The Impacts of International Service Learning on a Host Community in Kenya: Host Student Perspectives Related to Global Citizenship and Relative Deprivation

Abstract

Despite recent calls, research on ISL has focused almost exclusively on learning outcomes for global North students. We know comparatively less about how ISL programs may impact the knowledge and perceptions of student participants from hos t countries in the global South. We examine learning outcomes for Kenyan students who interact with visiting students from a U S university. Using an original survey and a case control design, we compare the responses of students from an ISL pa rtner school with those of students in a nearby control school to explore how program participation influences ideas about global citizenship, viewpoints about the United States and feelings of relative deprivation. Results point to the complexity of ISL programs and their impact on host country participants. On the one hand, we find that ISL partner students show higher levels of global citizenship than control group students. On the other hand, ISL partner students are more likely than the control gr oup to agree with unrealistically positive views of the United States and report greater feelings of relative deprivation. We apply Allport’s intergroup contact theory to interpret these findings and reflect on future directions.

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