As we take a step back during this time of non-travel around the world, we’ve been thinking through all aspects of our journeys and especially the sustainable parts of our industry.
This week, we sat down with one of our Academic Managers from our Education Team to hear his perspectives on what the best practices are for sustainable service in the educational travel world. Daniel Casey-Dunn has taught service-learning courses and led service-based programs at Michigan State University before joining our WildChina Education team. He shared his thoughts on the best way to approach service projects.
末尾中文版
So Daniel, who should be involved in creating service-learning projects?
Well, if the ultimate aim of service projects is to be of service, critically, the recipients need to be involved in defining what and how we give. Too often, universities and corporations approach potential partners with a pre-designed experience that must fit into pre-arranged course descriptions and hour requirements – as opposed to genuine needs.
When I was teaching service-learning courses, the University had a pre-determined hour requirement and frequency: 30 hours total, at 2 hours a week all semester. I had community garden projects who only wanted students once, for an 8-hour day. I was unable to send my students to these projects because they would have failed to meet the University requirements needed for credit. Service-learning should start with what the partners need and adapt to these needs, not the other way around. One-size-fits-all service leaves participants and recipients feeling used. And not every partner has the capacity to oversee regular service learners – crucially, these are usually the partners that need our student’s help the most.
And how can students start getting involved in these kinds of projects?
Often, and especially with short term service projects, I find that the students receive more benefits than the service recipients. Take Hurricane Katrina for example: Universities from across the United States paid for students to travel to New Orleans to rebuild houses. These students often had rewarding experiences: they gave back, they learned about the city, they were able to add something to their resume, and they had fun. On the whole, many students got more than they gave. Which is great for the students, but only if it serves as a starting point for a lifetime of service.
These types of projects, when done correctly, can lead students to think differently about critical issues, challenge preconceived conceptions, and alter behavior. Obviously, not all of that can be accomplished in a week. Often, these week-long intervention programs can have lasting benefits for the community, especially when co-ordinated over a period of years by a third party, which is where thoughtful providers like WildChina and Michigan State University come in – to connect long-term service needs with short-term service providers (our students).
Students should view their service opportunities as a starting point, not the end goal. Especially for travel-based service, as is often the case in China, it is critical to provide links before and after service projects that allow for students to continue to give and stay connected to projects they had first-hand experience with.
How do you ensure that students are really connected to, and stay connected with, the projects they’re engaged in?
At WildChina, we emphasize that service learning has a pre-service component, as well as a post-service component. Students need to know that the lives they affect continue once they leave a service site, and that their service is often one component of a much larger puzzle. They need to understand where they fit into larger societal issues, and how they can help, but also how they are limited.
When I was building sustained service projects in Detroit, I focused on framing student’s accomplishments across several years. Critical services, whether assisting in construction on the Tibetan plane, or filing paperwork in the City of Detroit’s Treasury office, are often not super exciting for students. What is exciting for students is the knowledge that what they contributed had lasting impacts after they left their service site. It’s critical for educators to frame this context, so that students can be of maximum service at their sites – even when its well, service. We set up webinars and in-person classes after projects have completed to ensure that this crucial framing continues after a program.
How do you challenge students to think about service learning differently?
I fundamentally believe that students’ motives should be regularly challenged. Sustainable service requires more than good motives – it demands an approach that considers long-term impacts over students’ desires and short-term learning outcomes. In order to have rewarding service that challenges preconceived beliefs and does not simply reinforce stereotypes, I believe that students need to be pushed in uncomfortable ways. I’ve found service lessons around effective altruism to be one of the best lenses for students to view their service: continually asking “is this project the most effective way to give in this context? Is the student the most effective person to be delivering this?”
An essential part of the socio-emotional growth of a young person (or any person for that matter) is learning to see issues as multi-faceted; service projects are no exception. Here’s a simple example: At first glance, an animal welfare project (Giant Panda Conservation) seems very morally straightforward. Giant Pandas habitats = destroyed by humans = bad. However, at WildChina Education, we ask students to think beyond the black and white of the issue (no panda pun intended there).
We bring students to meet farmers whose lands border ‘protected’ areas and facilitate a conversation. Why are these farmers living in these lands? How has their land productivity been influenced due to forest protection? Could they relocate elsewhere? What happens to their children if they cannot sell enough produce? It is important for us to build into our youth the joy of service, however, we want students to be thinking about the many nuances of each of their actions. An important component of designing wholesome service learning opportunities is in fact challenging stereotypical notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and instead curating a conversation about ‘why’ and ‘how.’ Nuance exists in thoughtful service – but often we have to challenge students to see it.
How do you get students engaged in these projects, when they have so much else going on?
COVID-19 has forced the world to redefine the way that we work and the way that we learn. It makes sense that service should be given an overhaul as well. Far too often, students view service work as a necessary, yet monotonous line for their CV or college applications or their CAS projects. At WildChina, we are constantly thinking about our projects and our students and how we can connect them in new, innovative ways. This means approaching reoccurring projects with a new lens, and frequently evaluating our impact.
Students are often under-utilized, especially when it comes to their ability to contribute. In Detroit, we challenged students to rethink urban gardens, to impact homelessness, and rethink the criminal justice system. At WildChina, we push students to impact community housing on the Tibetan planes, to conserve at-risk monkey populations in southwest Sichuan, and to immerse themselves with Miao Villages in Zhangjiajie in order to redefine the way they view ethnicity. Overwhelmingly, students respond to these challenges.
If you have any questions about service learning at WildChina, please send us an email or have a look at some of our past projects.
年轻人受到激励，正在回馈自己的社区以及国际社会。我们完全相信社区服务工作有能力改变生活，无论是对接受者还是捐助者。 我们的学术经理丹尼尔在加入碧山教育之前曾在密西根州立大学教授服务学习课程并主导了一些以服务为基础的项目。在这里，他会分享一下他在处理社会服务项目方面的最佳做法。
1. 与合作伙伴灵活相处
既然服务项目的最终目的是服务，那么至关重要的是，接受服务的社区需要参与，共同制定我们所提供的内容和方式。但在现实中，大学和公司经常会根据经验先设计内容，再来联系潜在的合作伙伴。这些经验仅迎合了他们预先安排的课程和时间要求，却不是真正的需求。
当我教授服务学习课程时，大学对课程的小时数和频率都有具体要求：整个学期每周2小时，共30小时。我曾有过一个社区花园项目，这个项目只需要学生来一次，一天工作8个小时。我无法让我的学生参加这些项目，因为他们将无法满足大学里面学分的要求。服务学习应从合作伙伴的需求开始，并适应这些需求。 一刀切的服务方式使参与者和受助者都感到被利用了。并非每个合作伙伴都有能力监督常规的服务学习者–但这种类型的合作伙伴又通常是最需要我们学生帮助的。
2. 跳板服务
通常，尤其是在短期服务项目中，我发现学生比受助者获得的更多。以卡特里娜飓风为例：美国各地的大学都为学生付费，让他们前往新奥尔良重建房屋。这些学生经常会获得有益的经历，回馈社会，了解城市，能够在简历中添加一些内容，并且玩得开心。总体而言，许多学生获得的收益超出了他们的付出。 这是很棒的-但前提是要将其作为终身服务的起点。如果正确完成这些类型的项目，可以帮助学生从不同的角度思考关键问题，挑战先入为主的观念，并改变个人行为。但是，并非所有这些项目可以在一周内完成。通常，这些为期一周的介入项目可以为社区带来持久的利益，尤其是在第三方的协调下，比如碧山教育和密歇根州立大学，这些细心周到的服务提供者会把长期服务需求与 短期服务提供者（我们的学生）连接起来。学生应将他们的服务机会视为起点，而不是终点。 特别是融入旅行的服务活动（在中国通常如此），至关重要的是在服务前后提供彼此的联系方式，使学生能够继续回馈并和这个给他们带来一手经验的项目保持联系。
3. 框架
在碧山，我们强调服务学习既包含服务前阶段，又包含服务后的阶段。学生需要知道，一旦他们离开服务地点，受影响的生活将会继续，而他们的服务通常是解决难题的一部分。他们需要了解自己适合在更大社会问题的地方发挥作用，如何提供帮助，以及他们又将如何受限。当我在底特律建立可持续服务项目时的那几年，我专注于规划框架和评估学生的服务效果。至关重要的社区服务，无论是协助在西藏地区进行建造活动，还是在底特律市财政办公室提交文书工作，对学生而言通常都不是一件令人兴奋的事情。让学生兴奋的是，他们知道自己的贡献在离开服务站点后会产生持久的影响。对于教育者而言，至关重要的是要构筑这种环境，以便学生可以在项目上提供最多的服务–甚至最好的服务。在项目完成后，我们将设置网络研讨会和面对面的课堂，以确保这一至关重要的规划框架在项目实施后得以继续。
4. 挑战学生
我完全赞同我们应该定期质疑学生的动机。可持续服务不仅需要良好的动机，还需要一种考虑长期影响学生愿望和短期学习成果的方法。为了提供有益的服务，以挑战先入为主的信念，而不仅仅是加强刻板印象，我认为需要以不舒服的方式推动学生。我发现围绕有效利他主义的服务课程是让学生查看他们服务的最佳方式之一：经常有人在问：“在这种情况下，该项目是回馈社会最有效的方式吗？这个学生是能够完成项目最有效率的人吗？ 年轻人（或与此相关的任何人）成长过程中认识社会情绪（socio-emotional）的最好方法，就是学习用多视角来看待问题； 服务项目也不例外。这里有一个简单的例子：第一眼看这个动物福利项目（大熊猫保护项目），在道义上讲，它是很好的项目。但是栖息地被人类摧毁了，这就不好了。碧山教育会要求学生同时思考问题好和坏两面。我们带学生去见那些与“保护区”接壤的农民，并促进对话。这些农民为何居住在这些土地上？由于森林保护，他们的土地生产力会受到什么样的影响？他们是否会搬迁到其他地方？如果他们不能出售足够多的农产品，他们的孩子将会怎样？对我们来说，将欢乐带给我们的青年很重要，但是，我们希望学生们思考他们每个行为带来的细微差别。实际上，设计有益的服务学习机会的重要组成部分是挑战陈规定型观念中的“好”和“坏”，改为策划有关“为什么”和“如何”的对话。细微差别存在于周到的服务中–也因此我们必须经常鼓励和激发学生去找到这些细节处。
5. 使用未充分利用的资源（我们的学生）
新冠肺炎迫使世界重新定义我们的工作方式和学习方式。这表明我们也应该对社区服务重新进行定义。在很多情况下，学生将服务工作看作是单调任务，却是提升简历、申请大学或完成CAS项目的必要手段。在碧山教育，我们一直在思考我们的项目和参与项目的学生，应该如何以创新的方式将他们联系在一起。这意味着要用新的视角来处理以往的项目，并经常评估项目的后续影响。 谈到学生们的贡献时，我发现在许多情况下他们的能力都未能被充分调动。在底特律，我们挑战并鼓励学生重新思考城市花园，如何影响无家可归者以及重新思考刑事司法制度。在碧山教育，我们鼓励学生们去藏区修建房屋，去四川西南部保护濒临灭绝的猴子，去张家界接触当地苗寨，从而重新定义他们眼中的少数民族。
6. 承认差异
我在密西根州立大学（MSU）任教时，经常将白人学生群体带到大多数是黑人的底特律市。忽略服务提供者和服务接受者之间的种族差异，虽然可能会更自在，但可能对学生和接受服务者都形成长期负面的影响。我坚信种族和民族问题可以在每个服务项目中以开放的方式（有时很尴尬）地解决，若在更宏观的特权、权力、种族和民族背景下，再次强调解决服务工作的重要性，会让项目变得更富有成效，影响深远。同时，这个项目也使服务接受者感到被赋予权力和受人尊重-这反过来又会导致项目的可持续性，解决了瞬息万变的世界和中国的关键问题。 在Instagram、Facebook、无数社会压力和西方哲学的鼓吹下，白人救世者情结依然活跃。在碧山教育和密歇根州立大学，我一直认为自己是普通白人的地位，并鼓励我们的学生在分享自己的经历，也应承认他们的局限性。
