International Service Learning Engaging Host Communities [Hardcover]

International service learning (ISL) programs are growing more popular with students looking to advance their skills and knowledge to become global citizens. While the benefits of these programs among students are well documented, little is known about the implications they have on host communities themselves. This volume explores the impact of ISL programs on members of host communities (e.g. host families and local partner NGOs) who are increasingly influenced by the presence of international students in their lives. Drawing upon post-colonial, feminist and other critical and decolonizing theories, it examines the complicated power relations between North American ISL students and host communities in East and West Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. It stresses the importance of developing trusting relations between ISL students, faculty and individuals in the host communities to create mutually engaging learning experiences.

Part I. Overview1. International Service Learning: Engaging Host Communities: Introduction Marianne A. Larsen 2. Epistemological, Methodological and Theoretical Challenges of Carrying Out ISL Research Involving Host Communities: A Conversation Allyson Larkin, Marianne Larsen, Katie MacDonald and Harry Smaller Part II. Case Studies: Impact of ISL on Host Communities3. Saying It Doesnt Make It So: Do We Listen and Act When the Host Community Tells Us What They Want? Nora Pillard Reynolds and Junior Cezar Gasparini 4. Solidarity or Neocolonialism? The Challenges of Understanding the Impact of ISL on Nicaraguan Host Communities Michael O'Sullivan and Harry Smaller 5. The Economic Circle: Impacts of Volunteerism and Service Learning on Three Rural Communities in Costa Rica Cynthia Toms Smedley 6. Southern Perspectives on ISL Volunteers: Reframing the NeocolonlãŽ