Start Date
6-6-2013 1:45 PM
End Date
6-6-2013 2:55 PM
Description
Drawing upon a wealth of recent scholarship, this interactive workshop explores key challenges, questions, and contradictions inherent in International Service-Learning (ISL) while showcasing effective programs offered through Southern Utah University (SUU). A public university of 8,000 students with an emphasis on the liberal arts, SUU is one of 311 universities and colleges in the USA designated as a Carnegie Community Engaged Institution. The co-presenters are, respectively, the Director of the Community Engagement Center and the founding Director of the Rural Health Scholars Program. Together and separately, they have organized innovative short-term ISL programs in Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Ghana (most recently in May 2012). This presentation explores important theoretical concepts such as “intercultural competencies” and “global citizenship” while also discussing proven and practical strategies for successful ISL programs. The co-presenters address key questions: What is “learned” in a typical ISL program? What “skills” can ISL programs claim to develop for participants? How does ISL differ when promoted in different cultural contexts and for varied durations? To what degree can any ISL program promote “mutuality” and “reciprocity,” the central concepts of authentic service-learning? To address these questions, the co-presenters will engage workshop participants in a meaningful discussion about ISL, “a pedagogy that is best suited to prepare college graduates to be active global citizens in the 21st century,” according to scholars Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher. To move beyond theoretical concerns, the workshop will also showcase best practices at SUU and other institutions. The co-presenters will discuss effective partnerships, assessment, and reflection exercises and share materials that have been helpful to scores of students in multiple ISL environments. In promoting more skilled service-learning programs, this workshop seeks to advance ISL as a rich pedagogy with great potential to transform individual students, varied campuses, and the larger global community. Moreover, the co-presenters are eager to learn from others engaged in service-learning programs and practices from around the world.
Recommended Citation
Mulderink, E., & Osborn, R. (2013, June). Matching theory and practice in International Service-Learning (ISL). Paper presented at the 4th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning: Service-Learning as a Bridge from Local to Global: Connected world, Connected future, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China.
Included in
Matching theory and practice in International Service-Learning (ISL)
Drawing upon a wealth of recent scholarship, this interactive workshop explores key challenges, questions, and contradictions inherent in International Service-Learning (ISL) while showcasing effective programs offered through Southern Utah University (SUU). A public university of 8,000 students with an emphasis on the liberal arts, SUU is one of 311 universities and colleges in the USA designated as a Carnegie Community Engaged Institution. The co-presenters are, respectively, the Director of the Community Engagement Center and the founding Director of the Rural Health Scholars Program. Together and separately, they have organized innovative short-term ISL programs in Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Ghana (most recently in May 2012). This presentation explores important theoretical concepts such as “intercultural competencies” and “global citizenship” while also discussing proven and practical strategies for successful ISL programs. The co-presenters address key questions: What is “learned” in a typical ISL program? What “skills” can ISL programs claim to develop for participants? How does ISL differ when promoted in different cultural contexts and for varied durations? To what degree can any ISL program promote “mutuality” and “reciprocity,” the central concepts of authentic service-learning? To address these questions, the co-presenters will engage workshop participants in a meaningful discussion about ISL, “a pedagogy that is best suited to prepare college graduates to be active global citizens in the 21st century,” according to scholars Robert Bringle and Julie Hatcher. To move beyond theoretical concerns, the workshop will also showcase best practices at SUU and other institutions. The co-presenters will discuss effective partnerships, assessment, and reflection exercises and share materials that have been helpful to scores of students in multiple ISL environments. In promoting more skilled service-learning programs, this workshop seeks to advance ISL as a rich pedagogy with great potential to transform individual students, varied campuses, and the larger global community. Moreover, the co-presenters are eager to learn from others engaged in service-learning programs and practices from around the world.