Participant Perspectives: Effects of Arts Based International - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Participant Perspectives: Effects of Arts Based International Service Learning Brian E. Trimble, Ed.D. Educational Leadership

About the Author Education BFA Degree in Studio Art • Single Subject Credential in Art Education • MA in Art Education • Ed.D. Educational Leadership • Professional and Educational Practice Student and Community Engagement • Community Partnerships • Community Service Learning • Cultural Exchange •

Introduction š The world continues to become increasingly interconnected š Successful global interaction requires a certain skill set and level of cultural understanding or intercultural sensitivity š Higher Education challenged to meet the needs of an interconnected world culture (Boyer, 1994) š Study abroad is one avenue universities and colleges are utilizing to address these needs

Introduction š There has been a shift in study abroad programs from long-term to short-term (Davis, 2000) š There is a pedagogical shift to international service learning š Emerging international service learning programs include programs with an arts focus

Problem š Short-term international service learning is a growing segment in the field š There is a shortage of qualitative literature on participant perspectives š Empirical research studies on international service learning in the arts are almost non-existent

Significance š Intercultural effects on participants (Dwyer, 2010; Medina-López-Portillo, 2004; Pederson, 2009) š Outcomes for domestic service learning programs correspond to outcomes associated with study abroad š International service learning may increase the intercultural effects of short-term study abroad for participants (e.g., Braskamp, Braskamp, & Merrill, 2009; Dautoff & Parker, 2007)

Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to explore the perceived effects of an international arts-focused service learning program from the perspective of program participants. By exploring students’ personal experiences through a theoretical framework of identity development (Chickering & Reisser, 1993) and intercultural sensitivity (Bennett, 1993), I seek to determine in what capacity participants believe their identity development has been influenced by the experience.

Theoretical Framework Bennett’s (1993) Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) Seven Vectors of Student Development

Research Questions š What, if any, are the perceived identity development effects of international service learning from the perspective of participants? š In what ways, if any, do international service learning programs contribute to perceived intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence? š In what ways, if any, do perceived effects for international service learning programs change as a result of participants’ reflections from reentry to extended reentry?

Literature Review š Currant State of Study abroad š Study Abroad Durations and Outcomes š Intercultural Sensitivity and Intercultural Competence š Outcomes of Domestic Service Learning š International Service Learning š Service Learning in the Arts

Method and Design Method: Basic Qualitative How people interpret their experiences • How they construct their worlds • What meaning they attribute to their experiences (Merriam,2009) • Design Constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) • Semi structured pre-interviews • Course reflection paper analysis • Semi structured post-interviews • triangulation •

Sample and Setting Selection •Participants self-selected to participate in the international service learning class •Participants self-selected to participate in the study Size •Six out of 14 participants in the program agreed to be in the study Setting •Theatre arts program at a large western public university •East Africa Recruitment •Recruitment was accomplished through the faculty of record for the East Africa program course, who acted as liaison between the student participants and me.

Participants

Data Collection Biographical Data Questionnaire š General education and background information Pre-Interview: semi structured š Completed within one month prior to the trip Course Reflection Paper š Completed within one month after return from the trip Post-Interview: semi structured š Completed five to six months after return from the trip

Biographical Data Questionnaire Instrumentation Demographic and background data A ge Gender Racial/Ethnic identity Educational standing Educational major Program and department Previous travel experience Study abroad experience Service learning experience Other languages spoken

Sample Interview Questions Instrumentation Participants perceived identity development (Research Question 1) • What are your general expectations, such as any academic, professional, or personal expectations for the trip? (protocol 1) • How do you think the trip has affected or will affect your academic, professional, and/or personal life in the future? (protocol 2) International service learning program contribution to participants’ perceived intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence (Research Question 2) • Tell me about your interaction with the people and culture in East Africa? (protocol 2) Perceived outcomes for international service learning for participants’ after reflection over time after reentry (Research Question 3) • Now that you have been back from your trip for a few months, tell me about your feelings about your experiences now? (protocol 2) • Do you think about the trip very much now? Why or why not? (protocol 2)

Data Analysis Self analysis Preparing the Data: Transcription Pre- Interview Creswell (2007) Reflection Paper Post-Interview Constant Development of themes through Comparative Developing Chickering and codes and Method Reisser (1993) and meta-codes (Strauss & Bennett (1993) as Creswell (2007) Corbin, 1990) analytical tool Collecting rich, thick description

Trustworthiness Credibility • Prolonged engagement • Triangulation • Peer Debriefing • Member Checking Transferability • Rich thick description Dependability and Conformability • Inquiry Audit • Extensive Records

Findings Research Question 1 What, if any, are the perceived identity development effects of international service learning from the perspective of participants?

Findings Chickering and Reisser (1993) Vector 3: Moving Through Autonomy Toward Interdependence Jackson “I’ve always wanted to travel, I haven’t done much. I’ve done a lot of traveling around the U.S., but that was because of other people, grandparents, parents, or whatever. So I guess this is not the first trip, but the first big trip that I’ve really done on my own.” Zaira “I realize I live near such amazing people who I never took the time to speak to for longer than 5 minutes, and since I have, I feel safer here. It's the exact same friends that I have, but they live on a smaller scale, and so I think if we're really longing for the sense of community that we found in the villages it's kind of up to us to bring that spirit back and encourage that interaction with one another.”

Findings Chickering and Reisser (1993) Vector 4: Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships Denise “The experience helped me understand more about myself as well as many preconceived notions that I had about Africa. So, the next time someone tells me that everybody in Africa is poor, or it is dangerous and the land not appealing, I will have actual pictures of the happy faces, the beautiful green climate and I will tell them of my experience in East Africa.” Zaira Because you know you hear people say, "Oh, there's people starving in other countries." No one listens to that. I think that's one of the reasons it's so important to travel and to go there and meet these people, because all of a sudden it really does matter to you, because you can connect faces and personalities and spirits to these people that don't have enough food and whose children, they don't name them until their one-year-old because their infant mortality rate is so high. They have a naming ceremony at one-year-old, and before then it's just like the boy or the girl.

Findings Chickering and Reisser (1993) Vector 5: Developing Identity Sarah “I am experiencing ways in which to rephrase activities or situations so that they may seem less scary to me, and cause me less anxiety. Once I am doing something, it is never as bad as I imagine that it will be. I have to learn to trust that, and to trust myself. I am also learning to trust my personality.” Darin These were some of the issues that I was tussling with along with the indescribable joy and opening that I felt inside of me; like an area of my identity that had been filled that I didn't even know was empty. It was very transformative and this was only one of the things that were such-several other experiences changed the way I looked at the world and my place in it forever. Another of these was the happiness and generosity that was imbued in the spirit of the people of East Africa.