Personal and communal sustainability and growth among first generation U.S. students in study abroad settings

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Tuesday V)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Programming development concerns in education abroad

Proposal

Education is the centerpiece in any personal development effort. Study abroad experiences, provide the most holistic and integral ways to motivate young students to discover themselves while learning about the world. The promotion of international good though direct interactions in international classrooms, or homes allows students to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs and contribute to personal and communal development (Kuh, 2009; Stebleton, Soria, & Cherney 2013).

Study abroad opportunities have increased significantly over the past decade in universities across the country (Salisbury et al, 2008), However, these rich, life-changing experiences are still not reaching many low-income, first generation U.S. students who are still confined to classroom walls. Teaching and learning is greatly enhanced when students are provided with opportunities to observe other society’s efforts to improve the quality of human life, and promote individual and social growth in a more balanced fashion. Learning outside the classroom can facilitate education for sustainable development through fostering the practice of enquiry skills, value analysis and problem-solving in everyday situations (UNESCO, 2010)

Achieving a sustainable future starts with requiring individuals to adopt a sustainable behavior (which is often learned and cemented at young age), and can be transformed through rich experiential exposure. In this sense, we draw from recent theoretical construes on ‘sustainable pedagogies’ (Mezirow, Jack et al, 2000; Medrick, 2013) that explore teaching, learning and practical experience in both, traditional and non-traditional settings and which supports personal and community development grounded in our experiences of the world. Thus, as Medrick states, “sustainability education must mirror both the patterns present in our natural environment and the conditions present in our human society with the intention of preparing us for uncertain and rapidly transforming world conditions”. Our success is contingent on our personal initiative, accountability, creativity, commitment and collaboration with others.

Education as Sustainability is the means through which we educate students to the values, opportunities, and choices each person has to develop one’s self as an aware, independent, responsible, and active agent of one’s own fate and hence contribute to the future of our society and ecological systems. (Sterling, 2001)

In the present study we explore behavioral and personal transformational changes of first-generation college students in international study-abroad experiences. By focusing on first generation college students’ international study abroad experiences, our research project offers a unique contribution to the growing literature on students’ study abroad experience. Through surveys implemented to 700 participants, and in-depth interviews of 50 students in focus groups, we explore how first-generation students at a public university make meaning of their study abroad experiences, overcome barriers (that initially prevented and/or encouraged their decisions to study abroad). Additionally, the participants identify the personal and group transformations that occurred as a result of their journey.

Undergraduate students of various fields of expertise enrolled in study abroad programs in Europe during the last three years. Preliminary data indicates significant personal growth, transformative behavior, as well as the desire to enroll in additional study-abroad experiences.



References


Kuh, G.D. (2009). What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 50, 683- 706.

Merick, R. (2013). A Pedagogy for Sustainability Education. The Journal of Sustainability Education, Vol 5, May 2013. Pp. 5-15.

Mezirow, Jack et al., (2000) Learning as Transformation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Salisbury, M.H., Umbach, P.D., Paulsen, M.B., & Pascarella, E.T. (2008). Going global: Understanding the choice process of the intent to study abroad. Research on Higher Education. 50, 119-143.
Stebleton, M.J., Soria, K.M., & B.T. Cherney (2013). The high impact of education abroad: College students’ engagement in international experiences and the development of intercultural competences. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad. 22, 1-24.
Sterling, S. (2001) Sustainable Education, Devon, England. Green Books.
Unesco Report:

Authors

• Mariell Herold, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

• Frances Riemer, Northern Arizona University

• Grace Okoli, Northern Arizona University