Intercultural Service Learning: Alternative Strategies Learning Theory
The goal of this paper is to recommend a new methodology of intercultural education built on performance and learning from theory. This paper recommends an action–oriented methodology based on Dewey’s learning theory (Dewey, 1938). The paper offers an overview of current intercultural education and training methodologies and explains service learning pedagogy in the intercultural area. Some means of implementing service learning in an intercultural communication course are offered.
Out of the Classroom—Into the Community
Two years ago, I felt my students were suffocating in the classroom. They read about the theories and issues related to different cultures but never really fleshed out their knowledge. Their questions were interesting, but I was not able to give them solid enough answers to satisfy their needs. I began wondering what I could do beyond the traditional classroom setting to reward their curiosity while still teaching the fundamental theory and supporting facts related to cross–cultural communication. After considering my options, I decided that a service learning strategy could be an effective tool for extending pedagogy and classroom learning to students’ experiences in the real world.
As part of an intercultural communication class, students were asked to use theories of cross–cultural communication to implement a service learning project. The intention was to directly study the values and beliefs of another culture through personal interaction to further develop an understanding of cross–cultural terminology. Students would also learn increased tolerance for other cultures through knowledge rather than speculation.
Ideally, cross–cultural communication classes should be designed to empower students by providing possibilities for them to have direct experience with the subjects discussed in class. Such cross–cultural service learning helps students to extend their education outside the classroom by getting involved in projects directly benefiting their communities. One of the most important points is that students learn about their own culture and biases, stereotypes and their ethnocentrism.
In its simplest terms, service learning combines traditional classroom experiences with significant experiences in field placements where pertinent social issues are being played out. Service learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with a structure designed to promote student learning and development. According to Godfrey (1999), “Service learning pedagogies stand apart from much of traditional business education in that these pedagogies do not seek, nor claim, value neutrality” (365). People learn by concrete experiences with the real world, by reflective observation of their own lived experience, and by active experimentation to discover cause–and–effect relationships or to determine which of many solutions prove viable (Godfrey, 1999). Service learning pedagogies find legitimacy in higher education because the important learning takes place as a result of the combination of abstract conceptualization and concrete experience with reflection on the entire experience.
Rationale and Philosophy of Using Service Learning in the Classroom
Cross–cultural service provides the community with both a service (from the students) and feedback (from the agency), thereby reinforcing the curriculum. Cross–cultural service learning provides students with opportunities to use skills and knowledge in real–life situations. It enhances what is taught in class by extending learning beyond the classroom. Students develop intellectually through active participation in thoughtfully organized experiences led by experts in the field (Jocoby, 1996). They move toward understanding the feelings of a group and the realization that other cultures are usually not the same as their own. We know people generally learn by observing and participating much better than by just reading (Bandura and McDonald 1963). It is easy to describe theory, but it does not hit home until students experience their own ethnocentrism and have had opportunities to reflect upon it.
A deep and abiding truth is that when we help others, we help ourselves. We learn things about others, about life, and about ourselves that are enriching, even ennobling. Service learning enriches students and provides services to the larger community by creating situations in which students help others (Boyer, 1996).
As a faculty member, I also discovered that service learning brought new life to the classroom and enhanced student performance on traditional measures of learning. It increased student interest in the subject discussions, taught them new problem–solving skills, and made teaching more enjoyable for me. Through this project, I discovered cross– cultural service learning to be an indispensable method in educating citizens. Not enough can be said about gaining an understanding of someone else’s culture firsthand. I found that in the class with service learning, the students had higher academic achievement on their final writing. Other research supports the contention that service learning has a positive impact on personal, attitudinal, moral, social, and cognitive outcomes (Bringle, 1996; Cohen and Kinsey, 1994; Giles and Eyler, 1994). In the best cases, students see their ethnocentrism and their own prejudices and learn about their own beliefs when they reach a point of reflection. (This point is a final paper or project in my classes.) They often see that they have been evaluating people from other cultures based on the values of their own culture, a natural reaction because we use our own world view to validate our experiences. Through cross–cultural service learning, we learn that each culture provides its own logic.
Cross–cultural service learning can broaden and enrich a teacher’s sense of how diversity increases the community’s potential to be a more powerful learning community. Therefore, future teachers can expand their understanding of talent and of the eagerness of students to serve others through sharing their talents (Claus and Ogden, 1999). Service learning activities teach students that learning is a socio–contextual process most powerful when collaboration and reciprocity are valued (Eyler and Giles, 1999; Swick, 1999). Furthermore, educational researchers have found that when students participate in service learning, they develop problem–solving skills and social competence (Meyers, 1999).
According to Krystal (1999), service learning is transforming experience. Students who are lost are lured back to academia because of service learning. Those with little respect for others can develop loving relationships with adopted partners from other cultures.
In March 2000, I offered an upper–level course in cross–cultural differences at Ohio University—Zanesville. I used service learning to underscore the objectives of the course and to enhance the lives of students in class and community life. With service learning, I promoted the idea of learning as a socio–contextual process. To promote collaboration and reciprocity, I required students to use information from classroom lectures to guide them in their hands–on community work.
In this course I did not deny the very real value of traditional pedagogical strategies in some contexts, for some purposes, and for some students. Obviously, no single strategy will work all of the time for all students. But if traditional lecture, discussion, and individual research projects—all of which I use in my classes—continue to serve a useful purpose, contemporary circumstances call for more strategies like collaborative learning, problem–based learning, learning communities, and community–based learning. The benefit of service learning is that it addresses these new approaches in a coherent way. I have been able to adopt the strong points of both traditional and more experiential pedagogies to strengthen the class.
Students received instruction to make contact with someone from another culture and country. They were provided with lists of people they could contact. They also had the option of choosing someone on their own. Throughout the length of this contact, they were to learn about the person’s culture, beliefs, values, customs, and principles. They were also to teach their own culture, customs, and beliefs to their new friends. For the final step in the process, students wrote reflective papers about their experiences. They shared their thoughts through the papers and in formal presentations to the class.
In addition to reflective papers and presentations, they also responded to a survey from me. In their responses, all the students stated that the cross–cultural service–learning project was the most valuable learning activity they had ever experienced. It made a difference in their lives and communities. They noted that they felt like a part of their friends’ communities and that they had served those communities as well as their own. In short, they learned from the experience. I found their comments personally satisfying because they epitomized my objective in adopting the strategy in my class.
One of the students wrote, “I never knew how difficult it was for international people to live in the United States. They are missing their families, but they are willing to accept and tolerate the conditions just because they wanted to help their families survive and be proud of them.” The students’ papers and reports indicated that they learned the meaning of key concepts from the course: individualism, the stranger, and the collective culture.
Another student wrote, “I was so quick to evaluate and judge people during my interaction with people from another culture. I learned during this activity that this behavior is not right. For example, during my communication and interaction with them, I learned if they do not have good eye contact or if they do not eat the same foods that I eat, if they are late in their appointment, I do not have a right to evaluate them based on my cultural worldview. In the past I have done it, and my judgment interferes with my intercultural communication and better understanding of others’ cultures.”
The student who met with a Pakistani family wrote, “The family was very well–known in the community but did not have much interaction with the community.” The father in the family was a prominent physician, and this intimidated the student somewhat. She was initially unsure about approaching the family to discuss their religion, fearing that she might offend the father. To her credit, she overcame her reluctance and broached the topic. The student reported, “I am so lucky to know this family. They provided so many details about their religion (Islam) that I could not even learn these facts in books. They were friendly and very interesting . . . I think I will continue to have a friendship with them as long as I live in this area . . . I am glad to have an opportunity to know the role of the family members and to observe the position of the women in this society . . . More than anything, this project helped me to kill two birds with one stone. I built a great relationship, friendship, and taught some of my cultural beliefs to my new friends from another part of the world. At the same time, I learned about their religion and their death ritual, which helped me to take care of a project in a thanatology class . . . I learned very important concepts and challenged many of the ways I think about intercultural communication specifically.”
This course linked classroom discussion with a practical experience component of our learning experience. This component is not normally addressed in real life or in the classroom. This “project reciprocity” was central to the partnership; both sides perceived benefits. Students gained a culturally diverse, authentic community context for their future lives. The community members gained increased knowledge and an understanding of the American culture. Reciprocity signified an interconnection between teaching and learning in this project and in the university and broader communities. In addition, networking with the city’s international community created a good exchange. The students learned from one another and initiated collegial relationships between their culture and the diverse cultural communities of their friends in the community. Relationship building underpinned a partnership and fostered a sense of the interdependence within communities.
Much research focuses on the potential benefits of service learning. This study suggested that cross–cultural service learning motivated and engaged students and enlarged the pool of available community resources for the students. Service learning can be an effective methodology for bringing formal theory into the classroom. By observing and through reflective writing, participants internalize relevant theory of the field.
Through this service–learning project, my students gained confidence in their skills and developed a sense of pride and of belonging in their community. These are especially important benefits for students with no knowledge of other cultures who frequently experience lower self–esteem and problematic knowledge about other cultures. Interpersonal relationships are most meaningful for our students when they come in contact with other people from other cultures. My students learned about other cultures’ rules and beliefs. They learned not to judge people quickly. Most important, perhaps, they uncovered their own ethnocentrism or prejudices, concepts I did not have the equipment to teach them in the classroom.
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Sheida Shirvani is an associate professor in the Department of Interpersonal Communication at Ohio University—Zanesville. She has been involved with service learning for many years. She has recently written on Islam, women, and the veil. Shirvani is currently the coordinator of an international project examining women's experiences in the media and communication departments. She may be reached at shirvani@ohiou.edu.