Introduction
During the spring semester of 2015, I received a management internship at Clean the World. This nonprofit organization recycles discarded soap and other hygiene products from hotels and resorts then distributes them to at-risk communities in America and abroad. Assisting in the development of advertising strategies and information material for their Distribution trips, I came across a new phenomenon which has sparked this study. These Distribution trips allow participants to travel overseas to deliver soap and experience the country. This unique trip itinerary of international traveling and volunteering is known as Volunteer tourism, volunteer vacation, alternative tourism or voluntourism. While conducting background research for my projects, I came across opposite views on the topic. Volunteer Vacations listing almost 400 voluntourism organizations applauded the merits of the trips.
“As a volunteer you can halt tide of nasty effects of globalization and promote benefits of international understanding and cooperation.”
“Turn vacation into an experience that benefits you, others, and the community.”
“Volunteer vacations can change your perspective on the world, teach new skills, and greatly affect lives of others.”
Meanwhile Why You Shouldn’t Participate in Voluntourism gave real stories where overseas volunteering is harmful to the local/host community that some people may not consider going on such a trip. Other articles warned against voluntourism stating ethical and possible negative impacts including:
“Neglect of locals’ desires…a hindering of work progress and the completion of unsatisfactory work… a decrease in employment opportunities and a promotion of dependency… a reinforcement of conceptualisations of the ‘other’ and rationalisations of poverty…and an instigation of cultural changes (Guttentag 537).
After reading these articles it was a disheartening to think that the projects I was working on might cause harm. As I wrote information about their Distribution Trips to Zambia and Mexico, I noticed there was not a great deal of information in their orientation packet about the country or the different social issues volunteers would be encountering on their trip. Assuming that most participants would not know much about the country’s social situation or understand the culture without the nonprofit providing this information it would be a missed opportunity to educate the participants. At the same time my other tasks were to research effective teaching strategies for the Hygiene education part of the Distribution Trips and develop material letting the public know the impact of our organization. During those tasks it occurred to me that Clean the World was a teacher not only to the host community, but also to the participants. These realizations started my thinking on how Clean the World could structure their volunteer vacations to keep negative impacts on the local community to a minimum. At the same time foster global citizenship and continual civic participation in volunteers. Knowing how to create such a program has its difficulties.
Background of the Problem
The voluntourism market has substantially grown since 1990 involving about 1.6 million participants in 2008 with a value between $1.7 - $2.6 billion (Tourism Research and Marketing 2008). As a new phenomenon, researchers and the industry are in the process of fully understanding the topic and addressing the negative consequences of it. The greatest need is to develop criteria for establishing ethical and successful programs; therefore, a major area of research is on the “role of policy and certification in monitoring and evaluating quality volunteer tourism experiences for everyone involved” (“Issues and Futures” 849). Currently, researchers and practitioners are building on what has been gained from ecotourism to understand volunteer tourism (“Issues and Futures” 20). The International Ecotourism Society developed the International Voluntourism Guidelines for Commercial Tour Operators stating the purpose of the project “is to develop a practical tool that will help international voluntourism providers plan and manage their programs in a responsible and sustainable manner” (2012). This adds to the progress made towards developing what policies and certification should be to guarantee quality programs.
Justification of the Interdisciplinary Approach
As the sector continues to proliferate there is great opportunity to influence program participants to become global citizens while there is a need to ensure the protection and prosperity of host communities that receive help. This problem is complex as there are many factors that sending organizations must consider when performing projects within a local community while inspiring voluntourists to gain knowledge and skills. Also nonprofits’ purpose to help eradicate social issues thus they have a responsibility to be aware of how their actions influence people and the implications of certain decisions. Since there are many factors to consider in solving this problem I believe an interdisciplinary approach will prove useful as it will draw on many insights from different disciplines that can be integrated to give a more holistic approach to the problem.
Most Relevant Disciplines
Relevant disciplines include sustainable tourism, ecology, business, economics, and psychology. Sustainable tourism as it tries to conduct tourism to make a positive impact on the social and natural environment while ecology deals with the relationship between organisms and its environment. These disciplines would be relevant as it can illuminate the impact of human interaction on society and nature. Business tries to gain revenue by giving services to consumers while economics as it tries to understand market interactions. These disciplines would illuminate how organizations can develop a good organizational model and understand the impact of revenue on local economy systems. Psychology deals with understanding human behaviors by examining their cognitive constructs. This is useful to understand volunteer tourists’ motivation and cognitive changes after the trip. All these disciplines can provide insights to solve the problem; however, due to limited time this project will be limited to make it more feasible. I will analyze the problem through Sociology and Education. Sociology is a relevant discipline as the problem deals with social issues and how volunteers get involved in it. Additionally, the Education discipline has greatly researched successful study abroad program strategies. As volunteer vacations are similar to short-term study abroad trips this is the reason I will use the education discipline. Previous studies have not addressed voluntourism by blending insights from both disciplines, seeing it as a sociological and educational tool to impact volunteer tourists and host communities. The purpose of this paper is to integrate what is understood about the topic from the two disciplinary perspectives to find a more comprehensive solution of how nonprofits can structure their volunteer vacations to impact their participants to become global citizens.
Insights from the Literature Review
The purpose of this literature review is to provide background knowledge about voluntourism by presenting relevant research. It will point out overall trends in what has been published, give insights from different articles, and explain how each discipline understands the problem.
Sociology
Majority of sociology studies on this phenomenon have analyzed how sending organizations can develop civic engagement in participants and the extent this occurs, the effects that volunteer vacations have on participants and host communities, and investigating the motivations of participants who join this type of trip. Sending organizations advertise by offering an enhancing life experience to participants and assuring them the volunteer project is developed to authentically help the host community. Based on a content analysis of 12 organizations’ vision statements, mission statements, and program principles these are the top two common considerations they utilize when designing programs:
1. Interaction (21.17%)
This factor deals with topics that promote better relations and learning through interaction.
Constituent topics: International cooperation, Cross-cultural understanding, Relationship-building, and Mutual learning.
2. Needs of host community (20.49%)
This factor involves statements or phrases indicating that the needs of the host community are at the forefront of sending organisation considerations when organising programmes, and are not merely assumed ‘‘needs’’ that are driven by volunteer tourism market demand. Constituent topics: Local requirements, Underserved area, Existing resources, and Willingness and ability (Ong, Pearlman, and Lockstone-Binney 303-305).
These are commendable desires, but can organizations deliver on these promises? Considering the Interaction factor many studies try to assess if and how sending organizations actually provide this aspect and to what extent such interactions influence participants’ cultural perceptions, intercultural knowledge, and cultural competency skills. Combining studies on social movement and nonprofit promotion of civic engagement indicate that voluntourism can positively impact participants. Using the social movement theory, volunteer tourism promotes participation in social movements based on changes in people’s self-efficacy, networks, and consciousness-raising. Self-efficacy and consciousness-raising are both social psychological explanations for social movement participation. Self-efficacy is the “sense of an ability to overcome obstacles in life” (McGehee, “Alternative Tourism” 126). It is thought people need to believe they are able to make a difference despite opposition in order to participate in a social movement. Consciousness-raising is people’s awareness of and identification with the struggles within a social conflict (McGehee, “Alternative Tourism”2002). It is thought if people’s awareness of a social issue increases they are more likely to participate in that social movement. A resource-mobilization explanation for social movement participation is based on social networks. People’s networks are the linking of individuals and organizations through social relationships (McGehee, “Alternative Tourism”2002). It is thought that people’s network influences them to advocate change. A study was done on Earthwatch Institute expeditions (an alternative tourism organization) to assess whether the experience expands social networks and increases self-efficacy and if it predicts further activism. Assessing the pre and posttests sent to participants, the study’s statistics showed the increase in network connections positively predicted future social movement participation. However, despite gains in self-efficacy due to the expeditions, it did not indicate future social engagement based on that factor. Another study was done on networks and consciousness-raising. Based on three focus group discussions with participants from three different volunteer tourism organizations, networks again was a predictor of future activism support and an increased awareness of global issues also proved to cause activism in the future (McGehee, “Social Change, Discourse”2005). These studies show that network ties are an important predictor of beginning or continuing social activism.
Another theory dealing with networks is social capital theory. Based on works by Putnam (2000) and Coleman (1998) social capital can be defined as the collection of resources that an individual or organization gains through networks and the changes in network ties that facilitate actions (Kapucu 24-25). Putnam explains there are two types of social capital: bonding and bridging. Bonding is formed through interactions with people who are similar or share the same interests. Bridging is formed through interactions and connection with people who are different from oneself (Brunell 2013). From this perspective nonprofits are thought to promote civic engagement though facilitating and strengthening network ties among its participants and with their communities (Shier, McDougle, and Handy 2014). Due to this fact, what can nonprofits/voluntourism organizations do to increase participants’ networks? Through interviewing several organization leaders reveals that this is done by,
1) Engaging with volunteers and donors
2) Bringing community members together through direct and indirect services and programs
3) Collaborative engagement activities within and beyond the community
4) Community education and awareness activities (Shier, McDougle, and Handy 62)
Based on the interviews it is important for organizations to engage with volunteers and donors through volunteering and donating activities. This gives opportunities for community members to get involved—bringing them together and building friendships and network ties among participants and their community. As participants are involved their awareness of the social issue increases and they share this awareness in their community. This engages people to get involved which in promotes civic engagement (Shier, McDougle, and Handy 2014). Thus engagement and involvement increases networks of their participants and community members leading to increased social activism in the growing social network.
These results are promising; however, some studies show that programs may not deliver on such ambitious desires. A study about a group of students’ experience in Africa showed that participating in an alternative tourism trip does not guarantee positive changes in participants. Although in the pre-interview all eleven students mentioned volunteering as their goal for going. Only two mentioned they wanted to contribute to the local community while the other students mentioned they wanted to learn through community work. Additionally, all of them emphasized their desire to travel and see the world. Thus most students focus for volunteering was benefits for themselves and not emphasizing on contributing to their host community (Sin 2009). This is further indicated by responses made by the students two years after the trip. The researcher re-contacting them learned that only four out of eleven participants substantially volunteered and three of them had done their volunteering overseas. This seems to show that the students’ experience in Africa did “not significantly alter respondents’ post-trip volunteering activities” (Sin 494). However, all participants had traveled overseas for a significant amount of time and their preferred type of traveling was backpacking. This reveals that their main objective is traveling and getting to know the world (Sin 2009). The research suggests that nothing is wrong about their desire to travel, but this should be placed in a “meaningful manner where participants are put into suitable positions to encounter ‘other’ cultures and contexts—as long as these encounters are taken positively and reflected upon critically by volunteer tourists” (Sin 494). This is important as interviews with the students showed that their experience overseas made them confront their assumptions, stereotypes and privileges. Some encountered a situation and they were able to re-evaluate their thinking and eventually change their views; however, some may never get to that point and the situation reinforces their original beliefs. (Sin 2009).
Considering the Needs of host community factor many studies try to identify ways sending organizations can assess the impacts of volunteer vacations on local communities. Lupoli and Morse conducted a study using the compass of sustainability to identify indicators of program impacts for a better understanding how voluntourism organizations can design their programs and better organize interactions with the local community (2015). This indicator development tool organizes indicators into “four compass points: nature, economy, society, and well-being” (Lupoli and Morse 584). Using this tool allowed for easy side-by side-comparison of data gathered from sending organizations and community workshops. Comparing responses from both parties revealed that host communities and voluntoursim organizations’ priorities are aligned on some issues, but there are some discrepancies (Lupoli and Morse 2015). One insightful discrepancy is indicators related to cultural impacts. In community workshop results this indicator was prominent while there was a lack of this indicator in sending organizations. This shows the importance that host communities place on cultural exchange and sociocultural impacts on their community and thus this is an important area for “future collaboration between host communities and organizations to … minimize any negative sociocultural impacts of volunteer tourism (Lupoli and Morse 593). Although the study did not find the perfect formula to best design a volunteer tourism experience that would benefit both participants and host communities as the indicator development tool showed that different communities have unique needs that are specific to the destination. Thus trying to find the perfect way to design a program is too nuanced; however, it does show that voluntourism need to be aware and sensitive to host countries’ needs and those of a particular destination. Achieving common goals can be done with the mutual understanding approach as it is not driven by economic imperatives (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 2013). This shared understanding is greatly advocated as it incorporates the perspectives of both the host community and volunteers through explorative dialogues instead of imposing interpretations (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 2013; Hammersley 2013). It seems that arriving at a mutual understanding of the situation is the best way to design a volunteer project in a particular community.
Whether the program positively or negatively impacts the volunteer tourists and the host communities it is partly influenced by the sending organization and this demonstrates that such organizations have an obligation to thoroughly assess how the project will influence the host community and how to suitably engage their program participants. From a sociological perspective, voluntourism can cause harm or be beneficial to participants and host countries. Some warn that poorly designed programs can negatively impact as it spreads the negative aspects of globalization or it allows participants to do good and become globally knowledgeable and be inspired to engage in global issues (Fobes 2005; Goh 2012). Depending on how the program is designed and executed it can change social structures or perpetuate stereotypes and add to the inaccurate understanding of social issues and people affected by them.
Education
There are a few studies that analyzes volunteer vacations from an educational perspective. However, if the voluntourism trip is considered a short-term study abroad program then there is an overabundance of research on the subject. Volunteer vacations can be viewed as a blend of a study tour and service-learning trip based on the structure of those models. The study tour is “where participants travel from city to city and visits sites along the way” while the service-learning trip “includes international travel and volunteer work” (Sachau, Brasher, and Fee 653, 655). Two educational goals of study abroad programs is increasing knowledge and shaping attitudes. Increasing knowledge goal includes helping students understand the culture of the country they will visit. This will be limited as the trip is short and students only have a brief exposure; however, providing opportunities for them to interact with the host country’s people can facilitate their understanding and provide meaningful contact (Sachau, Brasher, and Fee 2010). Shaping Attitudes goal deals with increasing students’ interest in the host country and the people. As students interact with local people their experience will leave an impression which “may have a more lasting effect on attitudes and interests than on knowledge” and it can “spark a curiosity that will last a lifetime” (Sachau, Brasher, and Fee 2010 650). A component of these goals is developing Global citizenship in program participants. Global citizenship is thought as “a sense of self that is grounded in specific places (home communities and nations), while also conscious of those commitments in broader context of global belonging and global collaboration (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 443). It is identifying that one belongs to a global community and gaining a sense of concern and action for the welfare of the community as a whole (Brunell 18). An integral part of global citizenship is possessing intercultural competence which is defined by Perry and Southwell as the “ability to effectively and appropriately interact in an intercultural situation or context” (as cited in Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 443). This includes skills such as intercultural communication (Penington and Wildermuth 2005), cultural intelligence (Goh 2015), ambiguity tolerance, dissimilarity openness, cognitive complexity, and self-monitoring competence (Bergami 2011).
A majority of studies analyze study abroad experiences through critical pedagogy and transformational learning theory to explain how these programs can develop global citizenship and intercultural competency in participants. Critical pedagogy is teaching strategies based on the critical theory. The essential foundation of this theory is “social inquiry aimed at decreasing domination and increasing freedom in all their forms” (Bohman 2015). Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy is a three-pronged approach for social transformation: critical reflection, dialogue, and action (as cited in Reilly and Niens 2014). Critical reflection is based on critiquing social reality, assumptions about power, hidden aspects of language and questioning aspects of culture like traditions and norms (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 2013). Dialogue involves students discussing their realizations while action is students doing something to change the causes of oppression. This approach enables students to critically reflect and question what they experienced allowing them to see the world differently and be aware of diverse ways of living and thinking. The goal of this approach is to “guide students’ attention to becoming aware of their own cultural values and heightening awareness of other cultures” which enhances intercultural competency (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 444). Jack Mezirow’s transformational learning theory involves 10 phases that leads to transformation in students:
(a) a disorienting dilemma; (b) self-examination with feelings of fear, anger, guilt, or shame; (c) a critical assessment of assumptions; (d) recognition that one’s discontent and the process of transformation are shared; (e) exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions; (f) planning a course of action; (g) acquiring knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plans; (h) provisional trying of new roles; (i) building competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships; and (j) a reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s new perspective (as cited in Blake-Campbell 63).
As shown the transformation process begins with an experience then with the proper critical analysis and discussion the experience is a springboard for students to confront their assumptions in order to change their perspective and subsequent actions. Using these two theoretical perspectives a short-term study abroad to Salzburg, Austria addressed the question whether short-term study abroad programs is enough time for students to demonstrate transformation into global citizens (Blake-Campbell 2014). Prior to their seven day trip the 15 students attended several forums and orientation meetings and they presented oral and written content about global issues and challenges. Trip activities included visiting places connected to study topics, workshops, socializing with local people, faculty-led dialogues and guided reflection (Blake-Campbell 2014). Through pre-surveys and post-surveys, themes emerged from what students conveyed in their self-reflections about their experience abroad.
Increased Knowledge
Gained knowledge of ethnocentrism and ethnic identities
Personal knowledge on how to embrace own identity
Gained multiple perspectives about cultures
Gained knowledge of Austrian culture
More globally minded
Refined knowledge on global citizenship, global competence
Increased Global Awareness
Motivated to explore global issues
Growth in empathy (Blake-Campbell 68)
Based on their responses students showed that their trip gave enough exposure for them to become aware of their own thinking and better understand global issues. After this trip two students got greatly involved in addressing different human right issues. According to both critical pedagogy and transformational learning theory, critical reflection and dialogue creates transformation in students as their eyes are open to the invisible causes for current social reality. As they become aware they are motivated to act to change the world they live in for a better social reality. Even with greater awareness students still need to develop necessary skills to interact with other cultures and many studies investigate what these skills are and whether students can acquire them on short study abroad programs.
Intercultural competence is still an elusive term; however, Lloyed, et al. identified five intercultural competencies that are useful for expatriates to succeed in their foreign postings (Bergami 2011):
· Intercultural communication–the ability to code and decode messages in the context of a multicultural environment;
· Ambiguity tolerance–the ability to perceive ambiguous information and behaviour in an open or neutral manner, and adapt and be comfortable with ambiguous situations;
· Dissimilarity openness–the ability of being neutral, that is, refraining from making value judgments based on similarities between self and others;
· Cognitive complexity–this indicates the complexity or simplicity of an individual’s perceptions and emotional filters (or frames).
· Self monitoring competence. An individual who is a high self monitor typically “is particularly sensitive to the expression and self-presentation of relevant others in social situations, and uses these cues as guidelines for monitoring (that is regulating and controlling) his or her own verbal and non-verbal self-presentation” (Snyder, 1979, p. 89). (As cited in Bergami 48).
An Australian university sent students on a 10 day study tour of Malaysia, this study analyzes the trip to determine the degree to which students gain these intercultural competencies. Prior to departure students had two meetings to cover background information about the country and trip guidelines. 19 pre-questionnaires were given about six weeks before the trip and 15 post-questionnaires were given about six weeks after the trip. Data comparing the questionnaires and self reflective reports revealed that the trip increased students’ intercultural competencies in the area of intercultural communication, dissimilarity openness, and self-monitoring. Although there was a slight decrease seen in the areas of ambiguity tolerance and cognitive complexity; however, it is not statistically significant. The data showed that the area that increased the most because of the trip was intercultural communication and supports other studies that claim short-term study tours provide students the opportunity to develop cross-cultural adaptability including cross-cultural communication (Bergami 2011).
Experiential learning as another short-term study abroad program is an excellent platform to develop global civic engagement in students. It goes beyond acquiring intercultural competencies and knowledge about global issues and sympathy for those affected by them; it ignites action to correct the social issues. Experiential learning projects allow students to build both bonding and bridging social capital. Performing civic engagement with fellow students can build bonding social capital. While studying global issues can develop empathy for others as a foundation towards bridging social capital (Brunell 2013). Students in two international politics courses in a university located in Washington took part in an experiential learning program about human trafficking. Students had the ability to choose the global issue they wanted to work on and they made decisions what they wanted to do about the problem. Data was gathered from pre and post-questionnaires assessing their knowledge about human trafficking and the civic skills they utilized during the project. Based on the results student’s knowledge about the issue drastically increased. Additionally, the number of civic skills that students used during the project compared to skills they used before the project increased greatly, almost four times as much (Brunell 2013). This demonstrates that experiential learning can improve students’ global knowledge and civic skills. An interesting fact is 93% of students said that the project “made them more likely to be active on social justice issue of global significance” (Brunell 26). This civic efficacy showed an increase in 72% of students demonstrating that the project increased their confidence and belief they could make a difference and this created a desire to be active global citizens as students saw that their actions do matter (Brunell 2013). Seeing tangible results has a great impact on student even two years later the STOP Trafficking student club continues to address the issue in their community.
Studies analyzing short-term abroad trips demonstrate that participants gain global citizenship skills by giving them the opportunity to interact with other cultures and confront their assumptions, perceptions, and stereotypes. To sum up all these studies demonstrate that “although a short-term study abroad program has limitations it is still a viable option and a catalyst for transformative learning to shape ideas of ethics, empathy, and engagement for the path to global citizenship” (Blake-Campbell 69). From an educational perspective, voluntourism is like a teacher that should be prepare to engage its students aka participants to critically think about social issues which will develop their view of themselves as global citizens which will hopefully inspire global civic engagement.
Interdisciplinary Investigation
Conflicts Identified
Three areas of conflict between the disciplines is the idea that 1) volunteer tourism is beneficial for both parties, 2) reasons participants have for joining, and 3) whether social psychology reasons have an impact on participants’ future behavior.
1) Volunteer tourism is beneficial for both parties
"Although a short-term study abroad program has limitations it is still a viable option and a catalyst for transformative learning to shape ideas of ethics, empathy, and engagement for the path to global
citizenship" (Blake-Campbell 69).
"Volunteer tourism could indeed be reinforcing negative stereotypes of aid-recipients as inferior or less-able through the process of ‘‘othering’’ by volunteer tourists" (Sin 497).
A common assumption of education is that study abroad programs change students to be more understanding and willing to get involved global social issues while some other assumptions is that volunteers develop inaccurate view of the local people through the work they are doing. Instead of taking their understanding of the local people’s situation and turning it into empathy and eventually action to do something it, volunteers can come to believe negative ideas about the local community (Sin 2009; Hammersley 2013).
2) Reasons participants have for joining
Social capital is resources shared by an individual or organizations. Social movements are able to do their work because of their participants since there is a collective and economic benefit from social networks (Kapucu 2011). An assumption of this view is that people depending on their level of participation are able to network and develop a greater social capital. This can be self serving as participants can view volunteering as a commodity—gaining experiences for their resumes and professional development. Instead of seeing the people affected by the social issue they can be treating the experience as a market system for personal gain (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 2013). Critical pedagogy and transformational learning theory encourage the education system to build altruism in students for the greater good:
"We can foster global civic engagement by steering students in the direction of issues confronting the world today, asking students which ones they really care about, fostering a sense of responsibility for these issues, and helping them discover that they can act in ways that make a difference" (Brunell 30).
3) Social psychology reasons have an impact on participants’ future behavior
The self-efficacy theory explains that when people believe they are able to do something then they are more willing to do it and it predicts future activism (McGehee, “Alternative Tourism”2002). In McGehee’s study although there were gains in self-efficacy in participants on alternative tourism expeditions it did not change their behavior in the future to join other social movement activities (126). While in Brunell’s study, changes in students’ self-efficacy or civic efficacy as she referred to it did influence future civic actions that students who took part in the experiential learning project still worked to end human trafficking two years later (2013).
Common Ground—Integration
Both disciplines advocate that volunteer tourism has great potential for creating positive social change and they agree there are different benefits for both participants and host communities. To assist in combining research on volunteer tourism, participants and students will be considered one concept as a volunteer tourist is simultaneously a participant and a student. They engage in both leisure and volunteering while they are learning about the country, its people, and the impacting issue. The two personalities cannot be separated and they will be referred to as participant students. The five areas of common ground are 1) Social networks and relationship building, 2) Consciousness-raising and knowledge gaining, 3) Social capital theory and Intercultural competencies, 4) Civic and global engagement, Critical pedagogy, and Transformational Learning theory and 5) Mutual understanding and potential negative impacts.
1) Social networks and relationship building
"Network ties developed during a volunteer tourism experience have a powerful role in influencing participants’ social movement participation" (McGehee and Santos 774).
“The volunteers described how their experiences had been influenced by the interactions and relationships developed with community members, and from being immersed in another culture…associated the project with something more meaningful [and] valuable…” (Hammersley 865).
From a sociological perspective social mobilization and social capital theory explain that networks encourage participant students’ participation in social movements as relationships are a compelling reason for getting involved. From an educational perspective relationship building is the key for gaining participant students’ interest in the issue and the local people. As many participant students communicated working on a project makes it became real to them and it influenced them to continue doing something to help (Brunell 2013; Hammersley 2013). Both perspectives emphasize sending organizations/universities should provide opportunities for participants to interact with the local people and culture because of the benefits gained from personal contact (Fobes 2005; McGehee, “Alternative Tourism” 2002; Penington and Wildermuth 2005). As people develop social networks or friendships they can be inspired to get involve as their ties gives them a new perspective and personal reasons to join.
2) Consciousness-raising and knowledge gaining
“Consciousness-raising perceived as having been brought about by participation in a volunteer tourism experience also serves to predict intended social movement participation and activism support" (McGehee and Santos 774).
"The experiential learning that takes place during an activity such as an international study tour is not one that can be substituted in the classroom...does not produce the same results as actually being there. Exposure to living in a foreign country, and experiencing things like a local, provides student with a unique experience to broaden their horizons…" (Bergami 55)
Those statements illustrate that both disciplines agree that increased awareness and knowledge gained during volunteer experiences greatly impact participant students’ continual activism. For these reason both disciplines advocate that pre-departure preparation and frequent discussions during the trip are vital as it imparts knowledge about what they are observing and doing in the community (Black-Campbell 2014; Hammersley 2013). This helps them gain an accurate view of the global issue and the people affected by it. The unique aspect of volunteer vacations and the volunteering done on the trip is that participant students have the ability to interact with the local people and get hands on experience of the information they are learning. Experience makes the knowledge they have more tangible and it inspires action (Black-Campbell 2014; Hammersley 2013).
3) Social capital theory and Intercultural competencies
Social capital is the benefits and resources participant students get from their relationship with someone or a group. These networking ties can be built between people who are similar to themselves (other volunteer tourists) and be built with people who are dissimiliar to themselves (people of the local community). These social contacts are valuable as it leads to cooperation, sharing of knowledge, and gaining of skills (Kapucu 2011). Both types of ties are valuable; however, the network ties with dissimilar people helps participant students develop new set of skills referred to as intercultural competencies (Trede, Bowles, and Bridges 2013). As participant students directly interact with the host communities they are faced with situations where they need to think or act differently. These situations provide opportunities to develop different perspectives, practice cultural sensitivity, understand cultural differences, navigate ambiguous encounters, learn about diversity, and properly communicate (Bergami 2011; Penington and Wildermuth). These authentic interactions benefit participant students because social relationships are useful—their intercultural connection provides benefits for future behavior.
4) Civic and global engagement, Critical pedagogy, and Transformational Learning theory.
“Through these activities (volunteering and donating), nonprofits promote awareness of their cause or issue in the local community, which in turn serves to increase the level of civic engagement among community members by providing information to community members about ways to become involved and encouraging engagement with like-minded people in the community” (Shier, McDougle, and Handy 2014).
“It is this interface of experiences and the critical reflection of those experiences that provides a salient avenue for nurturing global citizenship” (Stoner et al 159).
The central concept for both disciplines is awareness that leads to action is important. The sociological perspective advocates that volunteers get involved due to their knowledge about the issue plus they know ways to get involved. The educational theories of critical pedagogy and transformation learning advocate that participant students should transform their knowledge of a global issue in order to know how to take action against it and then actually take action (Blake-Campbell 2014; Reilly and Niens 2014). Awareness can mean knowledge by critically reflecting on their experience volunteering abroad and discussing their reflections. Volunteer tourism trips give participant students the space be become globally engaged—they gain knowledge by critically reflecting on the situations they encounter on their trip, know how they can make a difference through their interactions abroad, and make a difference as they volunteer.
5) Mutual understanding and potential negative impacts
The biggest concerns of both disciplines are that voluntourism can be harmful, but how the trips can be beneficial to the local communities. Ensuring that potential negative impacts will be minimized is best though understanding the needs and wants of the communities themselves and this is can be done by continuous dialogue between sending organizations and the local community of each individual volunteer site and project overseas. This is a better guarantee that the voice of the local people are part of the program design process as “such a discussion could help both parties to understand their unique needs and preferences, as well as work towards common ground and set goals” (Lupoli and Morse 597).
Interdisciplinary Understanding and Solution
Integrating the insights from both disciplines provides the perfect tools for volunteer tourism to engage participant students to be global citizens and make a difference in their community. The toolbox metaphor explains the interdisciplinary solution in a creative way to capture the new understanding. Volunteer tourism is like a toolbox. The actual box is the program that holds the tools together. As the box provides the tools needed for the job the voluntourism program provides skills, positive impact, and opportunities to both participant students and host communities. These tools in the box are different, they require different skills to use, and they provide different services for the project. The networks or friendships are like a hammer as it is the driving force in the program. Networks/friendships encourage engagement in global issues and it’s a continual motivator for activism. Understanding is like a nail as it’s a holding piece in the project material. As participant students and local people interact together they gain an understanding of each other and the social issue, this builds the world into a community and care for one another. Critical reflection or awareness is like a pair of pliers as pliers remove unnecessary material or help remove deformed nails. Critical reflection/awareness is important to make sure inaccurate information is replaced with better knowledge of social realities. Dialogue is like measuring tape as it makes sure pieces fit together. As participate students engage with host communities their perceptions and thinking process need to be assess continuously to ensure that what they are learning are accurate and fit with actual circumstances. Surrounding the toolbox is the purpose of the tools’ presence and how it’s used. As a worker needs to know how to use the tools, participant student need knowledge to know how to use the skills they are acquiring on the trip for future action. Additionally, they need to know what job needs to be done and this is done by sending organizations collaborating with host communities about the project and the impact it will have on them.
The new Interdisciplinary understanding will be applied in the context of Distribution trips provided by Clean the World. This is the description that Clean the World provides about their trips:
“Short-term outreach journeys with Clean the World provide three- and four-day experiences in communities where soap is in short supply. These are cities and villages where poor hygiene leads to sickness and high death rates, especially among children younger than 5”
My supervisor Hannah (pseudonym) explained that voluntourism as a new market sector has developed into a revenue source for nonprofits and other social benefit organizations. Clean the World provides about 2-3 Distribution trips a year. Before the trip participant students are given an orientation package with information about the country (this package does not include much information about the country or people). For the orientation session, she contacts them to explain about the trip and the work they will be doing overseas. During the trip she does not specifically have topics she discusses with them only if they ask questions then dialogue happens about the social situation and issues surrounding the volunteer project. These questions depends on the group based on factors as interest level, age, occupation, and reason for going on the trip. As for the work leisure balance most of the time is spent on distribution sites and with the people of the community. Although participant students gain a greater awareness and some intercultural skills during these Distribution trips, there is potential for Clean the World to impact the participant students in a greater way. Incorporating critical reflection and dialogue is important as it takes a ‘fun trip’ and ‘doing good’ to understanding in a deeper way how their actions are impacting the local community and come to realize we are all citizens of the same community. Encouraging their reflection of their experiences ensures that participant students are not just going on a trip, but evaluating what they are experiencing and encouraging future activism.
Conclusions
The purpose of this paper is to integrate insights gained through sociology and education to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of voluntourism and what sending organizations can do to enhance the experience and interactions of guests and hosts. Based on the common ground presented between the two perspectives, voluntourism can inspire participant students to understand their place in a global community and act as members of such a community. In this way nonprofits will solve their immediate need for revenue and volunteers, but also their long term goal of getting participant students to care about the issue and in a wider sense about global issues. These organizations are teachers. Educating participant students about global issues and developing their global citizenship. As agents of change they facilitate intercultural connection between participant students and people of the host communities. The idea is not how volunteer tourists change the host community, but how they mutually change each other and how these experiences inspire mutual understanding in all. Hopefully the presented solution can benefit Clean the World and other sending organizations on how they can build global awareness during their trips and how they structure the program to engage volunteers to become a global citizen.
