Service-Learning submission to the Research Forum, 20th IAVE World Volunteer Conference, Panama 2008

XX IAVE World Volunteer Conference
Research Forum
Abstracts and BIOs

Abstracts
Shaping Service-Learning: A Comparison of Three National Contexts

Suzanne Pritzker, M.S.W., M.Ed.
Amanda Moore McBride, Ph.D.

Abstract
Despite the capacity for service-learning to install in youth life-long habits of volunteerism, we know little about the forms which service-learning takes globally.  Due to diverse social, cultural, political, economic, and historical factors, the goals and implementation of youth volunteerism through service-learning may differ across national contexts.

  To inform understanding of the ways in which national contexts may shape service-learning and to further develop the global knowledge base on this form of volunteering, service-learning programs are examined in three countries in various stages of development: Argentina, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Analyses of how each distinct context differentially influences this form of volunteerism are presented, with attention to similarities and differences in the form, nature, and desired effects of service-learning across the three countries.

Bio
Suzanne Pritzker is a doctoral student at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and research associate at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis.  Her research interests include civic engagement, youth development, and social policy.  Her primary research program identifies processes by which disadvantaged adolescents develop as political actors, and informs practice interventions to increase their civic participation.  She has conducted extensive research on the efficacy of service-learning as a civic intervention for adolescents, and was selected in 2007 as an Emerging Scholar in K-12 Service-Learning for her conceptual work in developing a socio-political model of service-learning

Abstract
Volunteering in Ecuador
The research was conceived to demonstrate the contribution of volunteerism for the development of the country and therefore, the relevance of volunteerism inclusion in public policies.

An extensive quantitative and qualitative data collection strategy has been done. The results have helped:
a) Identify the profile of Ecuadorian volunteers: who are they, where they volunteer and what their perception of volunteerism is.
b) Measure economic contribution of volunteerism to national GDP.
c) Show a transformation in the vision of volunteerism in Ecuador, moving from a traditional approach (charity) to a "volunteerism for development" focus.