Respondents noted varying depths of developmental shifts in regard to their perspectives and habits related to civic mindedness and cultural sensitivity. In assessing individual narratives and meaning making experiences of participants in regard to their awareness of social issues and initiatives as well as awareness and acceptance of difference, this research study sought to answer the final research question, “How do students see their ASB experiences shift their notions of civic mindedness and cultural sensitivity?”
Respondents spoke of ASBS as often “eye-opening” experiences, challenging them to address their preconceived notions of cultural issues and differences. Respondents reported an increased understanding and awareness of cultural concerns and their effects on communities, which allowed them to engage in societal critiques and analysis of social issues both during the trip itself and post-trip as an engaged citizen. Moreover, several of the respondents noted recognition of personal privilege, due to the experience of grappling with concepts of power and societal class hierarchies during the ASB trip. As the literature explained, ASB experiences are often the first time when students examine these dense topics (Jones & Abes, 2004), as it is the first time these concepts are contextualized in a tangible and meaningful way. The respondents saw this component of ASBs as being directly linked to their development of civic mindedness and cultural sensitivity as it served as the launching point for dialogue and reflection surrounding
these concepts for them. That is to say, by engaging in informal dialogue with trip staff over the course of the day’s projects and work, and formally with the entire group of trip participants, the students on the ASB trips are able to engage in daily reflection, thus challenging their perceptions of others and interpretations of community and social issues daily. Eyler (2002) argues that this is when the student receives the maximum value of the experience—through reflection before, during, and after their experiences with the community and its members.
But even so, this awareness and individual development of civic mindedness was experienced and revealed to varying degrees by respondents, as each individual participant enters the ASB program with their own personal story of understanding. However, regardless of the discrepancy in mindedness and sensitivity starting points for students, growth was present in all of the included participant narratives. By way of contrast, the three remaining narratives serve as a cautionary tale for practitioners. While it is not confirmed, the researcher speculates that the lack of a meaningful response from these three participants indicates a lack of salience in regard to the experience for participants. While the other respondents note grappling with the challenge of self-assessment via reflection on perceptions of self and others, these respondents did not share stories of the same engagement intensity. Rather than an introspective and meaningful experience, I believe these respondents perceived aversion to speaking of personal change related to the trip signifies that a challenge of beliefs and values did not take place for these particular individuals.
As the literature explains, these ASB service experiences have the ability to create dilemmas for participants as they cross borders literally and figuratively through both inter- and intra-personal realms, challenging them to be cognizant of their values and assumptions in the context of real-world experience and interactions with outside communities and individuals
(Einfeld & Collins, 2007; Eyler & Giles, 1999). Respondents explained throughout their narratives that by being given the opportunity to engage with others which they would not have been able to do without the ASB trip, they were able to eliminate assumptions about different individuals that they held, which were often fostered by media and biased news coverage with certain political leanings (Westrick, 2004). In turn, participants developed their own, first-hand, perceptions of others and social issues as they dialogued with individual members of communities they once judged or were afraid of. This personal creation of perceptions or notions crafted due to direct experience with other or difference, signifies a strengthening of civic mindedness and cultural sensitivity as participants challenge themselves to know others, understanding their struggle while searching for commonalities or points of harmony.
Further, these interpretations suggest that participants are capable of maintaining their levels of civic engagement and civic mindedness post-graduation. The respondents in this study maintained their high levels of civic mindedness and cultural sensitivity that they attributed to their participation in the ASB program. While the depth or salience of each respondent’s civic identity, skills, and knowledge varied, it was still a present theme throughout each individual dialogue. Participants consider their ASB experiences to be a formative part of their undergraduate experience, and, ultimately, of their personal development because it allowed them to see themselves differently, as agents of change or civically informed individuals while also broadening their view of others.
Although the ASB trips themselves were immersive experiences, requiring students to live and work in an unfamiliar community for a week, they alone are not capable of challenging students to engage in border-crossing. The act of physically crossing borders does not guarantee self-reflection or perspective alteration for participants. It became clear after speaking to all of
the respondents that the locale of the trip itself (rural vs. urban, eastern vs. western, etc.) was not as important to the act of border-crossing as was the relational component of the trip. Based on respondent feedback, similarities also had a crucial role to play. This value set is unique to service-learning contexts specifically ASBs as the required modes of reflection, combined with the dialogue with peers and community members during the trip, encourage participants to continue their engagement in “more justifiable and socially responsible action post-trip” (Kiely, 2005, p.6). It was the dialogue that the students shared with community members during service projects and peers during reflection that encouraged them to navigate cultural differences and examine their systems of belief and place in society.
While students may witness social capital differences in their home or college community, in comparison to the community in which they are serving, respondents explained that it was not until partaking in personal interaction with community members that they finally began to examine their prejudices and gain an awareness of social inequities. Respondents explained that the act of hearing the story of someone’s struggle and hearing about what a day in the life of someone from a different community is like, was their impetus to finally begin to better understand and appreciate difference and recognize the importance of social action and civic engagement. In this sense, while participants may have crossed physical borders immediately upon beginning the ASB trip, it was not until their interaction with community members and group reflection with their peers that they actually crossed cultural and socially constructed borders. This process of literal and figurative border-crossing allowed participants to gain an understanding of cultural concerns and social justice concepts while learning to appreciate and respect other perspectives. This finding highlights ASB’s ability as a service- learning program to generate the greatest levels of learning and development in the reflective
experiential tradition of Dewey through cycles of action and reflection (Dewey, 1916). In this sense, the relational component between participants and community members paired with daily peer reflection, the two components of the ASB trips which respondents viewed as influential, engage participants in cognitive reflection and direct action to generate knowledge, and therefore, engage students in a learning experience within a broader, diverse context than the average classroom provides (Kiely, 2005).