Although not an explicit pedaogogy, the term “Reflective Practice” highlights the importance of deliberate reflection in the educational processes associated with international engagement and service-learning. Many of the faculty members consulted for the EIESL website expressed the belief that facilitating thoughtful reflection with students is the most important aspect of international engagement projects and that not doing post-engagement reflection would be unethical. Similarly, as a faculty member, one must prioritize reflection in their own professional practice. Engaging in international experiences with students challenges the role of the educator to stretch their own habitual processes of how they assign critical thinking tasks and assess student engagement. Reflection is, essentially, an “ethical process, which is at the same time political owing to the fact that pupil and teacher are also historically placed and subjected to the limits of events” (Freire, 1998).
More direct links between service-learning and student reflection can be found at UBC’s Community Service-Learning webpage:
http://csl.ubc.ca/resources/reflection/reflection-is/
More direct links between global citizenship and the role of reflection for teacher can be found in the UBC “Road to Global Citizenship Toolbook”:
http://www.gc.tag.ubc.ca/toolbook/feedback-on-instruction/unit-5/
