Noel Habashy

As Global Service Learning programs grow, so do the variety of philosophies, practices, and motivations. The numbers of international service programs have increased and the “marketplace” of options can create a commodification of such programs. While there are countless partnerships formed around the globe, there are few measurements of what makes a “good” program and strong outcomes. Without strong standards of best practice, the demands of visiting students can be the factor which both creates the partnership and measures its effectiveness. It has become increasingly important to develop effective standards and codes by which to measure and evaluate partnerships.

On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, twenty-six participants from multiple nations gathered online to discuss various standards and frameworks for effective global service learning and international volunteering partnerships (video recording below). Participants represented universities, NGOs, and third-party organizations which organize service learning programs.

The guest participants on the panel included:

• Genevieve Brown, Executive Director, International Volunteer Programs Association
• Gonzalo Duarte, Executive Director, Compañeros Inc.
• Philip Mudge, Volunteer Quality Project Officer, Comhlámh
• Brandon Blache-Cohen, Executive Director, Amizade Global Service-Learning 

The session was facilitated by Judith Lasker of Lehigh University and myself, Noel Habashy of Penn State University.

While all of the presenters shared different codes, standards, or frameworks, a common theme that emerged during the conversation was the importance of power-sharing between university and community partners. Presenters shared about the importance of appropriately valuing community partnerships as, unfortunately, all too often local organizations become the people who “just take care of the logistics in country” while the “big plans and ideas” come from universities and organizers on the outside. Local communities and organizations, whether in the Global South or in a community nearby, must play a substantive role in the examination of the partnerships and development of the programs. This point was succinctly summed up in the following example:

Don’t just create a promotional brochure and ask the community partner “What do you think?” Instead, start a conversation with a partner by suggesting, “Let’s create a brochure together.”

While these efforts can take much more time, the benefits include a richer partnership, a more responsive relationship, and ultimately, a higher quality program for all parties. (Additionally, the marketing example is not a benign one as how programs are marketed reinforces or creates students’ and volunteers’ impressions of quality.) View the webinar recording:

In addition to a wealth of resources shared by the session’s panelists, other participants shared excellent sources of information for examining and reflecting upon the nature of a global partnership. Here is a compiled list of resources shared by all participants in the webinar:

Africa is a Country Blog

Catholic Health Association of the United States | Medical, Mission & Immersion Trips

Comhlámh Code of Code Practice and Introductory Video

Compañeros Inc. | Six Standards of Practice

Fair Trade Learning: Advancing Global Partnerships and Introductory Video

International Volunteer Programs Association (IVPA) Principles and Practices and detailed here

The Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations

Working Group on Global Activities by Students at Pre-Health Levels (GASP)

The frameworks presented serve as a valuable tool for evaluation and examination of global service learning partnerships. Assessing partnerships and best practices within the field allows us to cultivate ethical global partnerships that enhance the development of communities, students, universities, NGOs and more!

Noel Habashy is a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University. He is researching the impacts and perspectives of host communities in the Global South that receive service-learning students from the Global North.  He has worked in the field of international education for over 10 years and has lived in five countries on three continents.