Module 4: Images and Discourse Surrounding Learning/Volunteer Abroad
Module 4 – Images and Discourse Surrounding Learning/Volunteer Abroad
“…we must understand not only our power as travellers but also the roots of photography’s strengths as an authoritative medium.”
Ellyn Clost, 2014, p. 234 in Picturing the Canadian Global Citizen
“I suggest that a questioning of the ground on which we (teachers and students) stand is a possible way forward in volunteer abroad, and a way to reflect back to the lives of both student and teacher to think not only about international inequality but also about ongoing settler-Canadian relations.”
Katie MacDonald, 2014, p. 207 in (De)colonizing Pedagogies: An Exploration of Learning with Student Volunteering Abroad
Images and Discourse Surrounding Volunteer/Learning Abroad
When you think about volunteering or learning abroad what images come to mind? What types of discourse do you think about? Do you imagine helping, caring, giving, and/or supporting types of images/words? The majority of images online found under a Google search of ‘volunteer abroad’ often portray some sort of ‘helping’ or ‘caring’ relationship between volunteers and host community. How do these types of images and discourse surrounding a ‘helping’ intention influence your perceptions of and actions towards humanitarianism and international development? Thinking back to the module on motivations how might have various images and discourse influenced some of your motivations to participate (or not) in an international experiential learning opportunity.
In learning about global citizenship and international experiential learning it is crucial to consider how images and discourse are used to promote such programs and what do these images and discourse tell us about the practice? The readings in this module pull apart common images and discourses to understand what they are actually representing. How are images of a single white person surrounded by non-white locals reproducing colonial relationships? How are images of a white female surrounded by black children reproducing gendered norms and stereotypes? What role does the camera play in a volunteer’s relationships and power dynamics of these relationships within their host communities? It is important to understand that NGOs and volunteer/study abroad organizations may choose to use these types of promotional material for specific purposes. This module not only deconstructs images and discourse, but it is also meant to help you deconstruct the industry as a whole and the pedagogy surrounding international learning. Understanding the colonial parallels of volunteer/learn abroad programs is important if we are to attempt to improve the ethical dilemmas within the industry. But how do we move away from these colonial parallels, and can we? MacDonald’s chapter provides some excellent reflections on the pedagogy surrounding international experiential learning, as well as suggestions on how to, as her title suggests, “(de)colonize” how we teach and learn from international experiences.
Module 4 Required Readings:
In Globetrotting or Global Citizenship? Perils and Potential of International Experiential Learning edited by Rebecca Tiessen and Robert Huish, 2014, University of Toronto Press.
Chapter 11 by MacDonald – “(De)colonizing pedagogies: An exploration of learning with students volunteering abroad.”
Chapter12 by Clost – “Visual representation and Canadian government-funded volunteer abroad programs: Picturing the Canadian global citizen.”
Additional readings: You can find the PDFs for these readings through the uOttawa library database.
Mostafanezhad, M. (2013). ‘Getting in touch with your inner Angelina’: Celebrity humanitarianism and the cultural politics of gendered generosity in volunteer tourism. Third World Quarterly. 34(3). 485-499.
Simpson, K (2004). “Doing development”: The gap year, volunteer-tourists and a popular practice of development. Journal of International Development. 16. 681-692.
Suggested Readings:
Keese, J. (2011). The geography of volunteer tourism: Place matters. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment. 13(2). 257-279.
Pluim, G. and Jorgenson, S. (2012). A reflection on the broader, systemic impacts of youth volunteer abroad programmes: A Canadian perspective. Intercultural Education. 23(1). 25-38.
Activities:
Watch the two videos of Ellyn Clost and Katie MacDonald available on Blackboard Learn.
Please watch these short recommended videos that will help with your discussion board posts.
Discuss and reflect upon Mostafanezhad’s discussion on a humanitarian gaze. Do you agree/disagree with her arguments? Do you agree/disagree with her linking images of Angelina and Madonna with their adopted children as an influence in youth’s desire to volunteer abroad? What role does social media and popular media have in promoting volunteering abroad?
Do you think the images and discourse presented online that promote volunteer/study abroad accurately depict the experience?
Discuss your thoughts on Clost and Mostafanezhad’s readings on imagery. What do you think about Clost’s three types of images?
What do you think about both authors’ discussion on images and colonial parallels? Does international volunteering reinforce or disrupt colonial-type relationships with the Global South? How might the photographs we share and/or the stories we tell reproduce power hierarchies and structures of inequality?