Chapter 9: Reflections on Service-Learning Situated in Challenging Contexts: Lessons Learned

While much has been written on the merits of service-learning for higher education students, fewer articles tend to probe the intricacies encountered when positioning service-learning pedagogy in challenging contexts (Crichton, 2013). This chapter describes a recent global service-learning opportunity for teacher candidates situated in a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in East Africa. This project involved the design and development of short, culturally relevant books to address the community’s concerns about literacy. Initial findings suggest the lure of tourism challenges learning plus work commitments; aloneness happens even within a group setting; and no matter how well prepared, culture shock is massive, especially for young people and novice travelers. Using multiple data sources ( journal entries, papers, written survey assignments, observations, and semi-structured interviews), the authors explore four significant issues that arose during the service-learning project: voluntourism (Pluim & Jorgensen, 2012), culture shock (Huesca, 2013), aloneness, and intellectual imperialism (Epprecht, 2004).