International Service Learning: Decolonizing Possibilities?

International Service Learning (ISL) programs are now ubiquitous, and the concept seems immutable: well-meaning young people from the North visiting "host" communities in the South in order to provide "service" and "to learn."  The adulatory literature is replete with the purported benefits of these programs, both to those participating from the North, and to the communities in the South. By comparison, more critical follow-up of participants from the North suggest otherwise – that they serve mainly to reinforce values of charity for the "other" and do little to aid in understanding the reasons for the unequal relations of "underdevelopment."  Similarly, a number of more recent studies have raised questions about the impact of these programs on communities in the South, and the extent to which they may serve to (re)instill neo-colonial economic and/or cultural relations.This paper presents and discusses findings from a multi-year study in a number of rural communities in Nicaragua which have hosted ISL programs, undertaken with the express purpose of exploring the modes and effects of the interactions between the visitors and the community residents. Through field observation, interviews and focus groups, a complex picture emerges of community engagement with, and reaction to, these Northern visitors, and the impact they effect on their Southern hosts. Of particular interest, we examine the possibilities these programs may have for interrupting traditional knowledge-power relations and understandings on both sides

An Elusive Search for Peace: The Rise and Fall of the World Federation of Education Associations (WFEA), 1923-1941

AbstractIn the aftermath of the First World War, the National Education Association in the USA actively organized to establish an international association of education associations. The founding conference was held in San Francisco in 1923, and first biennial conference of the newly-formed World Federation of Education Associations (WFEA) was held two years later in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although the organization was able to hold six subsequent biennial gatherings, attracting large delegations, almost from the outset it seemed to be riven by tension and dissent, both internal and external. As a result, it did not even survive its second decade, disappearing from view during the Second World War. This paper explores the rise and fall of the WFEA, suggesting that the seeds of its failure were sown even during its inaugural gatherings.RésuméÀ la suite de la Première Guerre mondiale, la National Education Association aux États-Unis travailla activement afin d’établir une association internationale des associations d’éducation. La fondation a eu lieu à San Francisco en 1923 et le premier congrès biennal de la nouvelle World Federation of Education Associations (WFEA) se déroula deux ans plus tard à Édimbourg en Écosse. Malgré le fait que la Fédération ait pu tenir six congrès biennaux attirant d’importantes délégations, l’organisme fut affaibli dès ses débuts par des tensions et des désaccords internes et externes. En conséquence, la Fédération n’a pu survivre très longtemps et disparut durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Cet article retrace la montée et la chute de la WFEA et démontre que les germes de son échec étaient présents lors de ses premières réunions

ISL Programs and Neo-Colonialism: The Response of One Nicaraguan Village

Over the past five years, through interviews and focus groups, the authors have been exploring the impact of international service learning (ISL) programs on host villages and villagers in the south. While most communities express ongoing interest, this paper focuses on one rural Nicaraguan village that decided to end their long-standing involvement in ISL, citing the North’s persistent lack of sensitivity to the interests and needs of their community. Drawing on Basso (1996) and Gruenwald (2003), we explore the concept of place-making - drawing the individual into a collective story and focusing on discovering social meaning in and though the places they inhabit. We argue that the ISL has the potential to challenge and transform both the visitors and the host community members, but for that to happen the host community must exercise agency with respect to defining the behavioural and learning expectations of their visitors

Challenging Problematic Dichotomies: Bridging the Gap Between Critical Pedagogy and Liberal Academic Approaches to Global Education

This empirical exploration examines two case studies involving secondary school students’ involvement in global education. The paper begins with brief discussions of three related concepts (global citizenship education, study abroad, and international service learning), followed by a description of the case studies and an analysis of our empirical findings. We conclude with some comment on the possible connections between our findings and the ongoing tensions between advocates of explicitly critical/transformative pedagogy, as compared to those favouring a liberal academic perspective – suggesting that, in some circumstances at least, there may be more similarities than differences in outcomes for individual students relating to their critical thinking and social awareness

A Nicaraguan/Guatemalan Encuentro: Villagers Hosting International Service Learning Groups Reflect on Their Experiences

In August 2017, 27 residents from four Nicaraguan and four Guatemalan communities met in Managua, Nicaragua, to discuss their experiences hosting International Service Learning (ISL) groups from the Global North. Despite having many positive recollections, these host community representatives identified a number of issues of concern. This article describes the background to this encuentro (gathering), the issues raised, and the solutions identified in order to encourage Global South host organizations to become better able to articulate their expectations of their Northern visitors and to insist that Northern-sending agencies become more responsive to the expectations of their Southern hosts.    Keywords: North–South partnerships, Southern epistemologies, international service learning, short-term study abroad, experiential educationEn août 2017, 27 résidents de quatre communautés nicaraguayennes et quatre communautés guatémaltèques se sont réunis à Managua, au Nicaragua, pour discuter de leurs expériences en tant qu’organisateurs de groupes d’apprentissage par le service international (International Service Learning, ISL) du nord global. En dépit de nombreux souvenirs positifs, ces représentants de la communauté d’accueil ont identifié un certain nombre de problèmes. Ce document décrit le contexte de cet encuentro (rassemblement), les problèmes soulevés et les solutions identifiées afin d’encourager les organisations hôtes du Global South à mieux exprimer leurs attentes vis-à-vis de leurs visiteurs du nord et à insister pour que les agences d’envoi du nord deviennent plus réactives aux attentes de leurs hôtes du sud.   Mots-clés : partenariat Nord–Sud, épistémologies du Sud, apprentissage par le serviceinternational, études à l’étranger à court durée, éducation expérientiell

Ontario School Teachers: A Gendered View of the 1930s

This particular article arises out of a longitudinal empirical study on teacher socialization with specific regard to relations of gender, ethnicity, and race. It focuses on a number of observations about Ontario teachers in the 1930s:1. The overall percentage of men in teaching rose, but much more so in rural areas than in the cities. 2. Salaries of teachers dropped considerably during this time. 3. There was a significant change in teacher certification procedures, within which gender played a large role. Salaries were also affected by these certification changes.4. Average ages of teachers increased significantly during this decade. 5. In general, teachers had more years of teaching experience than their colleagues did in the previous decade. However, there were significant gender differences in these figures. 6. Both formal and informal policies against the employment of married women as teachers were enforced. This article details these observations, and then discusses what significance they may have had, in the context of overall 'gender relations' among teachers in Ontario. A number of relevant sources for the 1930s were examined: annual reports of the Ontario Department of Education; annual reports, minutes, and handbooks of the Toronto Board of Education; and contemporary newspapers. In addition, reprinted transcripts of two groups of interviews have been drawn on—six men and women who taught (and later became principals) in Toronto in the 1930s, and a number of women teachers from the 1930s who were inter viewed for a 1980s study on women's experiences during the Depression