'Different Ways of Looking': A Study of Personal, Professional and Civic Rewards from International Work-Based Learning Experiences for Community Youth Work Students at Ulster University, Northern Ireland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1727-7140/2344Keywords:
cultural competence, youth work, international, conflict, work-based learning, civic engagementAbstract
Northern Ireland is emerging from a 30-year local conflict, with new democratic local structures and a new landscape for civic engagement having been established. Community youth workers are well positioned to nurture these new political and civic structures; however, after decades of insular living and thinking, global skills and attitudes are acutely needed. This study gauges the extent to which the international placement of Ulster University (UU) students can help build a population who is “forward- and outward-looking†and how these students’ new perspectives, skills and knowledge can be used for and beyond a “new†Northern Ireland. This mixed-methods study explores the impact of international student placements and their effectiveness in fostering “global-ready citizensâ€. Findings from this study suggest that the preparation phase must attend equally to both the fear and the opportunities of internationalisation that face the departing student. The study also points to key elements needed in the preparation of students to develop their role as cultural nesters rather than cultural visitors (in their new context). The study illustrates an alignment between the development of intercultural competence and the vocational competence of the community youth work profession. This natural alignment suggests that community youth work students and professionals could further embrace and extend their intercultural skills abroad and their multicultural competence at home for wider and deeper impact.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher’s business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution’s website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to re-use all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Accepted 2017-10-18
Published 2018-02-14