https://learn.uvm.edu/study-abroad/study-abroad-programs/azores-comparative-study-of-education/

This course brings UVM students outside of the continental US to gain a global perspective on culturally diverse strategies for building resilience, enhancing equity, and responding to trauma and adversity. With a specific focus on family-professional partnerships within a global community context, we will visit several educational, health, and/or social service agencies to understand and experience their work and policies. Students will be involved in a community-engaged service-learning project through which they learn about local culture through relationships with children, families, and other community members. This experiential approach will help students integrate their previous and accumulating knowledge with their contextualized experience, expanding their understanding of the multitude of global perspectives. Lectures by local experts from the region and deep discussion will complement the service-learning experiences. Students will compare the local systems with their counterparts in the continental United States. In addition, we will enhance their professional experiences with families, schools, and communities through participating in outdoor, adventure, and place-based education and cross-cultural experiences. The experiences will bring education to the outdoor environment across the country (or island) capitalizing on the engaging learning environments that embrace local culture, environment, celebrations, and practices.

Professionalism, Full Participation

30 pts Attendance and Professionalism Includes: orientation, daily debriefs, guest lectures, service-learning, tours 20 pts Daily reflections and journal (written and/or verbal) We will provide daily reflection questions based on experiences from the day’s events. We require that you summarize these daily reflections to share in group discussion and journal. You will hand in your journal at the end of the trip. 20 pts Personal digital storytelling project You will create a video of less than 5 minutes that will model the assignment for our global partners. We will discuss this assignment during orientation, and you are expected to complete it before leaving the continental US so we can review it before showing it to our global counterparts. (See blackboard for more info) 10 pts Facilitation of global counterpart video storytelling project In pairs, you will work with a global counterpart to create a digital story of meaning to their community using prompt “where am I from and why does it matter?” It is then presented to families & school. 20 pts Final essay In this essay, you will reflect on the ways this course affected you and identify and describe a central theme connecting these outcomes. In an essay of approximately 5 pages, you will elucidate the theme by drawing on specific experiences.