Intercultural Praxis in Service-Learning Contexts

Abstract

Although research has indicated many positive outcomes related to service-learning experiences, challenges remain, especially when projects are set in communities that are culturally distinct from the home communities of student participants. Through interviews with 15 service-learning facilitators, this research identifies important considerations and potential best practices related to orientation and postexperience communication in intercultural service-learning contexts. In most cases, postexperience communication was limited and informal, but four primary approaches to preliminary communication about intercultural service emerged in the data: direct interaction with people from the host community or culture, assigned readings, research projects, and discussions.

Keywords:

• Intercultural Communication
• Intercultural Praxis
• Orientation
• Pedagogical Communication
• Service-Learning

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Laura W. Black and Dr. Yea-Wen Chen for their guidance throughout the research process and thoughtful feedback on earlier versions of this paper.