International Service Learning


Book Description

International service learning (ISL) programs are growing more popular with students looking to advance their skills and knowledge to become global citizens. While the benefits of these programs among students are well documented, little is known about the implications they have on host communities themselves. This volume explores the impact of ISL programs on members of host communities (e.g. host families and local partner NGOs) who are increasingly influenced by the presence of international students in their lives. Drawing upon post-colonial, feminist and other critical and decolonizing theories, it examines the complicated power relations between North American ISL students and host communities in East and West Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. It stresses the importance of developing trusting relations between ISL students, faculty and individuals in the host communities to create mutually engaging learning experiences.




International Service Learning


Book Description

International Service Learning (ISL) borrows from the domains of service learning, study abroad, and international education to create a new pedagogy that adds new and unique value from this combination. It is a high-impact pedagogy with the potential to improve students’ academic attainment, contribute to their personal growth, and develop global civic outcomes. The international service experience provides opportunities for additional learning goals, activities, and relationships that are not available in a domestic service learning course or in a traditional study abroad course. The service experience develops reflection while shedding light on and providing an added dimension to the curricular component of the study abroad course. The international education component further broadens students’ perspectives by providing opportunities to compare and contrast North American and international perspectives on course content.This book focuses on conducting research on ISL, which includes developing and evaluating hypotheses about ISL outcomes and measuring its impact on students, faculty, and communities. The book argues that rigorous research is essential to improving the quality of ISL’s implementation and delivery, and providing the evidence that will lead to wider support and adoption by the academy, funders, and partners. It is intended for both practitioners and scholars, providing guidance and commentary on good practice. The volume provides a pioneering analysis of and understanding of why and under what conditions ISL is an effective pedagogy.Individual chapters discuss conceptual frameworks, research design issues, and measurement strategies related to student learning outcomes; the importance of ISL course and program design; the need for faculty development activities to familiarize faculty with the component pedagogical strategies; the need for resources and collaboration across campus units to develop institutional capacity for ISL; and the role that community constituencies should assume as co-creators of the curriculum, co-educators in the delivery of the curriculum, and co-investigators in the evaluation of and study of ISL. The contributors demonstrate sensitivity to ethical implications of ISL, to issues of power and privilege, to the integrity of partnerships, to reflection, reciprocity, and community benefits




The Wiley International Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice


Book Description

A comprehensive guide to service-learning for social justice written by an international panel of experts The Wiley International Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice offers a review of recent trends in social justice that have been, until recently, marginalized in the field of service-learning. The authors offer a guide for establishing and nurturing social justice in a variety of service-learning programs, and show that incorporating the principles of social justice in service-learning can empower communities to resist and disrupt oppressive power structures, and work for solidarity with host and partner communities. With contributions from an international panel of experts, the Handbook contains a critique of the field’s roots in charity; a review of the problematization of Whitenormativity, paired with the bolstering of diverse voices and perspectives; and information on the embrace of emotional elements including tension, ambiguity, and discomfort. This important resource: Considers the role of the community in service-learning and other community‐engaged models of education and practice Explores the necessity of disruption and dissonance in service-learning Discusses a number of targeted issues that often arise in service-learning contexts Offers a practical guide to establishing and nurturing social justice at the heart of an international service-learning program Written for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, scholars, and educators, The Wiley International Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice highlights social justice as a conflict‐ridden struggle against inequality, xenophobia, and oppression, and offers practical suggestions for incorporating service-learning programs in various arenas.




Research Anthology on Service Learning and Community Engagement Teaching Practices


Book Description

The need for more empathetic and community-focused students must begin with educators, as service-learning has begun to grow in popularity throughout the years. By implementing service and community aspects into the classroom at an early age, educators have a greater chance of influencing students and creating a new generation of service-minded individuals who care about their communities. Teachers must have the necessary skills and current information available to them to provide students with quality service learning and community engagement curricula. The Research Anthology on Service Learning and Community Engagement Teaching Practices provides a thorough investigation of the current trends, best practices, and challenges of teaching practices for service learning and community engagement. Using innovative research, it outlines the struggles, frameworks, and recommendations necessary for educators to engage students and provide them with a comprehensive education in service learning. Covering topics such as lesson planning, teacher education, and cultural humility, it is a crucial reference for educators, administrators, universities, lesson planners, researchers, academicians, and students.




Learning Service


Book Description

"This year, over ten million people will go abroad, eager to find the perfect blend of adventure and altruism. Volunteer travel can help you find your place in the world--and find out what you're made of. So why do so many international volunteer programs fail to make an impact? Why do some do more harm than good? Learning Service offers a powerful new approach that invites volunteers to learn from host communities before trying to 'help' them. It's also a thoughtful critique of the sinister side of volunteer travel; a guide for turning good intentions into effective results; and essential advice on how to make the most of your experience."--Amazon.com.




Service-Learning in Literacy Education


Book Description

This edited collection will stand as the first volume that specifically describes service-learning programs and courses designed as part of teacher education programs in the fields of literacy education, secondary English education, elementary language arts education, and related fields. The contributing authors describe the programs they have developed at their universities and/or in their local communities, providing information about the rationale for their initiative, the design of the course, the outcomes of the experience, and other matters that will help literacy educators develop similar courses and experiences of their own. Additionally, this edited collection will fill a great gap in the field’s knowledge of alternative forms of teacher education. It will provide descriptions of service-learning initiatives that have been field-tested with demonstrable results. Thus far the field has produced widely scattered articles in journals covering a variety of disciplines, but no definitive collection of papers in which service-learning designed to promote literacy instruction is housed in a single volume edited for cross-referencing and thematic categorization. The two editors have developed courses and received grants to support service-learning initiatives at their universities and believe that others might develop similar programs if they had better understandings of their value and design. Their intention with this volume is to promote service-learning more broadly among literacy educators.




Learning to Serve


Book Description

Service learning, as defined by the editors, is the generation of knowledge that is of benefit to the community as a whole. This seventh volume in the Outreach Scholarship book series contributes a unique discussion of how service learning functions as a critical cornerstone of outreach scholarship. The sections and chapters of this book marshal evidence in support of the idea that undergraduate service learning, infused throughout the curriculum and coupled with outreach scholarship, is an integral means through which higher education can engage people and institutions of the communities of this nation in a manner that perpetuate civil society. The editors, through this series of models of service learning, make a powerful argument for the necessity of "engaged institutions".




From Passion to Objectivity


Book Description

This volume is the seventh in the Advances in Service-Learning Research series, and presents a collection of papers selected from those presented at the Sixth International Service-learning Research, hosted by Portland State University in Portland, Oregon in October 2006. The theme of the conference, which is also the title of this volume, was "From Passion to Objectivity: International and Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Service- Learning Research." This theme was selected to showcase several important topics in contemporary servicelearning and community engagement research. Of key importance is the way in which the chapters selected for this volume reflect the evolution and maturation of research in the field of service-learning-moving from descriptive narratives of the passion for addressing social problems and inequities that was evident in much of the early research (and is still reflected today) to increasingly sophisticated research that draws on multiple methodologies, presents solid evidence, and offers the basis for replication and further exploration through future research.




Heritage Speakers of Spanish and Study Abroad


Book Description

Heritage Speakers of Spanish and Study Abroad is an edited volume that provides emerging research on heritage speakers of Spanish in immersion contexts in theoretical, empirical, and programmatic terms. This edited collection seeks to expand our understanding of heritage speakers of Spanish by incorporating research on their linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic development during and after a sojourn abroad, by discussing the complexities of their identity formation and negotiation during immersive stays, and by highlighting programmatic innovations that could be leveraged to better serve diverse learners in study abroad contexts. This volume advances the fields of both heritage language education and research on immersion study in a variety of ways, and will be of interest to scholars of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and educational linguistics, especially those interested in study abroad programming and Spanish for heritage speakers.




The Complete Guide to Service Learning


Book Description

The Complete Guide to Service Learning is the go-to resource in the fast-growing field of service learning. It is an award-winning treasury of service activities, community service project ideas, quotes, reflections, and resources that can help teachers and youth workers engage young hearts and minds in reaching out and giving back. Author and internationally known service learning expert Cathryn Berger Kaye presents service learning—its importance, steps, essential elements, and challenges—within a curricular context and organized by theme. This second edition maintains the easy-to-use format of the original and is enhanced with updated information on service learning programs and pedagogy. Benefits include: A blueprint for service learning, from getting started to assessing the experience Integration of K–12 service learning standards Inspiring quotations, background information and resources, preparation activities, real-life examples, and community service project ideas that have worked for other teachers 13 thematic chapters covering topics commonly selected for service learning projects such as animal protection and care, elders, emergency readiness, the environment, hunger and homelessness, literacy, special needs, and more Hundreds of real-life field-tested service learning projects Ideas for fortifying service learning programs by incorporating global literacy and creating a culture of service The online digital content has over 200 pages of forms and bonus materials and includes: All of the planning and tracking forms from the book, many customizable 39 sample planning templates for all service learning themes at each grade level 10 original essays written by experts in the field 22 author interviews, including interviews with authors Laurie David, Cynthia Lord, Jordan Sonnenblick, Kathe Koja, Danica Novgorodoff, Janet Tashjian, Deborah Ellis, Sonia Levitin, Ellen Senisi, and more! More than 300 additional “Bookshelf” recommendations that describe books that offer teachable moments about community service, responsibility, caring, and helping, as well as ways to encourage discussion and combine literature and service learning. Drawing on her years as a classroom teacher and international service learning consultant, trainer, speaker, and program developer, Cathryn Berger Kaye tells you everything you want and need to know about service learning. Recommended for K–12 teachers and administrators, college and university faculty, youth group leaders, government agencies and nonprofits, and after-school programs. Teachers, parents, and group leaders: Use this valuable resource in a classroom or youth-serving organization, after-school program, or as a family.