231: Getting Credit for Service Learning Abroad
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Guest: Bernie Weigand
I’ve been on the planet a long time, by the human scale, so I have a lot to share, but I will spare you 99.9%. I’m a licensed teacher in California and Oregon with many endorsements, including Language Arts, Art, Spanish, French, Math and ESOL/Bilingual. I enjoy writing and making art. I believe creativity is a human trait and I make use of it in many ways on the homestead. I write quite a bit, because seeing one’s thoughts is a distinctly human, wonderful tool, an ecpressive outlet that breaks the time barrier. I’m convinced that learning is deeply relational, based in the sharing of experiences, language and culture. Young people today need the perspective of other languages and cultures to be able to perceive and understand their own, especially in this ever-shrinking, more connected world. Learning another language connects people to more people to learn from. Connecting is what humans DO. Our ability to do it well can grow, and needs to. I think immersing oneself in any experience is the best way to learn, to be engaged. This is verified by my personal experience and what I have learned observing young people in classrooms and in my family. Because our world needs more understanding of our human diversity, I am writing this flexible template curriculum, AmbaSS, which facilitates earning academic credit for doing service learning projects while living abroad, anywhere. Both brick & mortar and online learning have their places, but face-to-face seems to me to be the best way to learn another language and culture, just as our native language and culture was learned.
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