Examining Developmental Readiness in an International Service-Learning Context

From Sudbury to Sogog: Stories from a Canadian Student's Health Promotion Without Borders Excursion to Mongolia

“…While some of these topics are introduced in this paper, given the significance of these topics and the growing body of related literature, more research is needed to better understand how these topics shape the experiences and outcomes of those involved in HPWB excursions. In the meantime, the HPWB Program can facilitate greater reflection and discourse on these topics among future HPWB participants by: (1) increasing the training provided to participants on these topics during the pre-excursion phase (see research from Lattanzi & Pechak (2011) on pre-excursion cultural competency training); (2) facilitating daily group reflection sessions and providing questions for structured journalling related to these topics during the excursion (see research from Asfeldt, Hvenegaard, & Purc-Stephenson (2018) on the benefits of group journaling and reflection; see research from Hatcher, Bringle, & Muthiah, (2004) on the benefits of structured journaling); and (3) increasing participants' post-excursion requirements to include writing a structured reflective essay, sending thank-you cards to host country partners and host community members, and/or connecting with past and prospective HPWB participants to share experiences (see research from Namaste (2017) for sample reflective essay questions; see research from Lattanzi & Pechak (2011) about the importance of post-excursion communication with communities; see research from Taylor et al (2017), supporting the creation of opportunities for post-excursion students to connect with pre-excursion students).…”

“…These excursions enable students to help people, develop global health awareness, and experience diverse cultures while travelling (Crabtree, 2008;Fechter, 2014). However, there is increasing recognition of the ethical considerations surrounding these excursions and the call for greater awareness and critical reflection on matters of power and privilege as they relate to these excursions (Abedini et al, 2012;Akhurst, 2016;Crabtree, 2008;Darling et al, 2014;Fechter, 2014;Lattanzi & Pechak, 2011;Taylor et al, 2017). Nevertheless, as the prevalence of ISL excursions continues to rise, so does the need to explore the variety of ISL experiences available to students and the experiences of students participating in these ISL excursions (Fechter, 2014).…”

“…The idea of experiencing tension between dissimilar elements of an immersive excursion appears in Service-Learning (SL) and ISL literature through discussions regarding dissonance (Akhurst, 2016;Taylor et al, 2017). Dissonance is a "psychological tension" (Brehm & Cohen, 1962).…”

Exploring the Value of Service Learning: Students’ assessments of Personal, Procedural and Content Learning

“…Some studies draw on experiential learning (Dewey, 1936;Kolb, 1984), focusing their work on how the combination of classes and community work encourages learning to occur in continuous circles of the application of concepts to practice, critical thinking and learning through experience and refl ection (Gerstenblatt, 2014;Naudé, 2015). Other studies identify improv ements in attitudes related to social responsibility, either focusing on individual characteristics (Richards and Levesque-Bristol, 2016;Blankson, Rochester and Watkins, 2015;Taylor, Jones, Massey, Mickey, Reynolds and Jackson, 2017) or binding it to the importance of involvement with others and reciprocal relationships in community work (McMillan, 2011;Yep, 2014;Haddix, 2015). These works draw on the possibilities of S-L to foster transformative learning as a holistic change in students (Kiely, 2005;Naudé, 2015).…”

“…These works draw on the possibilities of S-L to foster transformative learning as a holistic change in students (Kiely, 2005;Naudé, 2015). Some studies following this trend have analysed the effect of student characteristics, such as the one by Taylor et al (2017) that tested the mediation of developmental readiness transformation in S-L experiences or the study by Richards and Levesque-Bristol (2016), which describes the importance of self-regulated motivation and selfeffi cacy in civic learning. Other studies focus on the effects that the pedagogical practice has on the students (Kilgo, 2015) or student's satisfaction (Folgueiras Bertomeu, Luna González and Puig, 2013).…”