By Eric Hartman 

Many thanks to Sacred Heart University and Connecticut Campus Compact for supporting a recent global service-learning faculty and staff development workshop. We focused on:

• Fundamentals of global service-learning
• Employing reflection models across immersive service-learning experiences to deepen students’ intercultural learning
• Ethical global partnerships through fair trade learning
  • See here for overarching GSL presentation on points above, as well as further explanation in respect to employing the culture pie exercise in conjunction with a This American Life episode
  • Most existing fair trade learning resources are compiled here 
• Cultivation of global citizenship and participation in global civil society
  • See here for additional presentation on global citizenship development, again employing reflective prompts before, during, and after disruptive experiences
• GSL course planning, employing Effective Use of Performance Objectives for Learning and Assessment  in conjunction with The course outcomes exercise, which draws on Wiggins & McTighe’s celebrated Understanding by Design approach to teaching and learning

Additional concepts, terms, and resources  shared during the day included:

Global Service Learning

“is a community-driven service experience that employs structured, critically reflective practice to better understand common human dignity; self; culture; positionality; socio-economic, political, and environmental issues; power relations; and social responsibility, all in global contexts” (Hartman & Kiely, 2014a, p. 60)

Critical Global Citizenship

“takes as a contingent yet firmly held truth that all humans are equally deserving of common dignity. It recognizes the vast diversity of truth systems that exist in the world and the possibility—indeed the certainty—that we will continue to more deeply understand and revise our sense of what it means to be fully human. Critical global citizen pioneers (we borrow this terminology from Richard Falk [2000], who recognized global citizens as being on a journey to an as-yet-unimagined tomorrow) understand the arrogance involved in “global thinking” (Esteva & Prakash, 1997) and therefore approach knowledge and action with deep humility. As pioneers committed to the notion of equal human dignity, however, they will move to action in ways consistent with affirmative postmodernists (Yappa, 1996), who recognize possibility for just action in specific situations and commitments” (Hartman & Kiely, 2014b, p. 234)
.

Fair Trade Learning

“Fair Trade Learning is global educational partnership exchange that prioritizes reciprocity in relationships through cooperative, cross-cultural participation in learning, service, and civil society efforts. It foregrounds the goals of economic equity, equal partnership, mutual learning, cooperative and positive social change, transparency, and sustainability. Fair Trade Learning explicitly engages the global civil society role of educational exchange in fostering a more just, equitable, and sustainable world” (Hartman, Paris, & Blache-Cohen, 2014, p. 110).

Key Commitments in Fair Trade Learning

• Community-driven learning, service, planning, representation, evaluation, program adjustments, and improvements. This community-driven principle is built on commitment to deep mutual respect and informs all FTL conversations.
• Caring Credibly: Systematic protection of vulnerable populations
• Capital-conscious: Financial transparency coupled with deliberate efforts to enhance equity and ensure just remuneration
• Connecting: Facilitated growth opportunities for community members, students, and other stakeholders to leverage experience toward lifelong global civil society and global citizenship commitments

References

Hartman, E., and Kiely, R. (2014a). Pushing boundaries: Introduction to the global service-learning special section. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 21(1): 55 – 63.

Hartman, E. & Kiely, R. (2014b). Interrogating global citizenship. In M. Johnson & P. M. Green (Eds.), Crossing Boundaries: Tension and Transformation in International Service-Learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

Hartman, E., Morris-Paris, C., & Blache-Cohen, B. (2014). Fair trade learning: Ethical standards for international volunteer tourism. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 14, 108 – 116.

Additional Resources

GSL Research Database: http://compact.org/global-sl/wiki/gsl-practice-research-wiki/gsl-research/

GSL Tools Collection: http://compact.org/global-sl/wiki/gsl-practice-research-wiki/gsl-tools-and-syllabi/ (e.g. course activities, partnership resources, syllabi)

Campus Compact: http://compact.org/

Campus Community Partnerships for Health Engaged Faculty Institute Curriculum: https://ccph.memberclicks.net/assets/Documents/EFI/engaged_curriculum_9.22.15%20final.pdf

Education Abroad Faculty Toolkit: http://www.uky.edu/toolkit/node/4

Eric Hartman is an Assistant Professor in the Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University and Editor of globalsl.org.