Kathryn Burleson, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC 

The intention of the Developing Cultural Mindedness guidebook is to facilitate an understanding and an outlook that will allow all stakeholders of intercultural service to have the most rich and meaningful experience possible. Designed for leaders and participants of intercultural service (broadly construed), the text and activities highlight how understanding oneself and others as cultural beings is the foundation for empathetic and respectful service. I am happy to share this as open-source resource.

A brief story of how it came about: The idea to write this guidebook came from three non-profits that I have a relationship with through my engagement in service learning. Each heard of what I do in my Cultural Psychology course, and asked if I would share how I prepare my students for an intercultural service learning experience. Importantly, the non-profits and the populations they work with include a wide array of people; the audience that I wrote for includes professionals in the music and food industry who serve as in-kind partners with a non-profit, individuals preparing to go on international Christian mission trips (youth through older adults seeking cultural preparedness training), and college students. In addition, two of the non-profits hoped to use the materials as a part of their staff and leadership training.

Armed with a sabbatical and pleased with such a direct request, I set out to write a curriculum that encapsulates and blends the sociocultural perspective of psychology with evidence-based practices of service learning. In conversation with the non-profits’ leadership, it was agreed that three workshops with text, discussion prompts, and activities would be a fitting length for depth and practicability. At the start, I was also aware that the majority of the anticipated readers would be unaccustomed to thinking about culture as something that everyone experiences; as a result, I worked with the notion that most of my readers would be culturally-unaware living in the US with mainstream values. Furthermore, it was important for me to remember that although it is safe to assume that the readers are planning to engage in intercultural service, the readers are not necessarily college students (as one of the non-profit’s leaders told me, “My participants don’t do homework.”). This led me to narrow in on aspects of the Cultural Psychology course that I view as necessary for preparation and to translate the disciplinary rhetoric into a more user-friendly text that strives to be more inclusive (like the switch from calling it a “curriculum” to a “guidebook”). My partners were gracious in providing feedback and direction as the writing unfolded and I hope that future users will also share how to strengthen the work. Feedback is always welcome.

Kathryn Burleson is a Psychology Professor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. She is an active proponent of service learning and utilizes the pedagogy in the majority of her courses covering child, adolescent, and adult development, cultural psychology, and psychology of creativity. Her continued dedication to service learning was honored in 2011 when she was awarded the Andrew Summers Award for Faculty Leadership in Service. As the Director of General Education for Warren Wilson College, she coordinated the full revision of the general education program, championing the inclusion of “engaged citizenship” as one of the college’s three overall educational outcomes. kburleson(at)interculturalservice(dot)org.