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Beyond Book Learning: Cultivating the Pedagogy of Experience Through Field Trips

Lisa Marie Jakubowski

Teach me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand.

(An ancient Chinese proverb, as cited by Reissa)

I begin with a quotation from a student who used this proverb to sum up her December, 2000, immersion field trip experience to Manzanillo, Cuba. This quotation succinctly reflects the central theme of this paperlearning through involvement. In a general sense, this has been my most effective strategy, to date, for engaging students in a process of teaching and learning about diversity and social justice. By connecting classroom and community, by taking learning beyond the text, students cultivate their appreciation of diversity by actually experiencing it. The notion of participation or involvement in education is not new. When Dewey (1963) wrote about progressive education he noted that participatory, active learning was essential for individuals to gain knowledge and develop as citizens (p. 67). Today, learning through involvement reflects a commitment to a pedagogy that is engaged (hooks, 1994), transformative or critical (Shor, 1992, pp. 189 190; Wink, 2000, p. 123;), and community-based

This chapter originally was published in the Journal of Experiential Education, with the following citation: Jakubowski, L. M. (2003). Beyond book learning: Cultivating the pedagogy of experience through field trips. Journal of Experiential Education, 26(1), 2433.

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(Mooney & Edwards, 2001). Such a pedagogy is activist in its questioning of the status quo, in its participatory methods, and in its insistence that knowledge is not fixed, but, constantly changing (Shor, 1992, p.189). Here, there is an orientation toward change-agency, that is,learning and acting for the democratic transformation of self and society. It can take place at work, at home, in school, and in community, wherever people take responsibility for rethinking and changing the conditions they are in (Shor, p. 190). Jasso and Jasso (in Wink, 2000) actually describe critical pedagogy as a way of life, where livingcritical pedagogy means relating teaching and learning to the real world as well as connecting that which we learn to our communities (p. 129). This paper explores one example of living critical pedagogy, specificallyservicelearning. According to Jacoby (1996):
Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and development. Reflection and reciprocity are key concepts of service-learning. (p. 5)

The immersion field trip, as a service-learning project, is presented as a critically responsive component of experiential education that is designed to facilitate the building of an engaged learning community (Warren, 1998, p. 135). A discussion regarding elements of the critically responsive pedagogical alternative will be presented here, namelyarticulation of experience, critical thinking and reflection, and action. The compatibility of this approach with service-learning will then be highlighted. More concretely, the December 2000 field trip to Manzanillo, Cuba, is offered as an example of an international service-learning project allowing students, professors, other members of the Brescia University College Community, and our Cuban friends to work together toward a common goal. Reflections on the successes and challenges of this particular experience are discussed throughout.

Experience and the Critically Responsive Approach


Traditionally, educational institutions have been viewed as places through which knowledge is transmitted to members of society. Described as banking (Freire, 1970, p. 58), or the student-as-sponge model (Waldstein & Reiher, 2001, p. 7), this more conventional approach to teaching and learning objectifies students and marginalizes knowledge stemming from personal life experience. In contrast to banking is a Freirian process of education that conceptualizes students as active participants in their learning. In his vision of education, Freire began with the conviction that the role of men and women was not only to be in the world, but to engage in

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relations with the worldthat through these acts of creation and re-creation, we make cultural reality and thereby add to a natural world that we did not make (Freire, 1998, p. 82). Education, through a constant unveiling of reality, invites students to develop a critical awareness of their social worlds. Toward this end, a more balanced teacher-student relationship must emerge, a relationship in which teachers and students are jointly responsible for and simultaneously engaged in learning (Freire, 1970). Independent and critical thought is encouraged. Consciousness-raising and societal intervention is promoted. Through a problem-posing process, students receive challenges relating to themselves in the world and are urged to respond those challenges (Freire, 1970, pp. 68 69). Arguably, if we educate in this way, we are living critical pedagogy. In striving to relate classroom to community, theory to action, community-based learning [CBL] has become an increasingly popular option among sociologists. According to Mooney and Edwards (2001), CBL refers to any pedagogical tool in which the community becomes a partner in the learning process all CBL initiatives are experiential, and in that way active learning (p. 182). The integration of active learning into the curriculum is a dialectical process. Critical reflection and dialogue are used to highlight how: (a) course content can impact our understanding of community, and (b) community-based learning shapes and/or reshapes how we view course content. The sense of knowing that emerges from this type of process transcends the knowledge attainable by either mastering the content or independently experiencing the community (Mooney & Edwards, p. 186). To facilitate this pedagogical process, it is helpful to adopt some variation of Freires (1970) problem-posing model (see for example Joplin, 1981; Wallerstein, 1987; Wink, 2000). In Wallersteins five-step questioning strategy, students are asked to: (a) describe what they see, (b) define the problem, (c) share similar experiences, (d) question why there is a problem, and, (e) strategize what they can do about the problem (p. 38). A variation on the five-step strategy is Winks (2000) four-phase approach: (a) begin with the students own experiences; (b) identify, investigate, pose a problem within your own life; (c) solve the problem together; and (d) act (pp. 140 141). Irrespective of the approach selected, education, in this Freirian sense, generally involve: the articulation of experience, critical thinking and reflection, and action.

Experience Critical Thinking, and Reflection


Critical thinking is more than an intellectual skill cultivated through higher education (Drake, 1976; Meyers, 1986; Stice, 1987; Young, 1980). In this context, critical thinking is understood to be a process that occurs among adults in their everyday interactions. Specifically, by choosing to regularly question and explore the most commonsensical details of their social experiences in relationships, at work, in political involvements when interpreting mass media (Brookfield, 1987, p. 12), critical thinking represents a lived activity, not an academic pastime (p. 14). Critical thinking involves reflection: the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of

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self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective (Boyd & Fales in Brookfield, 1987, p.14). Hutchings and Wutzdorff (1988) define reflection as the ability to step back and ponder ones own experience, to abstract from it some meaning or knowledge relevant to some other experiences (p. 15). It is the link that ties student experience in the community to academic learning (Eyler & Giles, 1999, p. 171). This process of reflection can also foster a new understanding about ones social world that is often accompanied by behavioral change. In this sense, critical thinking is by itself a form of social action because of its transforming potential, its challenge to the dominant culture inside and outside us (Shor, 1992, p. 195). Given the previous statement, how can we facilitate critical thinking in order to make the relationship between student community experiences and academic learning more meaningful? One alternative is to adopt a critically responsive philosophy and model of teaching (Brookfield, 1990). Specifically, for the instructor, this reflects a strongly felt rationale but which in its methods and forms responds creatively to the needs and concerns expressed by students. The responsive component [represents] the willingness of teachers to adapt their methods, content and approaches, to the context in which they are working and to the ways in which students are experiencing learning (Brookfield, pp. 23 24, emphasis added). Two integral components of this critically responsive alternative are: (a) the use of journals as a tool for reflection (SullivanCaitlin, 2002, p. 44), and (b) discussion. While immersed in an experience, students ongoing journaling provides a medium through which they describe their activities and observations and reflect on their own reactions (intellectual and emotional) to these experiences (Sullivan-Caitlin, 2002, p. 45). Starting with what people know, (i.e., their experience) provides an important statement to those who are experiencing learning. While emphasizing the value of experience, it also helps people to recognize their own personal resources; how much they can learn from each other; how much they already know about a theme (Arnold, Burke, James, Martin, & Thomas, 1991, p. 52). Once individuals concretize their experiences in the form of journal entries, it is possible to move from individual meditation on an experience to something more structured. Discussion, the theory and practice of group talk (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999, p. 6), provides a means for engaging in structured reflection. Structured reflection includes an interactive group dimension that begins with discussion. Through discussion, experiences get collectivized, allowing more voices to be heard, and similarities and patterns among experiences to be identified (Arnold et al., 1991, p. 54). The value of discussion1 is fourfold:
1 Brookfield and Preskill (1999) note that if discussion-based classrooms are to be crucibles for democratic processes and mutual growth (p. 8), both students and teachers need to practice certain dispositions, including: hospitality, participation, mindfulness, humility, mutuality, deliberation, appreciation, hope and autonomy. For a more detailed review of these dispositions, see Brookfield and Preskill (1999, pp. 819).

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1. To help participants reach a more critically informed understanding about the topic or topics under consideration. 2. To enhance participants self-awareness and their capacity for self-critique. 3. To foster an appreciation among participants for the diversity of opinion that invariably emerges when viewpoints are exchanged openly and honestly. 4. To act as a catalyst to helping people take informed action in the world (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999, pp. 6 7).

On the Question of Action


Central to learning through involvement is some form of action that links classroom and community. As a way of enriching their sociological education, my students have, for a long time, expressed a strong interest in applying their sociological knowledge to the living community. Through the process of critical reflection, the movement toward action might begin with individual commitment statements (Wink, 2000, pp. 155 156) by those students participating in a problem-posing process. As an example, around the issue of intolerance for diversity, an individual commitment statement might be: I commit to approaching, with more openness, learning situations about diverse cultures and political systems. But what happens to these commitment statements? Do they translate into action? And if so, what form does this action take? Arguably, the way(s) in which learning comes to be linked with social action is dependent upon the comfort level of the respective participants. The challenge, for me, becomes how to get students more actively involved in their educational experience, without imposing my preferences upon them.2 Like others who strive to build an action component into their pedagogy (see for example Solorzano, 1989, p. 223), I will try not to impose a particular course of political action on students who are not comfortable with it. Instead, I try to remain mindful of the fact that the willingness of a student to experience action is influenced by a number of factors, including: the students degree of comfort with the dynamics of the teaching and learning process, the students level of self-confidence, cultural experiences, how well the student understands the problem under consideration, and previous experience working for social justice and change in community. As I strive to more consistently build learning through involvement into my pedagogy, I have readjusted my personal expectations of what action ought to be. Experience has taught me that the nature of student engagement is contextual, and my success as a teacher in

2 Later in this paper, I discuss various forms action can take in the context of this international servicelearning project.

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challenging students to become more active in their learning will vary with each group of students I teach. While efforts are continually made to bridge classroom and community, I recognize that it is more important to have modest action expectations for students than to alienate them from the teaching and learning process because of their resistance to a particular course of action (Jakubowski, 2001, p. 72). Ultimately, as Wallerstein (1987) notes, whatever the level of action taken, students learn through the experience of action itself (p. 43) that social or political transformation of their realities is a possibility. Keeping this in mind, the discussion will now shift to a more concrete example of how the immersion field trip, conceptualized as an international service-learning project, can facilitate critical thinking and reflection, and cultivate socially just forms of action. Specifically, immersion field trips, as one type of service-learning,3 give students a break from the norm, and provide instructors with a way of linking subject matter in courses to the social world in which we live.

Critically Responsive Pedagogy, Service Learning, and Social Justice


As sociologists strive to better prepare students for life beyond the university, servicelearning, as an instructional methodology, has become increasingly popular (see for example, Hondagneu-Sotelo & Raskoff, 1994; Jacoby, 1996; May & Koulish, 1998; McEwen, 1996; Mooney & Edwards, 2001; Parker-Gwin, 1996; Sullivan-Caitlin, 2002; Warren, 1998; Wink, 2000). While more traditional pedagogical approaches aim to enrich the students appreciation of society by bringing the real world into the classroom via films, newspapers or guest speakers, servicelearning, as a more innovative approach, seeks to enhance the learning process by bringing students into social or cultural settings that they might not otherwise confront (Hondagneu-Sotelo & Raskoff, p. 248). While it can take different forms, service-learning generally involves activities designed to address human and community needs. These activities serve to complement course content and promote learning through reflection and social action (Hondagneu-Sotelo & Raskoff, p. 248; Jacoby, 1996, p. 5; Parker-Gwin, 1996, p. 97; Sullivan-Caitlin, 2002, p. 45).

3 While recognizing that there will be exceptions, Mooney and Edwards (2001, pp. 184185) suggest that there is a hierarchy of CBL options, with out of class activities, such as field trips at one of the spectrum, and service learning (advocacy) at the other end. Here, I will argue that the immersion field trip to Manzanillo, Cuba, is one such exception, because it contains components more typical of servicelearning (i.e., students are immersed in the community; they render a service; some received curricular credit; there is some application of course content to the real life setting; structured reflection occurred; and, in the gathering and distribution of humanitarian aid, there was social action) (Mooney & Edwards, 2001, p. 184).

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According to Fertman (1994), service learning rightly has been called the education of empowerment. It builds self-esteem, renews curiosity about learning, develops interpersonal skills, stirs leadership development, rekindles work and service ethics, and brings the world of careers closer to home (p. 7). Service-learning, as an instructional methodology, has four basic elements: preparation, service, reflection, and celebration (Fertman, 1994, pp. 1116). First, preparation involves linking the activities in the field/community to specific learning outcomes. Second, the service must be both challenging and meaningful, and address a real need. There are three types of service activity: direct, indirect, and civil action. Direct service is that which involves personal contact with individuals in need. Indirect service channels resources to solve a problem (e.g., gathering humanitarian aid for a country or community in need). Finally, civic action emphasizes active participation in democratic citizenship. Action includes informing the public about the problem to be addressed and working toward solving the problem (Fertman, pp. 1314). The third element of service learning is reflection: the active, persistent and careful consideration of the service activity: the students behavior, practice and accomplishments. Reflection is designed to connect the service activity to learning, helping students to understand the meaning and impact of their efforts by linking what they have learned with what they have done (Fertman, p. 15). As service-learning unfolds, reciprocity occurs between the server and the person or group being served. Through reciprocity,
Students develop a great sense of belonging and responsibility as members of a larger community. Community members being served learn how to take responsibility for their own needs and become empowered to develop mechanisms and relationships to address them. (Jacoby, 1996, p. 8)

Thus, as Kendall (1990) notes: Reciprocity creates a sense of mutual responsibility and respect between individuals involved in the service-learning exchange (p. 22). Finally, there is celebration. Celebration involves sharing, among various partners involved in service-learning, the achievements of the students and the benefits to communities in need resulting from the service (Fertman, 1994, p. 16). The field trip to Manzanillo, Cuba, provides a clear illustration of how service-learning does indeed reflect an empowering form of education.

Experiencing Political Diversity and Social Justice Through Field Trips


The Trip in Context
The impetus for organizing the December 2000 field trip to Cuba really began in the 1994 95 academic year. During that year, the author coordinated a Humanitarian Aid Drive

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for Cuba, which was co-sponsored by the London Branch of the Canada-Cuba Friendship Committee. As a community-based, college-wide social justice project, it succeeded in both: (a) raising student awareness of the economic, social, and humanitarian implications of the American embargo against Cuba; and (b) gathering more than one ton of aid for Cuba in the form of school and medical supplies (Geigen-Miller, 1994, p. C7). While the students were thrilled with the success of this Aid Drive, they expressed one main regret: Its too bad that we could not go to Cuba to deliver our school supplies and medicines, and experience Cuba, first hand, for ourselves. I was moved by their comments and set out to see what I could to do to make such a trip a reality. As Scarce (1997) notes, students are motivated to learn when they concretely experience social phenomena through the every day setting of field trips (p. 220). And, like Boyle (1995), I feel that one of our most important responsibilities, as teachers, is to mak[e] students think beyond the four walls of the classroom (p. 153). Accordingly, since the Humanitarian Aid Drive of 1994 95, I had been trying very hard to work out with my friends/contacts in Cuba, the logistical details for such an experience at a university college that had not previously sponsored an international field trip. Ultimately, with the encouragement of a very supportive administration, my long-time dream of taking students to Cuba materialized in December of 2000.

Pretrip Planning and Action


Recognizing that this would be a long and complicated project, long-range planning became vital. Even with amazing cooperation from two Cuban friends, who were invaluable in helping me coordinate activities and visits to various locations, there were many challenging details to attend to, including: (a) selection of the site; (b) visiting the site prior to the field trip; (c) selecting dates for travel; (d) establishing a screening process for potential student participants; (e) arranging for transportation and housing; (f) planning the itinerary; (g) preparing students for what they would greet on arrival, as well as reinforcing the academic expectations of the trip; (h) attending to administrative details around insurance and acknowledgement and assumption of risk; (i) facilitating on-site involvements, daily debriefings, and discussion groups; and (j) evaluating the trip (Scarce, 1997, pp. 221225). From the outset, I recognized that there would be a limit to the number of students who could participate in such a field trip, given the supervisory implications. Ten seemed like a reasonable number for a first-time endeavor. The College Chaplain, Theresa, was immediately invited to accompany me, as she had an interest in Cuba dating back to the Humanitarian Aid Drive of 199495. Furthermore, students would be selected, not from one particular class of mine, but from among my various courses; and those students interested in participating were formally interviewed. Those with some background or involvement in global development and/or social justice issues were invited to participate.

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Beyond having an interest in Cuban development and social justice, other factors would impact the degree of involvement a student could have in this project. First of all, the timing of the trip proved to be a complicating factor. For financial reasons, early December was the estimated date for departure. This was a less expensive time to go, and cost is obviously a factor for university students. But even with the reduced rates, the cost was still a bit overwhelming for the budgets of some eager students, and they were unable to participate. Beyond budget, problems arose around the writing of mid-year exams. Specifically, our time away overlapped slightly with the start of Christmas exams, and therefore some students who had exams at this time were not comfortable with the option of seeking, with my assistance, special permission to write their scheduled exams upon their return. They, therefore, decided not to participate in the field trip. Finally, there were those students who were unable to travel with us because their parents were not comfortable with them travelling to a Communist country. With these various criteria factored in, our tentative list of 10 was reduced to a small but enthusiastic list of four: Ashley, Kalyan, Reissa and Onica.4 It is important to point out that action or involvement in this project took various forms and no one form of action was more legitimate than another. While only four students would ultimately make the journey overseas, we were determined to build on the enthusiasm for this project that was growing throughout our college. As noted above, there were various reasons why students could not travel overseas to Cuba. However, every effort was made to actively involve all interested people at the college in the pretravel phases of the trip. The Social Justice Club, for instance, played a pivotal role in raising awareness of the need for humanitarian aid. This student group spent considerable time and energy increasing community awareness and understanding of the economic, social, and humanitarian implications of the U.S. Embargo against Cuba. They initiated a Humanitarian Aid Drive, soliciting and gathering donations from both Brescia University College and the London, Ontario, community. They gathered school supplies, vitamins, and medicines for the rural Cuban communities we would be visiting, and made these donations travel-ready by sorting, packaging, and labelling the boxes. The Social Hope Committee at our college also contributed to the cause by donating funds to support our travel in and around the Manzanillo area. These actions were vital to the overall success of our international service-learning project. Finally, acting as ambassadors for the college, our small but enthusiastic group of students began their Cuban experience, which included delivering what had been gathered during the Humanitarian Aid Drive that preceded the trip. This aid, in the form of supplies for village schools, and vitamins and medicine for community doctors houses, was graciously received. Throughout our stay, we were

4 With their permission, I am using the real names of the four participating students. These four young women were representatives of Brescia University Colleges Social Justice Club. Two of them were also students of Community Development.

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exposed to rather spontaneous doses of Cuban hospitality. Teachers and students, community doctors, and average Cuban families, welcomed us into their homes and their hearts. Through journaling, students reflected daily about their experiences. These reflections became more structured during regularly scheduled discussion sessions throughout the week. Without a doubt, one of the most memorable days for all of us was the visit to a fisherwomans house and the town of Marea. As we walked in to explore a local village, hoping to visit the local school and doctors office, we met a fisherwoman by the seaside. For purposes of anonymity, she shall be called J. J generously became our host for the day, walked us through town introducing us to family, friends, teachers, and the doctor, insisting at the end of it all that she prepare lunch for us. Lunch was her catch for the daylobster. Here are a sampling of comments from the journals of my students.

The Fisherwoman and Our Visit to Marea


After J showed us around the village she brought us back to her home. She gave us her whole day, without a second thought. I have never eaten so much lobster in my life. She insisted that we finish everything. I was overjoyed, tears almost came to my eyes. J didnt speak English, but we felt the love in every word that she spoke. As we walked back to the hotel I was overwhelmed with love in my heart. The trail was even more beautiful than before. (Ashley) [J] cooked us an abundance of lobster and made coffee. She gave us all the food that she had. Onica cant eat shellfish and this is when I realized that J had no other food, even for her family to eat. She was determined to give Onica something so she made her a glass of lemonade. It was so wonderful to meet people who truly give from the bottom of their hearts. Perhaps the first world countries need to learn a lot from these people, as opposed to trying to force them to conform to the well known way of life in the better countries. (Reissa) Today we went to a little village called Marea. We walked around the town. It was interesting to see how poor the people in the village were, how run down the buildings were and yet the people seemed so happy. Why should they be? Who says that material things make us happy? What was even more unforgettable was when we went to Js house and she made us a fabulous lobster lunch but, unfortunately, I cant eat lobster. She went out of her way to find something that I could eat. So, she made a tomato salad, but, I dont eat tomatoes. J then found limes and made me lime juice. I couldnt believe

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how nice she was; I could not believe that she would go out of her way for me, a stranger. She dropped everything to make us lunch and made us feel very comfortable. We had such a great time that the condition of the house never came into our thoughts. There was no reason to pity these people; their surroundings didnt seem to have an effect on their happiness. (Onica) From the time we got to the gate of Js home, I felt so welcome there. The saying mi casa es su casa didnt need to be voiced because I am sure we all felt like we were at home right away, just because of how welcoming she and her husband were. Js entire home is about the size of my parents bedroom, but, it had me thinking, do we need such big houses anyway? Unlike any of our homes, her home had no Internet, no telephone, no television, no running water and no electricity and her family is so happy and so giving! I think that since there are no frivolous material things to occupy your time, you must spend your time doing things that really count. I also think you genuinely love people around you when you are in a community like Js. You see them all without the frills of development and you get them as pure human beings. Not necessarily that they are super-human and all good because that is not the case, but, people are so genuine and with that tends to come respect and love. (Kalyan)

There were so many other experiencesour ecological hike, the day in Santiago de Cuba during which we travelled to sites of religious and political significance like El Cobre, and Antonio Maceo Revolution Square. On other occasions, we visited schools and classrooms in the towns of Duran and Marea. Through these experiences, the students gained a new understanding and critical insight into the concepts of difference and privilege (see McIntosh, 1995). Through journaling and structured reflection, students began reaching in (Jakubowski & Visano, 2002, p. 107), searching for a better understanding of themselves. They acknowledged their respective positions of privilege and began to see how their comprehension of the world had been filtered through those positions. They came to realize that remaining attached to their positions of privilege would be self-censoring and limit learning. In essence, experiences like the trip to Marea, described above, triggered reflection and ultimately, growth, among the students. By entering another worldthat of the average Cuban citizenthey began to recognize the role of privilege in their lives, and were thereby able to work at breaking down barriers. By becoming conscious of their own privilege, the students could begin to learn and work effectively from within those positions (Jakubowski & Visano, pp. 107109).

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They regularly interacted with workers in the tourist industry and trusting relationships evolved. Our students spoke of how wonderful it was to talk to the real person, rather than simply the service provider. Their candid conversations highlighted for the students, how the tourist industry can negatively impact Cuban citizens. For instance, when the students realized that Cubans, in general, are not welcome in the hotels as guests, Onica asked, Why is it that Cubans are treated as second class citizens when tourists go to Cuba? Why shouldnt they be allowed in hotels? What makes them different? They should have first preference to the hotels and any other facilities in Cuba; after all they are Cuban! Finally, beyond these various experiences, the students found particularly moving and meaningful their encounters with Cuban doctors. They saw a group of professionals who performed their duties with dedication, skill, and compassion, striving to overcome the hardships that have befallen the island. In Marea, in particular, the doctor took the time to talk to us about community healthcare. We had a tour of his office, and his home, which were in the same building. He spoke at length about the Family Doctor Plan in Cuba, where an assigned family doctor lives in a given community, and attends to 120 families in the area. He shared with us his history in Marea, a community which he has adopted as his permanent home. He talked about his various responsibilities, ranging from maintaining health records, performing regular examinations, counselling and prevention, to pre and postnatal care.5 We learned that medicines are often in short supply, and yet, doctors make do with what they have. The level of commitment of the doctors was reinforced for us en route home from a trip to the city of Santiago, when in the evening, our driver saw a torch in the distance and realized someone was in distress. He backed up the van, and we were told by our friend and guide that someone needed our help. When we got closer we saw three men, one of whom was a doctor, carrying an elderly, and obviously ill, woman. We quickly made room in the van, picked them up and drove them past the doctors house, to the local hospital, where she could be X-Rayed. While the journey was very short by van, we realized that the doctor had been travelling most of the day on foot, first to reach this woman, and then to get her to where she could receive treatment. Along the way, different people helped to carry her part of the distance, because no one had access to a vehicle in this rural, mountainous area. Everyone was exhausted, but nevertheless, remained determined to help this woman in need. The doctor explained to us the additional hardships associated with administering care in this mountainous area, having to travel by horse or mule to reach many of the families for whom he was responsible. Ashley reflected on this unexpected experience noting, it was amazing to see

5 For a more detailed discussion of the Family Doctor Plan, see Bernal (2000) and Waitzkin et al. (1997).

For a summary of Cubas country health profile, see Pan American Health Organization (1999) and the New Internationalists World Guide (2001, p. 195).

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us all pull together when there was an elderly woman being carried on the side of the road. There were two men attempting to carry her miles to the hospital. We saw such dedication on the doctors part. He lovingly held her hand during the drive. I am happy we were able to help in such a big way. As our week drew to a close, we engaged in a very rich dialogue with some of our Cuban friends around the most meaningful moments of our trip, and general reflections on Cuba. Below are some student comments that emerged from this structured reflection and discussion.

General Reflections on Cuba


Almost everything I heard about Cuba isnt true (e.g., that every Cuban wants to leave Cuba). Almost every Cuban I spoke to seems to love Cuba very much. Even though its so poor, [they] want to stay and help it become a better place. They seem to be very proud to be Cuban,Visiting Cuba has made me realize that maybe I should not put so much emphasis on material things. Instead, I should try to put emphasis on simpler, perhaps more meaningful things. (Onica)

I didnt want to leave that beach once I sat down and felt the sand between my fingers and the heart beat of the earth. It felt so untouched and natural. I was so sad to leave that most welcoming piece of earth. As we reflected on our most meaningful moments of the trip we were all touched to tears. We have such soft hearts. After this experience we are connected so closely to each other. (Ashley)

I have read about Cuba and learned statistics on the island through research, however there are still assumptions and stereotypes that come with ignorance. I have realized that all the books in the world could not have taught me more about Cuba than I learned on this field trip. I am very grateful that I was fortunate enough to have such an enlightening educational experience. This popular proverb sums up my field trip experience: Teach me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand. (Reissa)

Without a doubt, one of the greatest accomplishment of this trip was the way in which it brought closer together, myself, Theresa, and our four participating students, creating a more enriching, overall learning experience. Barriers found in most classroom teaching situations were drastically reduced, as the students began to raise critical questions about the concepts of difference, privilege, development, justice, stereotypes, and political diversity that they had previously encountered only in their classroom studies. Nowhere was this more evident than during structured reflection and discussion circles that occurred in the evenings

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after dinner. As I facilitated these sessions, I was moved to see how students were making connections between this field trip experience and their own personal and academic lives. As the previous quotations suggest, it was clear that the students were deeply affected by their Cuban encounters, and as Theresa noted, the reflection and discussion circles became the place where they began to put things together. The international field trip experience reinforced how fostering positive relationships between the university classroom and wider community empowers students with the skills and confidence necessary to advocate for social justice. Beyond its preparatory, service, and reflective stages, this immersion field trip was celebratory. In Cuba, we celebrated with our Cuban friends and colleagues, the active learning that had occurred on a daily basis in the community, the pedagogy of experience that had enhanced our knowledge and understanding of issues related to difference, privilege, development, social justice and respect for political diversity. We also celebrated the way in which our humanitarian aid, in the form of school supplies, vitamins and medicine, brought assistance to communities in need. When we returned home, our new understanding of privilege enabled us to work effectively to dispel myths and stereotypes about Cuba and its people. We offered displays reflective of Cuban culture, showed slides of our adventures and dialogued about our many experiences. It was truly a celebration!

Conclusion
Throughout this paper, I have suggested that cultivating a pedagogy of experience can be facilitated through the use of a critically responsive approach to teaching and learning that is grounded in experience, critical thinking, reflection and action. As a service-learning project, the immersion field trip to Manzanillo, Cuba is offered as one example of experiential learning. This example illustrates how classroom and community can come together in a way that invites students to engage in meaningful, active forms of learning about diversity and social justice. Building a service-learning component into ones pedagogy makes for a more meaningful teaching and learning process. It encourages instructors to recognize student knowledge and experience as a valuable element of the educational process. Furthermore, through service-learning, students develop a greater awareness of their abilities to work for change and social justice. As studies reveal, there is a positive relationship between education-based community service, personal development, and a stronger sense of civic and social responsibility (e.g., McEwen, 1996; Vadeboncoeur, Rahm & Aguilera, 1996; Waldstein & Reiher, 2001, pp. 713; Wang, Greathouse, & Falcinella, 1998; Waterman, 1997, p. 3). In essence, a critically responsive pedagogy that incorporates service-learning:

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is a critical-democratic pedagogy for self and social change. It is a student-centred program [that] approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative and social process because the self and society create each other. The goals of this pedagogy are to relate personal growth to public life, by developing strong skills, academic knowledge, habits of inquiry and critical curiosity about society, power, inequality and change. (Shor, 1992, p. 15)

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