Jamaica

International Service Learning

Program Overview

Yallahs and St. Thomas Parish

Courses

Faculty

Field Trips

Accommodation

Cost

Calendar

General Summer Program Information

Eligibility and Application Procedures

Application Deadline

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Located in the Parish of St. Thomas, this program focuses on international service learning, diversity, and pro-poor development. Students take two integrated, interdisciplinary courses that combine academic readings and discussions with experiential learning. Students meet as a group four afternoons a week and spend three days a week in the field. They all explore the history, culture, socio-economic development, and formal and non-formal (community-based) education in Jamaica, while also learning what it means to be a global citizen in their chosen field. Field projects vary depending on the needs of community-based partner organizations as well as the interests and skills of the students. Students also have the opportunity for in-depth study that focuses on the issues this integrated learning experience opens up for each of them.

Past participants have come from a variety of fields including the social and behavioral sciences, education, organizational development, counseling, public health, and agriculture. They have worked with women’s cooperatives; students, counselors, and teachers in pre-primary and primary schools, as well as a school for pregnant teens; and agricultural extension agents. They have explored gender issues, alternative energy, conflict and violence, fair trade marketing, sustainable agriculture, art education, school discipline, as well as their own roles in creating a more equitable world.

Introductory meetings are held on Temple main campus and/or via Internet during the latter part of the spring semester and the first week of summer session I. During this phase, students undertake background reading on a service learning/research project that will be their focus during their stay in Jamaica. During the first week in Jamaica, students are introduced to service learning partners and sites, make final decisions about placements, and begin work with their service learning partners. In class, they begin to focus on Jamaican history, culture, education, and development issues, as well as conduct background reading and research on a service learning project they will complete during their stay. During the second or third week, students also spend up to five days in Kingston, the cultural capital of Jamaica, where they visit cultural sites such as the Bob Marley Museum, the National Gallery, and the craft market. While in Kingston, students also attend lectures and events at the University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, and other Kingston sites. As final projects, students write integrated research papers, combining class insights and field observations and make presentations to offer their insights and suggestions to participating community stakeholders.

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ABOUT YALLAHS AND ST. THOMAS PARISH

The program is based in Yallahs, the Parish capital of St. Thomas Parish. St. Thomas is one of 13 administrative divisions in Jamaica and is located at the southeastern tip of Jamaica, about 20 miles east of Kingston, the Jamaican capital. Yallahs is a small town of 12,000 people that is best known for the “jerk” food vendors in the main square and the “Salt Ponds,” large bodies of very salty water between the sea and main land, that are a site for bird migration and change color at different times of the year. Although this parish has its share of natural beauty, it is not a Jamaican tourist destination; it thus offers the opportunity to experience Jamaica as a country and not only as a beach resort. The Parish has many natural resources: the high mountains from which Blue Mountain coffee originates; rivers, fertile plains and hillsides that are still cultivated in bananas, sugar and ginger; and many beaches. It is also rich in local history and culture. Two of the national heroes of Jamaica, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon, are from St. Thomas. Both were leaders in the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865, which led to the beginning of constitutional government in Jamaica. St. Thomas Parish has kept close to its indigenous roots, which include local cultural celebrations such as kumina (African drumming and dancing) and crop-over festivals.

COURSES

Undergraduate and graduate students may receive credit through the program.
Undergraduate students enroll in two courses. All undergraduates enroll in Urban Education 2320: Special Seminar - Independent Project (3 cr). For the second course, students may earn credit for either Education 1255: Inclusive Education for a Diverse Society (3 cr) or Urban Education 1006: Schooling and Development in Third World Societies (3 cr), depending on their majors and academic requirements.

Notes: Temple University education majors who have not taken Education 1255 should enroll in that course. Students who have already completed Urban Education 1006 may alternatively earn credit for Education 2082, which is taught at an advanced level of Urban Education 1006.

Graduate students enroll in Urban Education 5630: Special Seminar - Independent Project (3 cr) and Urban Education 9982: Independent Research (3 cr).

These courses are taught as an integrated unit that includes academic learning and learning in the field. Urban Education 1006, or its alternate, Education 2082 (undergraduate), and Urban Education 9982 (graduate) focus on Jamaica as a case study of the interface among economic development/poverty reduction, education (formal and informal), and socio-cultural and historical factors. Education 1255 focuses on diversity issues (social class, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability) in the context of the classroom and teaching.

Urban Education 2320 (undergraduate) and Urban Education 5630 (graduate) consist of an individual project that links academic readings and a community-based service-learning/field research component. These readings are individualized based on each student’s community-based project and particular academic interests. All students are introduced to the practice of community-based research. They also explore the connections between international service learning and globalization, focusing especially on intercultural awareness, global ethics and cosmopolitan citizenship.

Formal instruction (seminar style) is scheduled for 2 hours a day, Monday through Thursday. For the field-based component, students spend two to three days a week at a variety of sites where they engage in community-based/service learning and community education. Partnerships with local organizations provide community-based learning opportunities in the following general areas: early childhood and primary education (in-school supports); after-school (tutoring, arts, special programs); alternative schooling for pregnant teens (tutoring, counseling, outreach); rural agricultural development (support/education for women farmer cooperatives and research for the Rural Agricultural Development Authority); and public health (nutrition and various in-office and in-field activities). Other opportunities are possible, as the goal is to match student interests/major fields of study to the needs and interests of our community partners. The community-based service-learning experiences are arranged by Edu-Tourism (St. Thomas), Inc., a non-government non-profit entity that supports community-based organizations in Jamaica by providing human and financial resources to realize community and educational development projects.

A major requirement on which assessment is based is a final paper that integrates materials from both courses and from readings, reflections and field observations. This paper serves as the basis for presentations to community partners and stakeholders and is due at the end of the Jamaica program. The seminar includes faculty and student presentations on readings, along with faculty- and student-led discussions. Other writing assignments include a field journal, a book review and a final critical reflection.

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PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND FACULTY

Novella Keith, PhD, program director and course instructor. Dr. Keith is a faculty member in the Urban Education Program with extensive experience in Jamaica. A sociologist, she is interested in connecting issues that face urban students and communities in the United States and poor people in developing countries. She has lived, taught and done research in Jamaica over many years. Her main research and practice interests include community partnerships, social justice pedagogies and service learning as an approach to student engagement and community change. This work is centered on issues of race, class, difference and democratic participation.

Sally Gould, MA, course instructor. Ms. Gould is a doctoral candidate in the Urban Education Program, currently working on her dissertation research in Yallahs, Jamaica. An anthropologist, she is interested in popular culture and youth identity. Her doctoral research is on cultural commodities and youth identities, with a special focus on popular music.

FIELD TRIPS

Weekends and some Fridays are devoted to educational travel/excursions. Specific destinations are selected based on student interests and may include visits to alternative tourism sites. Students have the opportunity to take excursions to local attractions, including hiking in the Blue Mountains, bathing in the healing river waters of Bath, and visiting beautiful waterfalls and white sand beaches in nearby Portland Parish. The last weekend is student-organized and usually involves experiencing life in a Jamaican tourist resort such as Ocho Rios.

ACCOMMODATION

Participants are lodged either dormitory-style in a beachfront villa or in a hillside guest house in Yallahs. The villa also serves as general gathering site and site for classroom activities. Transportation between the guest house and the villa is provided. Breakfast and dinner are served at the villa on all days when students are in residence. Students are responsible for their own lunch and snacks, as well as all meals on “away” trips.

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ESTIMATED 2010 COSTS

Notes:

All estimated costs are subject to change. They should be used as a guideline only. Accepted students will receive updated, detailed cost information as soon as it becomes available after the application deadline.

*The Jamaica Fee includes lodging in St. Thomas and lodging on campus while in residence at the University of the West Indies, Kingston; breakfast, most dinners, and local program-related transportation while in residence in St. Thomas; and NGO-supported educational activities.

In addition to the items listed above, students should budget money for in-town transportation while in residence at the University of the West Indies, personal local travel in St. Thomas, lodging and transportation on other “away” weekends, and health insurance.

2010 CALENDAR (SUMMER I)

Dates are tentative and subject to change.

GENERAL SUMMER PROGRAM INFORMATION

Please see General Summer Information to read about pre-departure information and orientation; passports and visas; scholarships; costs and payment policies; accreditation; and transfer of credits.

ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Please see Eligibility and Application Procedures for program eligibility, application requirements, and application procedures that apply to all summer programs. In addition, for the Jamaica program, the following is required:

• A typed statement (recommended length of 750 words) describing your expectations, goals and interests regarding the Jamaica program, and provisionally identifying a project area of interest. The statement should include how skills and knowledge that you have acquired through your academic and community work might be helpful to non-profit, community-based and grass-roots organizations whose work involves one or more of the following: education (early, primary and alternative); public health issues, including teen pregnancy; computer use; or support/education of small farmers. Applicants are asked to complete this statement within the online application system.
• Candidates may be interviewed; telephone interviews are conducted for those who cannot be interviewed personally.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15

For more information, please contact:

Novella Keith: 215-204-6940 novella.keith@temple.edu
International Programs: 200 Tuttleman Learning Center, study.abroad@temple.edu 215-204-0720

Laura Porterfield: laura.porterfield@temple.edu

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