Service Abroad: Global Citizenship Development Through Human Connections in the Host Country

• In Event: Building Intercultural Competence Through Service-Learning and Experiential Education Abroad

Abstract

This grounded theory paper examines study abroad experiences of students from a private U.S. university and considers learning through service, to determine how participation in service abroad relates to global citizenship development at institutions without deliberate Global Citizenship Education (GCE). The analysis of interviews, annotated artifacts, and assignments demonstrates that such participation provides opportunities to form connections to the host community and empathize with people, who are different. It promotes paradigm shifts from caring about the self to caring about the others. Service offers an entry-point into the community that enables students to begin forming a wider global view, a better understanding of social justice, fosters profound personal growth and strengthens human connections with the global community.

Authors

• Anna Zak, St. John's University

• Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe, St. John's University