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Doing More with Less: Civic Practices for Longer-Term Impact in Global Service-Learning.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | García, Nuria Alonso Longo, Nicholas V. |
| Copyright Year | 2017 |
| Abstract | This essay explores the potential value of short-term study abroad experiences within the unique framework of a new global service-learning program at Providence College which connects international with local engagement as a way to “do more with less.” The authors first introduce a typology for global service-learning, illustrating how this model fits within current approaches to international service-learning. They then describe a case study, Voices Across Borders, the global service-learning program which provides opportunities for students to engage with rural Nicaraguan and urban Providence youth through projects that harness the power of storytelling to make connections across borders. Based on the lessons from this effort, the essay offers a set of civic practices that can support the longer-term impact of short-term global service-learning, including i) fostering storytelling across borders; ii) cultivating students as partners; iii) developing reciprocal community partnerships; and iv) creating public work, visual, auditory or performing public artifacts. After describing the challenges for short-term international engagement, the authors conclude that global service-learning initiatives might more appropriately be focused on collaborative learning, rather than service, as a way of thinking more comprehensively about the entire global “ecology of education” which links learning at the international and local levels. Introduction Over the past decade, campuses have responded to the interest among students in short-term study abroad trips by creating more opportunities for international experiences outside the semester (or year) abroad, as these shorter trips have now grown to become a majority of student international experiences. According to the Institute for International Education Open Doors Report (2015), in 2013-14, the number of U.S. undergraduate students who studied abroad that participated in short-term programs (summer, or eight weeks or less) grew to 62.1%--a dramatic rise from only 3% in 1996-97 (Donnelly-Smith, 2009). Yet, the duration of these programs also presents a potential challenge for educators interested in maximizing the cultural, linguistic, and civic impact of international immersion. The conventional wisdom derived from the relativist paradigm (Vande Berg, Paige, & Lou, 2012)—that encourages students to live with native families, to enroll directly in host university courses, and to study abroad for longer—has been that “more is better” (Dwyer, 2004). However, recent research demonstrates that while program duration correlates to students' development of intercultural competency (Engle Nuria Alonso García & Nicholas V. Longo ©2017 Nuria Alonso García and Nicholas V. Longo. 36 & Engle, 2012) and semester-long programs offer greater opportunities for cultural engagement, the length of the study abroad experience does not impact intercultural development as dramatically as traditionally assumed. Aligned with these research insights, many international educators are rightly asking some version of the question: Can short-term trips have the transformational impact intended for longer study abroad experiences? We aim to address this question by presenting the unique framework of a new short-term Global Service Learning Program at Providence College that has taken this challenge seriously by reframing the immersion experiences as “global” and part of a broader ecology of learning. After all, as Reilly & Senders (2009) note in questioning the usefulness of the term “abroad” in an interdependent world, “our responsibilities are truly global” (p. 262). Thus, when short-term international service-learning is integrated with local immersion and engagement in our globalized local communities, new possibilities for transformation emerge. In our case study this has meant engaging learners in international service experiences in Latin America that have meaningful connections with the transnational communities in Providence, Rhode Island for the past five years, and in so doing learners are becoming more self-reflective, culturally self-aware and more conscious of their position in the world and of their social responsibility. This essay first introduces a typology for understanding how this model of global servicelearning fits within current approaches to international service-learning. We then describe the global service-learning program in El Manzano Uno, Nicaragua and Providence, along with a set of civic practices that nurture international and local community engagement as part of a service-learning continuum. The essay concludes by examining the challenges encountered in developing and sustaining partnerships, engaging students, and ensuring the longer-lasting impact of the international service-learning experience. We have come to realize that, ultimately, it may be that these trips are more about learning than service which we see as a more appropriate emphasis for any kind of short-term international engagement including service-learning trips. Typology of global service-learning The growth of short-term study abroad should be seen as a welcome trend from an educational perspective. It allows more students to have an international experience, overcoming financial and other constraints that arise from a semester or year abroad commitment. It often introduces students to a target language and diverse cultures, leads to further explorations of global issues and travel, and is also more likely to be integrated into home school curricula (Vande Berg, Paige, & Lou, 2012). Global service-learning is a significant and growing area within the short-term study abroad experiences (Bringle, Hatcher & Jones, 2011). As two of the leading proponents of the field, Eric Hartman and Richard Kiely (2014) explain, global service-learning is distinctive in the study abroad experience in that: it is committed to intercultural competence development; it has a focus on structural analysis tied to consideration of power, privilege, and hegemonic assumptions; it takes place within a global marketization of volunteerism; it is typically immersive; and it engages the critical global civic and moral imagination (p. 56). The umbrella of “global service learning,” however, includes varying approaches. At Providence College alone we offer at least four different models for global service-learning, not to Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad Volume XXIX, Issue 2, Fall 2017 ©2017 Nuria Alonso García and Nicholas V. Longo. 37 mention other short-term abroad travel courses and co-curricular experiences such as international study trips, musical and athletic performances, and study away courses. The global service-learning options outlined below (and in Chart 1) offer important features for understanding the distinctive yet overlapping models for global service-learning. |
| Starting Page | 35 |
| Ending Page | 50 |
| Page Count | 16 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 29 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://frontiersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ALONSOGARCIA-LONGO-Doing-More-with-Less-XXIX-2.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
