Abstracts from MJCSL Volume 8, Number 1

Ayni in the Global Village: Building Relationships of Reciprocity through International Service-Learning
Maureen Porter and Kathia Monard,
University of Pittsburgh

Understanding and fostering reciprocity is a central aim of service-learning programs. This article highlights the indigenous Andean concept of ayni as a means of integrating reciprocity into a broader, holistic framework. This approach also stretches our understanding of interdependence along trajectories that extend well beyond a traditional Western framework. We present data drawn from a semester-long seminar and Alternative Spring Break spent building a school in highland Bolivia. Analysis from extensive student reflective writings and discussions provide personalized responses to core questions. Elements of ayni are applied to critique both the practice and pedagogy of service-learning, and to raise questions about the challenges of fostering reciprocity among diversely situated citizens of the global village.

This article argues that teaching the implications of white privilege is crucial in service-learning courses, particularly when most of the students are white and most of those being served are of color. It also considers the ethical implications of race in service-learning.

Student journaling is a fundamental reflective activity in many service-learning classrooms. This paper introduces the Web-based, interactive group journal as a potent, highly efficient, and research-based alternative to traditional, privately-kept journals. This journaling alternative is described in detail as it has been used in the last four semesters of an undergraduate service-learning course, and instructor and student assessments of this approach are presented.

Many service-learning projects are rife with disablism. Disablism is a set of assumptions and practices that promote the differential or unequal treatment of people because of actual or presumed disabilities. Four common images about people with disabilities that may guide our selection of service projects for people with disabilities are discussed. Suggestions to eliminate disablism in service projects include: teacher training in service-learning, teacher training in disabilities issues, increased emphasis on reflection, and cultivating people with disabilities as joint partners in providing service.

This paper discusses the development and implementation of an academic service-learning course designed to explore partnership possibilities between a university, religious organizations, and neighborhood coalitions in West Philadelphia. Course goals were twofold: for students to activate partnerships with community members and congregation participants to develop community-based projects and to evaluate their projects using participatory action research principles.

Service-learning is beginning to bridge the gap between university and community life, but if it neglects the humanities, service-learning will not realize its full potential. Pedagogy about the relevance of art, music, literature, and ideas to our immediate environments is needed. By stressing the humanities’ importance to individual and societal health and well-being, service-learning can provide opportunities to serve arts organizations and other humanistic institutions of learning. Such experiences will better ensure the development of life-long learning habits and humanistic citizenship.