Abstract
Service learning is both a philosophy and method of teaching. This article describes a service learning project entitled, “We Are All the Same but in Different Ways” that took place between international education students and students enrolled in a Families in Multicultural Perspectives course at a medium-sized Midwestern university. The effects of poverty on individuals, families, and communities within their cultural contexts are foundational elements of the course content. The service learning project and the Families in Multicultural Perspectives course are theoretically grounded in human and family developmental ecology, and feminist perspectives.
The goals of the service learning project were to create connections among the students in the course and the international education student volunteers, and to explore individual, familial, larger community and cultural information about poverty and cost of living issues in different and creative ways. The students achieved the goals through interactions and interviews that resulted in the creation of display boards depicting the information learned. The display boards were shared among the students within the university and with children in a local fifth grade class who were doing a smaller, parallel project. It was found that service learning projects can be very challenging, but that the outcomes are often worth the effort. The outcomes of the project included more meaningful connections and understanding among the students, as well as greater levels of awareness overall, which resulted in a worthwhile experience for both teacher and students.