service-Learning and Leadership (IPSL)
• nbrown_at_ipsl.org

3
IPSL Definition of Service-Learning

• Handout Declaration of Principles
• Academic study for credit, linked to volunteer
  service in a community-based agency/NGO
• Study informs the service, service informs the
  study

4
IPSL Definition (contd)

• Many academic disciplines liberal arts,
  humanities and environmental sciences, but also
  professional fields such as social work,
  engineering, business, pre-med and pre-law
• AAHE monograph series Now available through
  Stylus Publishing, http//styluspub.com/Books/Seri
  esDetail.aspx?id1203

5
IPSL Definition (contd)

• International service-learning differs from
  volunteering through the focus on credit-bearing
  courses and structured reflection
• International service-learning differs from
  internships/field study/practica in the focus on
  service rather than observation or career
  preparation
• But these differences are not absolute

6
International Service-LearningIPSL Principles
of Good Practice

• Learning is rigorous, appropriate to academic
  level of students, and offers wide range of
  points of view, theories and ideas.
• There is a clear connection between academic
  studies and the service.
• Students have structured opportunities for
  reflection.

7
IPSL Principles of Good Practice (contd.)

• Students are encouraged to develop and
  demonstrate leadership skills.
• Students are well-oriented before engaging in
  service-learning, are well-supported during the
  experience, and are provided support for
  re-entry at the conclusion of their experience.

8
IPSL Principles of Good Practice (contd.)

• The service is truly useful to the
  community/agency.
• The service can be performed in a wide range of
  contexts and settings.
• There is genuine reciprocity between the
  community served and the college or university,
  with a relationship built on mutual trust.

9
Service Learning
Robert G. Bringle, Director Julie Hatcher,
Associate Director Center for Service and
Learning Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis rbringle_at_iupui.edu jhatcher_at_iupui.edu

10
Definition
Service learning is a course-based,
credit-bearing educational experience in which
students a) participate in an organized service
activity that meets identified community needs,
and b) reflect on the service activity in such
a way as to gain further understanding of course
content, a broader appreciation of the
discipline, and an enhanced sense of personal
values and civic responsibility.
11
Key Elements of Service Learning

• Reflection
• Perplexity
• Activities to structure learning from the service
  experience
• Reciprocity
• Partnerships
• Dialogue to structure the service experience

12
Why Service Learning in Higher Education?

• Powerful Pedagogy
• Involves Faculty Expertise
• Involves Structured Service
• Develops Civic Responsibility
• Enhances Student Development
• Student Persistence and Retention
• Supports an Expanding Role of Higher Education
• Addresses Community Issues

13
Key Principles

• Academic credit is for learning, not service.
• Set learning goals for students.
• Establish criteria for the selection of community
  service placements.
• Be prepared for uncertainty and variation in
  student learning outcomes.
• Maximize the community responsibility for
  orientation of the course.
• Do not compromise academic rigor.

14
Service Learning Outcomes

• Academic Development
• Persistence and retention
• Achievement and aspirations
• Life Skills
• Racial tolerance
• Cultural understanding
• Civic Responsibility
• Commitment to community
• Aspirations to volunteer
• (See www.compact.org/resource/aag.pdf)

15
International Service Learning
International service learning is a course-based,
credit-bearing educational experience in which
students are supported to a) participate in an
organized service activity that meets identified
community needs in a location outside the United
States, and b) reflect on the service activity
in such a way as to gain a deeper understanding
of course content, a broader appreciation of the
host community and cross-cultural issues, and an
enhanced sense of their own global relationships
and responsibilities.
16
Key Elements of ISL

• Respect
• Cultural traditions (of service)
• Inter-cultural framing
• Reciprocity
• Partnerships
• Dialogue to structure the service experience
• Reflection
• Perplexity
• Activities to structure learning from the service
  experience
• Return
• Refraction
• Inter-relatedness, global citizenship

17
The Key Role of Reflection in International
Service-Learning
18
Reflection as Cognitive Activity

• Engages students in the intentional consideration
  of their experiences in light of particular
  learning objectives.
• Reflection is both retrospective and prospective.
• Educates the students attention.

19
Guidelines for Reflection

• Clearly links service experience to learning
  objectives
• Is structured in terms of expectations,
  assessment criteria
• Occurs regularly throughout semester
• Instructor provides feedback
• Includes opportunity to explore, clarify, and
  alter values

20
When Designing Reflection, Consider . . .

• Structured as an ongoing aspect of the course
• Offered in multiple forms
• Included in assessment
• Modeled by instructor
• Connected to course content

21
Examples of Reflection Activities

• Personal Journals
• Directed Writings
• Classroom Assessment Techniques
• Agency Presentations

• Ethical Case Studies
• Student Portfolios
• On-line Techniques
• Experiential Research Paper
• Minute Papers
• Stand and Declare

22
Reflection in International Service Learning

• Pre-service
• Use class sessions and readings to orient
  students to history, culture, language of host
  site
• Ask site partner to provide background
  information
• Have students read/hear reports from previous
  students
• In-service
• Seek information from students on a consistent
  basis
• Provide feedback and guidance as appropriate
• Confer with site supervisor periodically
• Post-service
• Gather final assessment from site supervisor and
  students

23
UNC Local Applications Course

• Links summer international service-learning
  experience with local realities in North
  Carolina offered in the fall
• Weekly readings, service-learning applications
  project, writing article/story for publication or
  photographic presentation with narration for
  display
• Contact Jenny Huq, UNC APPLES Service-Learning
  Program, huq_at_email.unc.edu or www.unc.edu/apples

24
IPSL Reflection Resource

• Charting a Heros Journey (Linda A. Chisholm)
• 12-stage guide to service-learning reflection
  using readings from the journeys of others
  followed by suggested questions
• Available from http//www.ipsl.org/advocacy/public
  ations.aspxcahj

25

• Learning Outcomes
• The learning outcomes that can be achieved
  through international service learning build on
  but go beyond those for either study abroad or
  domestic service learning.

26
Service-learning and study abroad learning goals
overlap in some areas.

• Enhanced learning of subject matter
• Personal growth and self-understanding
• Intercultural learning and respect
• Tolerance for ambiguity
• Career focus and definition

27
But each pedagogy also adds new elements that
take the other in new directions.

• Study abroad involves international learning, in
  settings that take the student far away from the
  known and familiar.
• Service learning involves working closely with
  individuals in the surrounding community on a
  very personal level.
• When brought together, they change each other.

28
How does service learning transform study abroad?

• Changes the role of student from tourist and
  observer to co-worker and participant
• Speeds up the process of immersion and
  connection, especially important in short-term
  programs
• Imparts a deep appreciation for the assets of the
  surrounding community
• Introduces another source of knowledge and
  authority into the course (from the service
  organization)
• Fits well with the interests and learning styles
  of non-traditional, professional, or
  pre-professional students
• Builds in an extra measure of reflection, with
  explicit methodology for doing this

29
How does service learning transform study abroad
(continued)?

• Explicitly raises the issue of values and
  judgments
• Enhances or introduces a civic engagement
  dimension, including concepts of global
  citizenship
• Intensifies awareness of relationships between
  home and host country
• Enhances the experiential learning component of
  course
• Provides opportunity to practice skills of
  cross-cultural understanding
• Provides additional opportunities for learning
  connected to the subject matter of the course

30
How does study abroad transform domestic service
learning?

• Brings cross-cultural issues to the fore, with
  explicit methodology for crossing cultural
  boundaries and developing cross-cultural
  competencies
• Throws social and cultural systems into bold
  relief by virtue of the great contrast between
  home and host country
• Provides opportunities for certain kinds of
  service activities, not obtainable in home
  country
• Leads students to rethink concepts of community,
  service, and civic engagement by virtue of
  contrast between home and host country
• Enhances student skills for living and traveling
  beyond their home country

31
How does study abroad transform domestic service
learning (continued)?

• Involves constant connection with the local
  community and service site, 24 hours a day
  throughout the duration of the course
• Expands student sense of citizenship and
  responsibility from local to global
• Helps American students learn and reflect on the
  role of the United States in international
  affairs at this particular moment
• Leads students to rethink issues of power and
  wealth in home country, by virtue of comparison
  with host country
• Increases student abilities to negotiate and
  comprehend cultural difference within home country

32
Personal growth and self-understanding

• Development of skills of personal reflection and
  analysis
• Enhanced ability to use personal experience for
  academic learning
• Contribution to personal identity formation and
  self confidence
• Contribution to focusing and defining career
  goals

33
Deep learning about the host country (and home
country, by comparison)

• Enhanced knowledge concerning the economic,
  political, ecological, health, demographic, and
  cultural systems of the host country
• Appreciation for assets of host country, the
  integrity of its way of life, and the manner in
  which it approaches its problems
• At least some foreign language acquisition
• Reflection upon home country and how others see
  it
• Intensified awareness of relationships between
  home and host country
• Reflection upon issues of power, wealth,
  ethnicity, and class in both host and home
  country

34
Advances in intercultural competence

• Growing appreciation of the value of diverse
  viewpoints
• Development of tolerance for ambiguity,
  uncertainty, perplexity
• Enhanced skills of intercultural communication
  and understanding that can be applied anywhere,
  including home country
• Stronger grasp of basic theories, principles, and
  concepts for understanding a particular way of
  life
• Stronger grasp of the economic, political,
  ecological, and cultural dynamics now shaping the
  whole world
• Eagerness for more international contact
• Enhanced skills for living and traveling beyond
  home country
• Enhanced ability to work with people from other
  cultural backgrounds

35
Evolving Sense of Civic Responsibility

• Developing aspirations to volunteer and work for
  the public good
• Deeper understanding of the knowledge base
  necessary for responsible citizenship
• Expanding commitment to multiple communities,
  including those outside home country
• Growing sense of the global dimensions of
  citizenship
• Willingness to impart what was learned to others,
  including other students on campus
• Greater awareness of the impact of ones actions
  on others, including those outside home country
• Complex understanding of the formation of values
  and judgments in a multicultural world
• Rethinking concepts of community, service, and
  civic engagement by virtue of contrast between
  home and host country

36

• In sum, service learning opens up discussions of
  international reciprocity and connection in study
  abroad programs, while according local voices an
  important place in the construction of knowledge.
  
• In return, study abroad moves the discussion of
  citizenship and engagement that characterizes
  domestic service learning from local to global,
  with major transformations in concepts of
  community and civic responsibility.

37
What are the different forms that international
service learning can take?

• Immersion abroad American students overseas
• Service and learning, both abroad
• Service abroad, learning in US
• Learning before and/or after service abroad
• Learning during service abroad, via web

38
Different forms (continued)

• Immersion locally Domestic Site with
  international population(s)
• Combination (DePaul University Chicago,
  UNC-Chapel Hill APPLES program)
• State-side language study
• State-side SL with target group
• Short-term international SL in country of target
  group

39
Different forms (continued)

• Intensive short-term
• Semester or year-long
• Faculty-led (from home institution)
• In partnership with local institutions
• Fully embedded in host institution
• With home-stay
• Without home-stay

40
A Dilemma Short- vs. Long-Term International
Service-Learning Programs

• Needs of our students
• Needs of local agencies and communities
• Introduction to a culture, or immersion?

41
Identifying Institutional Support and Stakeholders

• Role of Institutional Mission
• Key Stakeholders
• Faculty
• Study-abroad/international programs office
• Financial aid office
• Registrar
• Development office

42
Does It Matter?

• What do we know about the impact of international
  service-learning on
• Students
• Institutions of Higher Education
• Service Agencies

43
International Service-LearningImpacts on
Students

• A more radical educational experience than
  traditional study-abroadtransformative
  intellectual and moral change, pluralistic world
  view, rethinking of career choices.
• Increase in adaptability, motivation, ability to
  deal with ambiguity, civic commitment.

44
Impacts on Students (contd.)

• Development of significant leadership
  abilitiesadaptability and resourcefulness, fresh
  views on old problems, recasting familiar issues
  in light of broader experience.
• Total engagement with another society and
  culturebut greater difficulty re-entering U.S.
  society.

45
International Service-LearningImpacts on
Colleges/Universities

• Fosters adoption of service-learning at host
  universities and/or integration of
  service-learning in the regular curriculum.
• Most successful in universities in developing
  nations and/or with arrival of new leadership
• Least successful in large established
  universities with strong adherence to traditional
  academic procedures and pedagogies.

46
Impacts on Colleges/Universities

• Works best where service-learning is supported by
  creative leadership, accommodating administrative
  structures, faculty buy-in, and alignment with
  institutional mission.

47
International Service-Learning Impacts on
Service Agencies

• Service-learning students bring high degree of
  commitment, special skills and experiences,
  cultural diversity.
• Agencies are effective in monitoring and
  protecting service-learning students and often
  built long-term bonds with them.

48
Impacts on Service Agencies (contd)

• Agencies often have a higher regard for the value
  of volunteer help as a result of service-learning
  student participation.
• Agencies find long-term student assignments most
  helpful but often have great difficulty
  accommodating short-term service-learning
  students and programs.

49
Impacts on Service Agencies (contd.)

• Agencies would like to be involved more equally
  in planning service-learning assignments and in
  the academic work of the students.

50
For further information on impacts

• Service-Learning Across Cultures Promise and
  Achievement, Humphrey Tonkin (ed.), 2004
• Available from http//www.ipsl.org/advocacy/public
  ations.aspxslac

51
www.ipsl.org

• International Partnership for Service-Learning
  and Leadership (IPSL)
• 815 Second Avenue, Suite 315
• New York, NY 10017-4594
• Telephone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• E-mail info_at_ipsl.org
• Nevin C. Brown, President, nbrown_at_ipsl.org

52
Other Resources

• IUPUI Center for Service and Learning,
  http//csl.iupui.edu
• IUPUI Office of International Affairs,
  http//www.iupui.edu/oia/
• UNC APPLES Service-Learning Program,
  http//www.unc.edu/apples/