A Proposed Workshop Curriculum for Students to Responsibly Engage Cultural Conflict in Community-Based Service Learning

Abstract

Service-learning opportunities provide interactive experiences between diverse communities and students in order to achieve, among various goals, thoughtful learning about issues of cultural inequality and social power. Service learning has notable benefits for those who participate along with legitimate concerns about the risk of these experiences reinforcing problematic attitudes and behaviors related to systems of dominance and subordination. Given the popularity of service-learning initiatives within higher education, the literature regarding diversity and service learning is reviewed to offer a pilot workshop curriculum that addresses common gaps through intentional focus on social forces that perpetuate inequality, introspection on social location, and skills for identifying and addressing cultural conflict utilizing both transformative education and diversity education best practices. Assessment of the pilot workshop curriculum showed statistically significant growth related to awareness of culturally based values, cultural reflection, and imposition of values onto others.