4th International Service-Learning Summit
The 4th International Service-Learning Summit
Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University
October 23-25, 2016
Call for Proposals
Since 2011, the International Service-Learning (ISL) Summit has worked to develop an inclusive community of practice across stakeholders, including students, educators, practitioners, and community organizations – concerned with mobilizing for best practices and the highest standards in global service learning. Each ISL Summit has stimulated conversations around critical issues facing the field. Through an applied conference framework, participants have built community and determined action steps for the field. Previous ISL Summits have brought attention to the need for more rigorous assessment of student learning and community impact; to develop an online space to share tools and research to advance best practices in global service learning (see globalsl), along with emerging discussions to create a coordinating body that will support greater inclusion and increased collaboration across higher education programs, volunteer sending organizations, and host communities.
Last year’s ISL Summit at Duke University broke new ground – engaging over 30 community organizations in these efforts and providing key opportunities to give voice to diverse priorities and perspectives related to effective practice in global service-learning partnerships. Community organization representatives present at the conference included those working with nonprofit organizations in the United States, community-based organizations (CBOs) abroad, and nongovernmental organizations spanning many separate communities to support volunteering across cultures around the world. The upcoming ISL Summit at Kansas State University seeks proposals that prioritize community partner perspectives, community partnership/impact research, and case studies that involve community voice in the writing process (both co-written or co-edited by community partners) related to effective, inclusive partnerships that advance cooperative development and global learning.
This year’s ISL Summit seeks proposals for Conference Sessions and for Case Study Sessions, each of which are described in greater detail below. The proposal deadline has been extended to February 15, 2016.
Conference Sessions
The ISL Summit at Kansas State University’s Staley School of Leadership Studies seeks proposals for individual conference sessions and team panel presentations involving various stakeholders. Panel presentations will be 90 minutes long. These sessions should include strategies for opening discussion, in addition to sharing presentation content. No less than 45 minutes should be devoted to intentional discussion. Individuals who propose topics alone may be matched with others to form a themed panel.
Preference will be given to sessions that address:
- Domestic examples of global learning and cooperative development partnerships
- Effective practices in host communities (i.e., volunteer internship placement, homestay networks/vetting, orientation for students, homestay families, in-country staff and NGO supervisors, etc.)
- Flipped or collaborative cultural sensitivity/competency training
- Flipped or collaborative approaches to global citizenship development, global activism, or global solidarity-building
- Community-based research or research on global engagement
- Effective collaborations to jointly assess learning and community development outcomes
- Community-driven pedagogy, co-creation of global learning efforts, joint program planning, and effective community partnerships
- Research on global service-learning economies with attention to impact on host communities
- Partnership models that involve joint planning, co-evaluation, and collaborative research
Case Studies
Case study sessions should provide an applied setting for attendees to share knowledge, experience, and perspective as they engage in critical conversations about effective community partnerships and community impacts through global service-learning (GSL).
These case study sessions will have a dual purpose:
1) to help build a community of practice among summit participants and,
2) to introduce participants to practical examples of effective practice in reciprocal engagement/community partnerships in GSL.
Case studies should address outcomes related to community impact, as outlined by community partners. A preference will be given to cases primarily or jointly authored by community organizations/community partners. Case studies should 1) describe action and efforts across various stakeholders, 2) outline effective practice along with ongoing dilemmas, issues, and struggles, 3) include 3 to 4 open-ended questions facing the future of the partnership, 4) include a strategy for facilitating a session that is engaged and participatory for all attendees, and 5) be fewer than 6 pages. Case study examples from the 3rd ISL Summit are available here.
Summit Co-Hosts
Cornell University, Duke University, Kansas State University, Northwestern University, The University of Notre Dame, Washington University in St. Louis